October 19th, 2021: Shortstop, Sanchez, Biggest & Best of 2021

It has been two weeks since the Yankees lost the AL Wild Card Game and we’re still waiting for the team to say something -- anything -- publicly. Brian Cashman should hold a press conference just to show proof of life. Starting to get a little worried here. Anyway, let’s get to today’s thoughts.

1. Peraza, Volpe, and the future of shortstop. Every once in a while a team’s needs and the free agent market align perfectly, and the Yankees are there this offseason. They need a shortstop after pulling the plug on Gleyber Torres there in August, and this offseason is the mother of all free agent shortstop classes. I’d rank the big names like so:

1. Carlos Correa
2. Corey Seager
(gap)
3. Javier Baez
4. Marcus Semien
(gap)
5. Trevor Story

Correa is the total package. Seager is a lesser defender but still an excellent player, and he fits the Yankees better as a lefty hitter. These two are a cut above the rest, I think. Story is a better hitter than his 2021 showing, though it does worry me that a nagging elbow injury flared up at midseason, and he came back throwing like this (video link):

That is, uh, bad. Gotta scrutinize those medicals. Semien is the oldest player in this group and he’s very good. I also don’t love the idea of going long-term with him. He’s already 31 and he’s likely had his best years already. It’s not big money deals for stars that cripple you. It’s long-term deals for good players nearing their decline, and Semien is in that range.

The hardest thing to acquire in this sport is an in-his-prime star, and I am of the belief that when one of those players becomes available, you’re doing yourself a great disservice if you don’t pursue him aggressively. If the player chooses to sign elsewhere, fine, but you have to make him think hard about it. The opportunities to get those guys are rare*.

* This bothers me most about the Bryce Harper thing a few years ago. The Yankees at least wined and dined Manny Machado. They did no such thing with Harper. They just let him sit out there on the market until March without showing even a little interest. Blah.

Anyway, I have two thoughts on the state of shortstop going forward. First, there have already been a few pieces (like this one and this one) questioning the validity of signing a big money shortstop when the Yankees have top shortstop prospects Oswald Peraza and Anthony Volpe coming, perhaps as soon as 2022. And that’s fine. It’s a topic worth covering.

I wouldn’t let Peraza or Volpe factor into my thinking this winter at all though. They’re obviously still prospects and no guarantee to even reach the big leagues, let alone make an impact. I mean, how is “they can’t sign this free agent because this top prospect is coming soon” still a thing in 2021? Not just for the Yankees. For any team. We’re smarter than this.

Also, the Yankees haven't been great at integrating young players into the lineup and helping them reach their ceiling. Aaron Judge is the long exception. Too many others have taken steps back. That doesn’t mean you stop trying to develop young players, but the Yankees haven’t earned the benefit of the doubt here. 2017 looks like an outlier right now.

And there are three infield positions too! Really four, but first base is a different animal. If you sign Correa or Seager, and then in two years Peraza and Volpe show they’re impact players, then that means you have this …

2B Volpe
SS Peraza
3B Star player who is not yet 30 and was once a shortstop

… and you should thank the baseball gods and go win a few World Series with the best infield since the 2009 Yankees. There’s plenty of room for Peraza, Volpe, and a free agent shortstop. This is not a thing that is even remotely on my radar as a potential problem down the line.

And second, one of the free agent shortstops is going to get stuck taking a one-year deal, aren’t they? Three years ago Harper and Machado didn’t sign until March even though it was just the two of them at different positions without a new Collective Bargaining Agreement looming. No one wanted to jump out and set the market, either on the player or team side.

This offseason there will be five players competing for the same dollars at the same position, with a giant helping of CBA uncertainty on top of it all. The top of the market always moves slow and my guess is it will move slower than usual this offseason because no team will want to give out a massive long-term deal without seeing what the CBA brings. It’s not unreasonable, really.

The longer it drags on, the more likely it is one of these guys gets left out in the cold. Correa and Seager will get theirs. They’re the best of the bunch and those dudes always get paid. I can’t imagine Semien will take another one-year contract at his age and after the season he just had. He did the one-year thing already and it worked out great. Now it’s time to cash in.

That leaves Baez and Story, and given the season he just had, Story seems like the better bet to get squeezed into a one-year contract. He didn’t have a great year, the elbow has been giving him trouble for a while now, and fair or not, the Coors Field question hangs over him. Taking a one-year deal in a favorable environment with an eye on next offseason seems possible. He might be forced into it.

I don’t think Hal Steinbrenner wants to take on another long-term deal when there’s already four players on the books making a combined $83M through 2025. But a big money one-year deal for a motivated player who gives them another year to evaluate Peraza and Volpe? Yeah, that might work, especially since there’s basically no way the Yankees avoid paying luxury tax next year (with the caveat that we don’t know what the CBA will look like).

Peraza and Volpe are great. They are also irrelevant to the free agent shortstop discussion this offseason because they are not MLB ready, and because there will be ways to fit them into the lineup down the road anyway (rather easily too). Franchise-caliber shortstops on the right side of 30 are nearly impossible to acquire. There are two on the market this winter (plus some other good options) and the Yankees need one badly. There’s no need to overthink this and no good reason for the Yankees to sit this out.

2. Finding a trade partner for Sanchez. At some point in the next few weeks the Yankees are likely to cut ties with Gary Sanchez. The writing has been on the wall since last winter, and with Aaron Boone seemingly set to return, moving on from Sanchez seems inevitable. Boone doesn’t trust him and I can’t see the Yankees trying to make the two coexist again.

How the Yankees go about replacing Sanchez is another conversation for another time, though it won’t be easy. Catching is so bad these days. The offensive numbers:

Sanchez in 2021: .204/.307/.423 (99 wRC+) with 23 HR in 440 PA (1 HR every 19.1 PA)
MLB average catcher in 2021: .239/.305/.391 (89 wRC+) with 1 HR per 30.0 PA

Baseball Prospectus has the best, most comprehensive catcher defense stats around, and they had Sanchez at +2.0 WARP in 2021, 11th best among catchers (Gary was tenth in plate appearances among catchers and 13th in innings caught). Only seven catchers were over +2.3 WARP. I’m not sure the position has been this weak since pre-Mike Piazza.

Anyway, Sanchez is projected to make $7.9M through arbitration next season, his final year of team control. He’s not cheap, he’s not a long-term addition, and it’s not really a secret the Yankees are ready to move on. Gary’s trade value is small. Not zero, but small. Which teams could be a trade match? Let’s start with the process of elimination. We can probably rule these teams out:

• Locked in at catcher: Astros (Martin Maldonado), Athletics (Sean Murphy), Braves (Travis d’Arnaud), Brewers (Omar Narvaez), Cardinals (Yadier Molina), Cubs (Willson Contreras), Dodgers (Will Smith), Giants (Buster Posey), Phillies (J.T. Realmuto), Reds (Tyler Stephenson), Royals (Salvador Perez), Twins (Mitch Garver), White Sox (Yasmani Grandal)
• Top prospect imminent: Orioles (Adley Rutschman), Nationals (Keibert Ruiz)
• Cheap/rebuilding: Cleveland, Diamondbacks, Pirates
• Rivals: Blue Jays, Mets, Rays, Red Sox

The Yankees are unlikely to trade with those four rival teams (imagine trading Sanchez to the Red Sox and then watching him hit pepper balls over the Green Monster?), and while we shouldn’t completely rule out those other teams as a trade partner, it doesn’t appear adding a catcher will be a top priority this winter. That’s 22 teams we can cross off the list*.

* Gary will definitely be traded to one of those 22 teams now.

Ruling out those 22 teams leaves us with seven potential trade partners. Let’s run them down and see what’s what with their catching situations.

Angels

Catchers on 40-man roster: Max Stassi, Matt Thaiss, Chad Wallach

I didn’t realize Stassi is already 30 (31 in March). I would’ve guessed he was 26 or 27. Anyway, he quietly hit .241/.326/.426 (107 wRC+) in over 300 plate appearances with a good glove (+1.9 WARP) around a concussion this year, and he’s projected to make only $2.7M next year. Stassi seems locked in as Anaheim’s starting catcher.

Wallach is a glove-first third catcher type and Thaiss, a former first rounder, moved to first base a few years ago, and now the Angels are going to put him back behind the plate. Not sure how that’s going to go. Stassi had a good year and is under control through 2023. Given the needs elsewhere on the roster, I don’t think the Angels will be after Sanchez until owner Arte Moreno steps in and demands a trade for the bigger name.

Mariners

Catchers on 40-man roster: Jose Godoy, Tom Murphy, Cal Raleigh, Luis Torrens

The Mariners list Torrens as a catcher, though he spent more time at DH (59 games) than behind the plate (35 games) this year, which is never a good sign. Godoy made obscure history this season but is a Quad-A guy. Murphy’s last three years have been a roller coaster:

• 2019: .273/.324/.535 (126 wRC+) with 18 HR and +2.0 WARP
• 2020: Did not play (foot injury)
• 2021: .202/.304/.350 (87 wRC+) with 11 HR and +1.3 WARP

Murphy turns 31 in April and is a righty hitting platoon type. Probably not good enough to be the everyday guy on a contender, but good enough to get 300 or so plate appearances. Raleigh is Seattle’s catcher of the future. He was overmatched during his 47-game debut this year (47 wRC+ and 35.1% strikeouts), but that’s okay. Lots of young players struggle.

Starting Raleigh back in Triple-A next year and finding someone else to pair with Murphy in a 1A/1B catcher tandem makes sense. Seattle should -- should -- have money to spend this winter, and they should (again, should) be motivated to improve after narrowly missing the postseason. A one-year stopgap catcher until Raleigh’s more ready seems sensible.

The thing is, Murphy and Sanchez are similar as bat first righty hitters with power. Do you really need two of the same player? With quality catching so hard to find, maybe rolling with Murphy and Sanchez in a 1A/1B scenario is worthwhile. Better that than forcing a platoon with Murphy and some lesser player just because he hits left-handed, you know? The Mariners are a maybe.

Marlins

Catchers on 40-man roster: Jorge Alfaro, Nick Fortes, Payton Henry, Alex Jackson

The Marlins have four catchers on the 40-man roster and yet possibly no MLB catcher on the 40-man roster. Fortes and Henry project as future backups and they have 79 combined games of experience in Triple-A, so more time in the minors is likely next season. Jackson, the No. 6 pick in the 2014 draft, hasn’t hit and doesn’t offer much behind the plate.

Miami moved Alfaro to left field late this year and the expectation is he will see more time there moving forward. He’s had nagging knee problems that make squatting behind the plate regularly tough. So what do the Marlins do behind the plate next season? Roll with some combination of Fortes, Henry, and Jackson? Try Alfaro again? Something else?

The issue with the Marlins is money. Hard to see them absorbing Sanchez’s projected salary without the Yankees eating part of it, or taking money back. Maybe there’s a Sanchez for Miguel Rojas trade to be made? Rojas has one year and $5.5M remaining on his contract and Miami seems ready to put Jazz Chisholm at shortstop. I dunno. Just spitballing.

The Marlins have Yankees ties aplenty (Derek Jeter, Gary Denbo, most of the coaching and player development staff, etc.) and they had interest in Sanchez a few years ago. Given their catching situation and hoarding of Yankees personnel, Miami stands out as a potential trade partner, even for only one year of Gary. Could even be a long-term fit if all goes well.

Padres

Catchers on 40-man roster: Luis Campusano, Victor Caratini, Austin Nola

Campusano is a top prospect and San Diego’s catcher of the future. Caratini is an established big league backup (he’s also Yu Darvish’s personal catcher), and it seems like the Padres got fooled by Nola’s small sample success with the Mariners in 2019-20. They gave up good pieces to get him and he’s been hurt and just okay since, particularly defensively.

My guess is the Padres will roll with Caratini and Nola until Campusano is ready to take over full-time, which could be next season given his strong Triple-A performance in 2021. That said, the Padres and GM A.J. Preller have a reputation for going big. Their offense fell flat down the stretch and catcher is an obvious spot to add offense. Put them in the maybe pile.

Rangers

Catchers on 40-man roster: David Garcia, Jonah Heim, Sam Huff, Yohel Pozo, Jose Trevino

It’s sort of amazing Texas catchers hit .223/.257/.367 (67 wRC+) this season and were only fifth worst offensively among the 30 clubs. They were 16th with +2.0 WAR, so the defense was there, but offense was non-existent. GM Chris Young recently said he expects the team to be active in free agency. I imagine they’ll give the trade market a look as well.

Those five catchers on the 40-man represent only three MLB options. Garcia is a Single-A kid who struggled this year and is on the 40-man for Rule 5 Draft protection. The Rangers pulled the plug on Huff as a catcher this season and he’s a first baseman now (even though he is still listed as a catcher on their official roster). Pozo is a non-prospect depth guy.

Trevino is a glove-first backup and I know Heim is one of those weird "teams like him more than the public data would lead you to believe" guys, but he hit .196/.239/.358 (60 wRC+) in 285 plate appearances this year, so I dunno. The Rangers are bad and won’t contend next season. The fact Sanchez only has one year of control makes them an unlikely fit. I imagine they’ll use their resources (money and trade chips) to get players with long-term control.

Rockies

Catchers on 40-man roster: Elias Diaz, Dom Nunez

Did you know Diaz hit .246/.310/.464 (92 wRC+) with 18 home runs this season? It wasn’t all Coors Field either. Nine homers at home and nine homers on the road in just about the same number of plate appearances. Nunez had prospect shine once upon a time, but he hasn’t hit at all and grades out as an average defender. Seems like a spot to upgrade.

The Rockies are a throwback in that they’re bad and they don’t know why rather than bad on purpose. It’s kinda refreshing. Diaz did enough to stick in 2022, but we can’t rule Colorado out as a Sanchez landing spot. This is the same team that kept Trevor Story at the deadline and traded for Mychal Givens last year. They do things that don’t make sense given their place in the standings.

Tigers

Catchers on 40-man roster: Dustin Garneau, Grayson Greiner, Eric Haase, Jake Rogers

Haase hit 22 home runs this year! He also had a .286 OBP and rated as the 81st best defensive catcher in baseball according to Baseball Prospectus. I don’t know what the plan is for him. Garneau is a journeyman, Greiner is an established backup type, and Rogers will miss most of next year after having Tommy John surgery last month.

The Tigers went 77-85 this season, which suggests they took a step forward with their rebuild, but who knows in that division. Still, it’s time to begin adding, no? Their top pitching prospects have arrived (Matt Manning, Casey Mize, Tarik Skubal) and their top position player prospects (Riley Greene, Spencer Torkelson) will arrive next year. Add a few select veterans and be respectable. It’s time.

With all due respect to Haase, the Tigers aren’t locked into anyone behind the plate, and top catcher prospect Dillon Dingler is at least a year away. Sanchez isn’t cheap salary-wise but won’t cost much prospect-wise, there’s no long-term commitment, and he nudges Detroit in the right direction. Remember when the Royals lost 90 games then traded for James Shields? Kinda like that. At some point you have to begin the transition from rebuilder to contender.

The DH x-factor

In all likelihood the upcoming Collective Bargaining Agreement will make official the universal DH. That would create 15 new DH jobs and more potential trade partners for Sanchez, though I’m not sure a team would trade for Gary and pay him roughly $8M to be a DH. Free agency always offers a ton of cheap DH options. So yes, the universal DH would change the market. I’m just not sure any team is trading for a fairly expensive catcher to make him their DH.

* * *

The Marlins stand out as a clear trade partner for Sanchez given their need at catcher and fondness for all things Yankees. Making the money work could be difficult but one year and $8M isn't unworkable. The Angels and Mariners should get involved, and the Tigers to a lesser degree. Catching is very bad these days, but just about every contender has a good catcher already, and not enough bad teams are trying to get better. The market for Gary looks to be limited.

3. The biggest and best of 2021. We’re in that weird part of the calendar where the Yankees season is over but the offseason has yet to begin, which gives us some time to look back at the biggest and best from this past season. I wouldn’t say the 2021 Yankees were a particularly enjoyable team, but they did have some fun moments along the way.

To run down the biggest moments of the year, I’m going to use both win probability added and championship probability added. You know what those are, right? WPA is how much a play (hit, out, whatever) improves your chances to win that day’s game and CPA is how much that play improves your chances of winning the World Series. Similar concepts on different scales.

With that in mind, let’s look back at the biggest and best of this past season, shall we? Then we can forget about the 2021 Yankees and look ahead to better days, at least on this here blog.

Biggest hits by CPA (full list)

1. Wild Card Game: Anthony Rizzo homer vs. Nathan Eovaldi (+0.97%) (video)
2. Sept. 25th: Giancarlo Stanton grand slam vs. Darwinzon Hernandez (+0.81%) (video)
3. Aug. 12th: Giancarlo Stanton homer vs. Liam Hendriks (+0.56%) (video)
4. Wild Card Game: Aaron Judge single vs. Nathan Eovaldi (+0.45%) (video)

If you're a contender and you don't win the World Series, the biggest hit of the year by CPA comes in a loss. It invariably comes in the game that ends your season, because that’s the most important game of the year and winning moves you closer to a championship. For example, the biggest hit by a Yankee since 2017 is DJ LeMahieu’s game-tying homer in Game 6 of the 2019 ALCS (+7.97%). Yeah.

Rizzo’s Wild Card Game home run got the Yankees on the board and cut the deficit to 3-1. The Judge single, the No. 4 hit on our leaderboard, came in the very next at-bat. It was a dinky little infield single, but it brought the tying run to the plate, and that’s pretty important. Alas, Stanton followed with his rocket single off the wall, and Judge was thrown out at the plate because Phil Nevin was apparently unfamiliar with Fenway Park's nooks and crannies. 

The importance of the Stanton grand slam is obvious. It turned a 3-2 deficit into a 6-3 lead and helped push the Yankees ahead of Boston in the standings. The home run against Hendriks was the Field of Dreams Game, Stanton’s game-tying homer in the ninth. I’m surprised to see that one here because it was against a non-division and non-Wild Card race opponent. Huh.

(Fun fact: Those are the only two pitches Stanton saw from Hernandez and Hendriks in 2021. Way to make ‘em count, Giancarlo.)

After those top four, we get into a big group of hits in the +0.30something% CPA range, including Judge’s game-tying homer against the Twins (+0.39%, video), Judge’s go-ahead double against Adam Ottavino (+0.38%, video), and Judge’s walk-off single in Game 162 (+0.38%, video). That’s how Judge led baseball in CPA during the regular season.

Biggest hits by WPA (full list)

1. Aug. 12th: Giancarlo Stanton homer vs. Liam Hendriks (+0.721) (video)
2. June 23rd: Rougned Odor homer vs. Jake Brentz (+0.607) (video)
3. Sept. 25th: Giancarlo Stanton grand slam vs. Darwinzon Hernandez (+0.588) (video)
4. Aug. 5th: Joey Gallo homer vs. Paul Sewald (+0.500) (video)
5. June 6th: Gleyber Torres double vs. Matt Barnes (+0.487) (video)

By WPA, the Yankees’ biggest hit of the season came in a loss, which feels appropriate. Stanton hit the go-ahead two-run homer in the top of the ninth inning against Hendriks in the Field of Dreams Game, then Zack Britton served up the walk-off homer to Tim Anderson in the bottom of the inning. No good vibes allowed in 2021.

Odor had a knack for big hits this year, or so the narrative went. He did have a few important hits early in the season, no doubt, but by the end of the season Odor more than negated those early big hits with overall poor play. His -0.99 WPA was third worst on the team, and he had four +0.15 WPA hits all year. Kyle Higashioka had six in 150 fewer plate appearances.

Anyway, Gallo’s home run was one of the most fun moments of the season, and it looked like the moment when Joey would break out and go on a run, but nope. Still, a big home run against a direct Wild Card competitor. Apparently Torres hit a game-tying ninth inning double against the Red Sox on June 6th. I completely forgot about that until watching the video.

Biggest outs by CPA (full list)

1. Wild Card Game: Alex Verdugo double play vs. Clay Holmes (+0.59%) (video)
2. Wild Card Game: Kevin Plawecki double play vs. Clay Holmes (+0.48%) (video)
3. June 20th: Sean Murphy triple play vs. Aroldis Chapman (+0.38%) (video)
4. Oct. 3rd: Nelson Cruz strikeout vs. Jonathan Loaisiga (+0.35%) (video)

As we all expected back in March, Clay Holmes would get the biggest outs of the season when he had to bail out Gerrit Cole in the Wild Card Game. The two double plays prevented the Red Sox from breaking the game open. Pitcher outs rarely put a big dent in the ol’ CPA leaderboard, but those were two (really four) clutch outs by Holmes. He was so great. What a find.

There were five triple plays in baseball this season and the Yankees turned three of them (the Reds and Twins had the other two). There’s more on the Murphy triple play in the next section, though it ranks so high on the CPA leaderboard because it was a head-to-head game against a direct Wild Card competitor. It was a big swing game in the standings.

There are a bunch of outs in the +0.25% to +0.35% range and the Loaisiga strikeout happened in Game 162, when a win clinched a postseason spot. The Rays had a runner at third with one out in the eighth inning of a scoreless game, and Loaisiga struck out Cruz with his signature two-seamer in under the hands for the second out. Austin Meadows then flew out to end the inning. It felt like a postseason-caliber moment.

Biggest outs by WPA (full list)

1. June 20th: Sean Murphy triple play vs. Aroldis Chapman (+0.444) (video)
2. May 21st: Andrew Vaughn triple play vs. Aroldis Chapman (+0.339) (video)
3. July 27th: Mike Zunino double play vs. Zack Britton (+0.327) (video)
4. May 14th: Maikel Franco double play vs. Jonathan Loaisiga (+0.299) (video)
5. Aug. 24th: Freddie Freeman fly out vs. Wandy Peralta (+0.281) (video)

The Yankees became the sixth team ever to turn three triple plays in a season this year, and they turned all three in a 31-day span, including two in a four-day span at one point. One of the triple plays had more to do with Blue Jays baserunning dopiness than the Yankees making a good play defensively (video). Toronto ran themselves into a triple play there.

The other two triple plays came in huge moments though. The Murphy triple play was a walk-off triple play in a one-run game! It was MLB’s first walk-off triple play since 2009. The Vaughn triple play happened in the ninth inning of a tie game. Chapman was mid-meltdown both times, and then he got the 5-4-3 triple play ground ball to escape the jams. Incredible.

The Zunino and Franco double plays were important in those games, though they were routine and unremarkable plays overall. The Peralta vs. Freeman at-bat was very memorable though. Bases loaded, two outs, one-run game in Atlanta, and Wandy threw the reigning NL MVP five straight changeups, including four straight in a 3-2 count. Gutsy as hell.

Longest home runs (full list)

1. Aug. 27th: Giancarlo Stanton vs. Sean Manaea (472 feet) (video)
2. April 5th: Giancarlo Stanton vs. Shawn Armstrong (471 feet) (video)
3. Aug. 30th: Giancarlo Stanton vs. Junior Guerra (457 feet) (video)
4. Sept. 30th: Aaron Judge vs. Robbie Ray (455 feet) (video)
5. April 11th: Gio Urshela vs. Michael Wacha (453 feet) (video)

At 472 feet, Stanton’s mammoth blast into the center field second deck in Oakland was the 14th longest home run in baseball this season. Miguel Sano had the longest at 495 feet (video), nine feet longer than any other homer this year. Stanton’s dinger is the sixth longest by a Yankee in the Statcast era. The longest was this 496-feet Aaron Judge blast in 2017.

The other two Stanton homers and the Gio homer are kinda whatever. Long homers that were otherwise forgettable during the long season. The Judge home run against Ray was memorable though. He hit it over the WestJet sign in center field during that last series in Toronto, when the Yankees were fighting for Wild Card position. It was a long and clutch homer.

I made myself curious, so I looked up the longest non-home run by a Yankee this season, and it was Gary Sanchez’s 415-foot triple (!) into the triangle at Fenway Park (video). Statcast tells me it would have been a home run in 22 other ballparks. The longest out by a Yankee this season was a 412-foot LeMahieu sac fly in Texas (video). It was his longest batted ball of the year.

Shortest home runs (full list)

1. Aug. 7th: Rougned Odor vs. Chris Flexen (328 feet) (video)
2. Aug. 5th: Joey Gallo vs. Paul Sewald (331 feet) (video)
3. July 11th: Tim Locastro vs. Framber Valdez (337 feet) (video)
4. Aug. 20th: DJ LeMahieu vs. Kyle Barraclough (338 feet) (video)
5. Aug. 3rd: Aaron Judge vs. Shaun Anderson (340 feet) (video)

Thanks to Yankee Stadium’s short right field porch, we are privy to lots of laughably short home runs each year. Sure, the Yankees get burned by the short porch a few times each season, but it’s worth it just to hear opposing fans and broadcasters fill their diaper when a Yankee drops a pop up into the first row in right field. Warms my heart.

The team’s two shortest homers of the season came in the same series, so Mariners fans were surely extra salty that weekend. We discussed the Gallo homer earlier. That was a big one. Not literally, it only went 331 feet, but within the context of the game. It was a game-winning blast. The Odor homer was great because his follow through drove home the absurdity of it all:

Locastro was a Yankee for about five minutes before getting hurt and he managed to go deep in those five minutes. It wasn’t a Crawford Box job in Houston either. It was an opposite field blast at Minute Maid Park. I love it when the Yankees bring the short porch on the road. The Judge and LeMahieu homers were salt in the wound cheapies late in blow out wins. Love it.

4. Remembering a random Yankee: Ramiro Pena. I’m taking a break from requests this week to write about a player I feel like writing about. Also, this is the 100th random Yankee in our series. That happened fast, huh? Here’s the random Yankee archive. You can find links back to everyone we've covered there.

Pena was born and raised in Monterrey, Mexico, a soccer hotbed, but he was drawn to baseball and he started his career with the Sultanes de Monterrey of the Mexican League. The Yankees signed him in Feb. 2005 and, as a 19-year-old, Pena split that season between High-A Tampa and Double-A Trenton, hitting .249/.290/.307 in 91 games.

The next few years didn’t go well. Pena hit .257/.310/.289 with Tampa and Trenton in 2006 and .252/.332/.297 with Trenton in 2007. At age 22, Pena had a breakout year with Trenton in 2008, hitting .285/.351/.385 in his first 71 games. That was enough to earn him a spot in the Futures Game at the old Yankee Stadium (he replaced Emilio Bonifacio, who got called up to the big leagues by the Diamondbacks).

“It was a beautiful experience to have been able to play in the old Yankee Stadium,” Pena told Luis Gonzalez in 2015 about his Futures Game experience. “I enjoyed it very much.”

Pena came off the bench to replace Elvis Andrus in the Futures Game and went 0-for-1 with a strikeout (against Jake Arrieta) and a walk (against Casey Weathers). Here’s the box score and here’s the video (Pena’s first at-bat is at 1:16:18 and his second is at 1:44:33). Pena spent the entire 2008 season with Trenton and hit .266/.330/.357 in 111 games.

Baseball America ranked Pena the best defensive infielder in the system just about every season of his career. His glove was never a question. Would he hit enough? After four minor league seasons, including 257 games at Double-A, Pena had three career home runs and had never cracked a .700 OPS. It wasn’t a great year, but he made progress in 2008.

"When we got him, he was really skinny and his offense was a huge question mark," Brian Cashman told Mark Feinsand in Spring Training 2009. "He's slowly making himself into a bat, which is extremely encouraging. If that happens, then we've got a player on our hands. He'd be a legitimate frontline prospect."

The Yankees brought Pena to Spring Training as a non-roster player in 2009 and he impressed so much with his glove that he beat out Angel Berroa for the backup infielder’s spot. Berroa, a veteran with over 2,700 big league plate appearances at that point, thoroughly out-hit Pena in camp …

• Pena: .277/.329/.338 in 71 plate appearances
• Berroa: .371/.381/.597 in 64 plate appearances

… but Pena was the superior defender, and the Yankees wanted his glove and athleticism. Alex Rodriguez was going to miss the start of the season following hip surgery, so Cody Ransom was the interim starting third baseman, opening the door for Pena to serve as the backup infielder despite having never played a game above Double-A.

"I've been working very hard all spring to just do what I do," Pena told Feinsand that spring. "I try not to do too much, just work hard and show the coaching staff what I can do."

Pena made his MLB debut on Opening Day. Nick Swisher doubled with the Yankees down a run in the eighth inning in Baltimore and Pena pinch-ran. Brett Gardner bunted Pena to third, then he was stranded there after Derek Jeter hit a ground ball to the shortstop with the infield in, Johnny Damon walked, and Mark Teixeira flew out. That was Pena’s debut.

Three days later Pena got his first MLB at-bat and his first MLB hit. He replaced Jeter at short in the late innings of a blowout win, and sent a ground ball single back up the middle against Chris Ray. Ransom dealt with a quad injury early in 2009, so Pena started 12 of 21 games at third base at one point in late April and early May.

Pena went 8-for-17 (.471) during a five-game stretch in April, but once A-Rod returned, he became the seldom used backup infielder. He started only nine times in a 40-game span at one point, and on July 1st, the Yankees sent Pena to Triple-A to make room on the roster for trade pickup and random Yankee Eric Hinske. He was hitting .267/.308/.349 at the time.

"We're not saying he's not an everyday player, but we want him to be versatile, too," Joe Girardi told Peter Botte, noting Pena would play some outfield in Triple-A. "... Ramiro Pena is a guy I wouldn't hesitate to put anywhere in the infield. I would even put him at first base, even though he's never done it. Being able to play the outfield just makes him that much more valuable."

Pena spent most of the rest of the season in Triple-A -- he returned briefly in August when Jeter had a foot injury, and also as a Sept. call up -- and finished the year with a .287/.317/.383 batting line in 121 plate appearances. He hit his first MLB home run against Luke Hochevar on Sept. 28th, and it was a first row job to right field. Still counts though. Here’s the video.

The Yankees did not carry Pena on their postseason roster -- they sent him to Tampa to work out and stay sharp in case he was needed -- but going into 2010, Pena was seen as the utility infielder no questions asked. The Yankees loved his defense (the stats didn’t at the time) and he hinted at being something more than a total zero at the plate in 2009.

“It was an unbelievable experience, just being part of that organization,” Pena told Gonzalez in 2015. “Imagine, my first year in the Major Leagues and winning the championship was a blessing. It was a great experience and I will never forget it.”

Pena appeared in 85 games in 2010 and hit .227/.258/.247 in 167 plate appearances, which would go down as his career high. He topped out at a .533 OPS on Sept. 5th that year. It was just a brutal season, albeit in a limited role. The Yankees carried Pena on the postseason roster that year, though he did not appear in any games.

Eduardo Nunez made his MLB debut in Aug. 2010 and played well enough in limited action that he opened 2011 as the utility infielder, and Pena was sent to Triple-A. Pena appeared in only 23 big league games all year (12 at midseason when Jeter was injured and 11 in September) and went 4-for-40 at the plate. He hit .273/.339/.397 in Triple-A that season.

By 2012, Pena was out of the picture almost entirely. He returned to Triple-A to begin the year, played in three MLB games when A-Rod got hurt in July, then was designated for assignment after the Yankees brought in Casey McGehee at the trade deadline. Pena went 1-for-4 in those three big league games and hit .258/.325/.328 in Triple-A that season.

Pena became a minor league free agent after 2012. He hit .233/.266/.288 with two home runs and +1.0 WAR in 338 plate appearances and 180 games as a Yankee. 206 non-pitchers have batted at least 300 times as a Yankee in the Expansion Era (since 1961). The bottom of the slugging percentage leaderboard:

1. Dick Howser: .244
2. Ruben Amaro: .247
3. Random Yankee Fred Stanley: .266
4. Wayne Tolleson: .268
5. Tony Womack: .280
6. Chris Stewart: .285
7. Ramiro Pena: .288

Pena signed with the Braves in Dec. 2012 and had a nice year as their utility guy in 2013, hitting .278/.330/.443 with three homers in 107 plate appearances. The next season didn’t go well (.245/.304/.347), and Pena bounced to the Padres (2015) to the Giants (2016) to the Hiroshima Carp in Japan (2017) before going back to the Mexican League in 2018. Now 36, Pena hit .332/.385/.460 with seven homers in 56 games this year. He also played for Mexico in the Olympics this summer.

5. Rapid fire thoughts. MLB will require teams to provide minor league housing beginning next season, reports Jeff Passan. Hooray for that. Details aren’t finalized yet and I want to see them before giving MLB a big pat on the back (the league’s statement says they will provide housing for “certain” minor leaguers, so we’ll see), but it’s great news. Minor leaguers are paid poorly and arranging housing when you’re always on the road and could have to move at a moment’s notice (because you get traded, promoted, released, etc.) is brutal. There are players who would have quit pro ball because being a minor leaguer isn’t financially feasible that will instead keep playing because of this, and a few of them will undoubtedly reach the big leagues. It’s life-changing, it really is. Housing is step one. The next step is providing a nutritionist and meals. It’s not an added cost for teams. It’s an investment … According to Jon Heyman, the Angels cut loose third base coach Brian Butterfield earlier this week. I'm always surprised to see how relatively little time Butterfield spent on the Yankees big league staff. He coached and managed in the farm system from 1984-93 and 2001-02, and was the first base coach on Buck Showalter’s staff in 1994 and 1995 before moving to other teams. Felt like Butterfield was on the MLB staff forever for some reason. Anyway, Butterfield is regarded as a great infield instructor (Gleyber Torres could use someone like that) and the Yankees are now third base coach-less after letting Phil Nevin go. There’s a possible fit here. My guess: Derek Jeter will bring Butterfield to the Marlins in like a week. Jeter credited Butterfield with improving his defense in the minors and Jeter is very loyal to those who helped him … And finally, Billy Beane has withdrawn from consideration for the Mets baseball operations job, according to Ken Rosenthal. I note this because if Beane left the Athletics, the door would open for manager Bob Melvin to leave too, and the Yankees have had interest in him in the past. Melvin could still be on their radar, but getting permission to interview him may not be possible with Beane staying. Kinda crazy the Mets can’t even get people to interview for their top job despite their resources, market, ballpark, etc. The perception of that team within the industry must be horrible.

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