August 17th, 2021: Cole, Bullpen, Rizzo, Sanchez, Severino

Feels like every series the Yankees have played the last six weeks or so has had two nail-biter wins and a soul-crushing loss that would be the worst loss of the season in any other season. Nothing is easy these days, but you know what? The Yankees were 41-40 at the halfway point and are 25-12 since. Come Friday’s post, they could be in postseason position for the first time since May 29th. The Yankees are on pace to go 91-71 with 44 games remaining. To today’s thoughts.

1. Cole returns. Welcome back, Gerrit Cole. The Yankees welcomed their ace back from the COVID list last night and he looked very much like Gerrit Cole, striking out nine and allowing just a solo homer in 5.2 innings in the makeup game against the Angels. His control wasn’t pinpoint, but the velocity and breaking stuff were there. Tough to tell he missed time.

“We’ve been missing having that big man toeing the rubber every five days for us,” Aaron Judge told Bryan Hoch after last night's win. “He’s not only our ace, he’s a big part of this clubhouse and this team. To see him go out there and do his thing -- I think you can ask every single guy -- we missed that.”

Bringing Cole back yesterday against the Angels rather than today against the Red Sox (Luis Gil hasn’t pitched since last Sunday and could’ve started last night) was an interesting decision. I’m not sure where I fall on it, but it’s worth discussing because he’s the ace and the Yankees have to catch the Red Sox to go to the postseason. Let’s break it down point/counterpoint style.

Point: The Yankees are chasing the Red Sox in the standings and those games mean a lot more than a game against an Angels team that is already focused on next season. You should put your best on the mound against the Red Sox as often as possible.

Counterpoint: Games against the Angels count too, and the Angels took two of three in the Bronx a few weeks ago. A team with Shohei Ohtani, David Fletcher, Jared Walsh, and nothing to lose is not to be taken lightly (look how close last night's game was).

Point: Three times Cole has faced the Red Sox this season and it hasn’t gone all that well (10 runs in 16 innings). Boston has never seen Gil, who was really good in his first two MLB starts, so he’ll have the element of surprise going for him later today.

Counterpoint: Cole is better than Gil. And if you’re keeping your $324M ace away from a division rival in an important game because they had success against him earlier in the season, then your decision making is the problem, not your pitcher.

Point: Cole hadn’t pitched in a game since July 29th and if there was going to be rust a) it would be understandable, and b) you don’t want it happening in an important game against the team you’re chasing in the Wild Card race. Gil will be on extra rest today but he’s been making regular starts the last few weeks. Rust isn’t an issue with him. (Cole wasn’t rusty at all, but we didn’t know that would be the case going into the game.)

Counterpoint: Jordan Montgomery will face the Red Sox today and he hasn’t appeared in a game since Aug. 1st. Maybe the Yankees saw something in their weekend bullpen sessions that made them more comfortable with Montgomery against the Red Sox than Cole, otherwise worrying about rust doesn’t pass the sniff test.

Point: The bullpen got absolutely fried over the weekend in Chicago. Cole was the best bet to chew up innings yesterday and leave the bullpen in good shape for the doubleheader today.

Counterpoint: Aaron Boone admitted over the weekend that Cole might have a shorter leash than usual in his first start back given the long layoff, and he threw only 90 pitches last night. The bullpen had to eat up 3.1 innings anyway, and if you have a guy on a shorter than usual leash, wouldn’t it make more sense to start him in a seven-inning game than a nine-inning game?

“I felt good out there. I'm pretty tired right now, to be honest,” Cole told Hoch following last night’s game. “I needed somebody to pick me up."

Point: Start Cole and Montgomery in the doubleheader and the Yankees would need a spot starter in a few days when you have to split them up. Cole yesterday and Montgomery today means no spot starter later this week (a spot starter requires roster moves too).

Counterpoint: The Twins are coming to town next. You can get away with a spot starter against them more easily than you can against the Red Sox, and the Yankees are effectively using Gil as that spot starter today.

Point: Cole is your ace and you should get him on the mound as often as possible. If starting him yesterday instead of today helps get him one extra start at the end of the season, it could be the difference between going to the postseason and going to the golf course in October.

Counterpoint: I don’t have a counter to that. The more Cole starts, the better. There is only so much season remaining and the Yankees need that guy on the mound as much as possible.

I understand and appreciate the “if Cole can start today, then start him” mentality, though I think the Yankees should’ve held Cole back so he could face the Red Sox today. At some point the Yankees will have to actually beat Boston to catch them in the standings. They can’t rely on other teams to do it for them, and Cole gives them the best chance to win.

“Felt like this was the best way to get him back in and get going,” Boone said when asked about the decision to start Cole yesterday rather than today (video link). “He obviously threw his ‘pen a few days ago and it lined up to get him Monday, and that’s how we wanted to do it.”

Most importantly, Cole is back and he pitched well last night, and the Yankees beat the Angels. That game had trap game potential. Bad team in town for a single makeup game and you get caught looking ahead to the big series coming up, you know? With any luck, Gil will surprise the Red Sox today, and Montgomery will look as well-rested as Cole. A huge series, this is.

2. The bullpen conundrum. It’s been a long time since the Yankees had a bullpen that wasn’t a reliable, lockdown unit, and man this sucks. The starting pitchers keep the Yankees in games and the offense, even while underperforming overall, is doing enough to win. The Yankees are battling but the bullpen isn’t making every lead stand up like it has in the past.

“Getting on a happy flight is always a good thing,” Aaron Boone told Bryan Hoch following Sunday’s nail-biter. “Our guys did a lot of really good things today. It got interesting there in the ninth, but this was a really good series. Guys just continue to pound away.”

Following the Field of Dreams Game blown save, Zack Britton went to Boone and told him he doesn’t deserve to pitch the ninth inning. Here’s what Britton said (via Hoch):

“I told him that I don’t deserve to be out there in the ninth inning, and other guys deserve it,” Britton said. “I haven’t been pitching the way I should be to be out there when the team needs to win. I told him, 'I want to pitch -- whenever you need me, I’ll be ready. But I don’t deserve to be out there in those situations right now.'”

…

“It’s tough to swallow your pride a little bit,” Britton said. “I told him, 'I know what my track record is, but that doesn’t mean anything right now. I’m not where I want to be physically. I don’t want to lose games for the team in that spot. I feel like other guys deserve that job. (Jonathan Loaisiga and Chad Green) have been outstanding this year. They deserve every chance to close out games for us.'”

Britton is a standup dude and telling the manager you’re not cut out for the job is admirable, but also it shouldn’t be on the player to do this? The Yankees are essentially playing postseason games right now. They’re fighting for their season, and Boone can’t (or won’t) make the tough decisions that give the Yankees the best chance to win. Come on man.

To make matters worse, Boone used Britton in a save situation that very night. Three-run lead with the bottom of the order coming up (and the automatic runner on second), which is about as soft a high leverage landing spot as you could want for Albert Abreu or Stephen Ridings. Boone instead goes with the guy who is so lost that he was compelled to tell the manager he’s not cut out to pitch in close games. What are we even doing here?

Britton faced four batters Saturday, retired one (on a well-struck fly out), issued two four-pitch walks, and looked like he was actively trying to throw a wild pitch. He’s a mess, yet Boone left him in to face a fourth hitter (and load the bases with one out) rather than pull him after the minimum three hitters to give the next reliever as much margin for error as possible. I know it worked, but there wasn't enough urgency there with Britton obviously struggling.

The next afternoon Loaisiga came in to face the middle of the order with the tying run at the plate in the eighth (good!), then was removed after the Yankees scored two insurance runs. I didn’t like it. The bullpen has been so shaky and the Yankees have to nail down every winnable game that comes their way. Lucas Luetge made a mess of the ninth inning before Wandy Peralta bailed him out with a double play. No easy wins allowed.

“Every night for us, especially with how much we've had to lean on our bullpen, (the closer) just kind of remains a fluid situation,” Boone told Hoch on Saturday. “We'll continue to try and get Brit into more situations where we feel like he can be really successful. I still think he's going to play a huge role for us as we go down the stretch here. We’ve got to get him back to that point all the way.”

Britton was on the mound in the tenth inning Saturday because Green blew the save in the ninth, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think Green is using his curveball too much. He’s not actually throwing the pitch more than he was earlier this year …

… but he has thrown some real bad curveballs lately (like this, this, and this). How many times can you get beat on your second best pitch? Since July 1st, opponents are hitting .243 with a .595 SLG against Green’s curveball. That’s really bad. The league averages against curves are .210 and .357, respectively. Green has a great fastball. Use it more, my dude.

Anyway, the Yankees have a legitimate bullpen crisis at the moment. Using Loaisiga as the closer is the most straightforward solution, though that only rearranges the furniture. Someone still has to get big outs earlier in the game. Loaisiga did get the biggest outs Saturday (bases loaded in the sixth) and Sunday (middle of the order in the eighth), and using him in the game’s biggest moments is the right move. It also means someone else may have to close.

Aroldis Chapman threw a bullpen session yesterday and getting him back will help the bullpen, though he wasn’t exactly lights out before getting hurt. Maybe his issues were all related to the elbow problem and Chapman will come back good as new, and settle things down in the ninth inning? That would be ideal. It may also be unrealistic, but I’m hoping to be surprised.

Aside from Chapman’s April and May, he and Britton have been hurt and ineffective all year, and that is the crux of the bullpen problems. Their ineffectiveness has put more responsibility on Green and Loaisiga -- Green is on pace for 67 appearances and 84.2 innings after averaging 52 appearances and 71.2 innings from 2017-19 -- and Boone doesn’t seem to trust anyone else.

“A lot of people have had some heavy workloads and it’s been a grind of a season,” Boone told Greg Joyce following last night's win. “Obviously in some cases, especially lately, we’ve  had to lean on the bullpen a lot. It’s created opportunities for some guys to come in, in some big situations, and guys have picked each other up and performed.”

Two things need to happen to fix the bullpen. One, guys have to be better (Britton, Green) and guys have to get healthy (Chapman, Clay Holmes). That’s imperative. Hard to see the Yankees getting to the postseason (nevermind advancing in the postseason) with Britton and Chapman stinking it up and Green hanging curveballs the rest of the year. In the end, the Yankees need those guys to be their best relievers.

And two, someone else (preferably multiple someone elses) has to get big outs occasionally. Luetge did it earlier in the season but he’s crashed back to Earth the last few weeks (17 runs in 28.1 innings since the foreign substance crackdown), and isn’t as reliable now. Abreu and Peralta have stepped up lately. Can they keep it up, and can Joely Rodriguez do the same?

Putting players in position to succeed is not Boone’s strength (see: Abreu entering with the bases loaded Saturday rather than runners on first and second because Boone let Britton face that extra batter for some reason), so the bullpen situation worries me. It’s bad enough the relievers are pitching poorly. Boone calling the shots could make things worse.

The Yankees are winning despite their shaky bullpen and that’s really all that matters. Rack up wins and don’t worry about style points. I’m not sure bringing the tying run to the plate seemingly every inning when you have a lead is a sustainable strategy, so hopefully things improve soon. We haven’t had to sweat a bad bullpen in a long time now.

“I definitely think this can be a springboard for us going forward. A lot of guys stepped up and threw some big innings tonight," Green told Joyce following last night's win. " ... It’s no secret that we’ve struggled at times to close games out, to have clean innings, to get outs in big situations. But hopefully tonight’s that step in the right direction we need.”

3. Rizzo and Sanchez on the way back. The COVID cavalry is coming. Gerrit Cole rejoined the rotation last night and both Jordan Montgomery and Gary Sanchez will return today. We know that because Stephen Ridings and Rob Brantly were sent down after last night’s game. We know who’s taking their roster spots. (Luis Gil will presumably serve as the 27th man for today’s doubleheader.)

Anthony Rizzo is on the mend as well and could rejoin the Yankees soon. Before the end of the week, possibly. Rizzo went through the mandatory cardiac workup yesterday and could work out with the Yankees today. It’s unclear when he’ll be activated or whether he’ll go out on a minor league rehab assignment (Sanchez played five innings with Double-A Somerset over the weekend), but the point is Rizzo is doing better and getting closer to rejoining the Yankees.

“I know he continues to feel better each and every day. If everything goes well (during the cardiac workup), he will be here (Tuesday). It’s the first day he’s allowed to hopefully go through a full workout and everything," Aaron Boone told Brendan Kuty prior to yesterday's game. “I don’t think it would be too long but we want to see him and see how he’s feeling and listen to him. But hoping that he could come here tomorrow and have a full day of hitting and ground balls and all that.”

Because players on the COVID list do not count against the 40-man roster, the Yankees had to clear 26-man and 40-man spots for Montgomery and Sanchez. Demoting Brantly and Ridings accomplishes both, and because Brantly and Ridings were on the roster as COVID replacements, they don’t have to go through waivers to come off the 40-man roster.

Ridings has looked good in limited action and the obvious alternative to sending him down was designating Brody Koerner for assignment. Koerner hasn’t pitched in two weeks and he doesn’t have any sort of long-term future with the team. Ridings might. Right now though, the Yankees seem to be in “preserve depth” mode, and don’t want to risk losing Koerner on waivers. I get it.

As for Rizzo, I imagine the Yankees will drop Trey Amburgey to clear a 40-man spot (he’s a COVID replacement guy and won’t require waivers, and he is playing rehab games with Triple-A Scranton and can be activated off the 10-day injured list at any time) and send Jonathan Davis down to clear a 26-man roster spot. Send Davis down and the Yankees are left with a three-man bench: Kyle Higashioka, Andrew Velazquez, and Luke Voit. (Davis is in his last minor league option year. He can go down without waivers.)

Velazquez has only played the infield during his limited time with the Yankees, though he has a ton of experience in the outfield, so he’d provide coverage there. As for Voit, I think he should platoon with Brett Gardner. Gardner in center against righties and Voit at DH against lefties, with Aaron Judge in center and Giancarlo Stanton in the outfield. Easy enough, no?

Voit seems to be getting a bit pouty over his role -- “I’ve done so much for this organization, I didn’t think it was a possibility,” Voit told Dan Martin over the weekend when asked about losing the first base job to Rizzo -- but come on. He was barely healthy in the first half and he was ineffective when he was healthy. What were the Yankees supposed to do?

“When it first happened, I had just started playing games again. I was very frustrated and just in a bad place mentally,” Voit told Martin about the Rizzo trade. “... I know he’s a good player and a good dude. He told me the same thing happened when he was in San Diego and he got pushed to the side (by Jesus Guzman?!?). We’ve both got to do our jobs.”

Gardner is hitting .217/.360/.383 (111 wRC+) against righties since June 1st, which isn’t great, but is acceptable. Voit hasn’t really hit since returning from his latest injured list stint (7-for-32 with 12 strikeouts), but you can’t bench him entirely either. If he gets on a roll, Voit can carry the offense. Platoon him for now, and if he starts mashing, increase his playing time.

The important thing is the Yankees are getting their COVID guys back. Cole returned last night, Montgomery and Sanchez will be back today, and it sounds like Rizzo isn’t too far off. Once everyone comes back, the Yankees will have to figure out how to make all the pieces fit, and that’s fine. It’s about time they have more good players than lineup spots.

4. Severino’s setback. Just when we could see the light at the end of the rehab tunnel, Luis Severino suffered another setback in his return from Tommy John surgery. He was scratched from his scheduled rehab start with Triple-A Scranton on Friday*. I hoped it was a weather thing (the game was delayed by rain), but nope. Severino has a tight shoulder.

* Severino did warm up in anticipation of making the start Friday (here’s video). Director of Pitching Sam Briend noticed he wasn’t throwing free and easy, and shut him down. “Sam said something to him and Sevy didn’t really fight him on it. Just wasn't feeling quite right,” Aaron Boone told Marly Rivera over the weekend.

“I don’t want to go into it but we’ll see where we are tonight,” Boone told Scott Thompson prior to yesterday’s game. "He had his MRI today so we’ll get a good feel of that tonight.”

Boone did not have an update on Severino following the game -- “I do not, sorry,” he said when asked whether he had an update (video link) --  and when teams take a while to announce MRI results, it’s usually bad news. Good news comes out quickly, bad news comes out after multiple opinions*. I’m hoping for the best but am preparing for the worst.

* Jon Heyman says Severino's results are being sent for a second opinion. The Collective Bargaining Agreement allows players to request a second opinion from a doctor of their choosing, so while this isn't guaranteed bad news, it doesn't exactly scream "good news" either. Fingers crossed.

The best case scenario with something like this (shoulder inflammation, etc.) is usually a short shutdown period (7-10 days), then a return to throwing. The Yankees only have 44 games remaining, so even if the MRI brings good news, it might be best to bring Severino back as a reliever rather than spending all that time stretching him out. Time is running short.

As a reliever, Severino may have to work on a strict schedule (25-30 pitches every three days or something like that) so soon after Tommy John surgery, but that’s fine. It’s better than nothing. Severino could help as a reliever and the Yankees could certainly use the help in the bullpen. This latest setback may (should, I think) close the door on Severino as a starter in 2021.

If the MRI brings bad news (structural damage that requires an extended shutdown or surgery), then it is what it is. Pitchers break, and at least Severino was able to sign a nice contract before he broke down. He’s thrown only 20.1 innings the last three years (all in 2019, postseason included) and I was looking forward to seeing him this season. This setback and delay in announcing the MRI results make it much less likely we see Severino this year. What a bummer.

(For what it’s worth, Boone told Rivera that Severino likely would have made one more rehab start before rejoining the Yankees, though that wasn’t set in stone. They needed to see how he came out of Friday’s start, etc. Point is, Severino was very close to returning. Friday was going to be either his last or second to last rehab start.)

5. Looking around MLB. Over the last few days there have been some transactions around baseball that caught my attention and are kinda sorta maybe relevant to the Yankees. Let’s dig through them one by one real quick.

Rays sign Robertson

Former Yankee David Robertson is heading to Tampa. The Rays signed him to a Major League contract yesterday, reports Marc Topkin, and he’ll head to Triple-A for a quick tune-up. Because they signed him prior to 11:59pm ET on Aug. 31st, Robertson will be eligible for the postseason. As far as we know, the Yankees had no interest in signing him.

Robertson, now 36, missed most of 2019-20 with Tommy John surgery, and he was part of the silver medal winning USA team at the Olympics (two runs in three innings) earlier this month. I watched some Olympic baseball and he looked like the same ol’ David Robertson. The cutter was 91-ish mph on the television gun and the curveball is still a hammer.

The Yankees are having bullpen issues at the moment, and even if you’re not ready to trust Robertson in the late innings so soon after Tommy John surgery, there is no such thing as too much pitching depth. Robertson has already passed every “can he handle New York and the postseason?” test and signing him would’ve been a zero risk move. Alas.

For whatever reason the Yankees and Robertson did not part on good terms a few years ago (why Robertson alone was blamed for the postseason shares thing, I will never understand), so perhaps a reunion was never going to happen. That said, given the state of the bullpen and the fact Robertson was freely available, seeing him go to Tampa stinks.

Giants release Sanchez

At 77-42, the Giants have the best record in baseball and a comfortable-ish four-game lead in the NL West. They have more good players than roster spots, and last week they designated former Blue Jays righty Aaron Sanchez for assignment. The move cleared a roster spot for ace Kevin Gausman, who returned from the paternity list.

Sanchez is a bit of a personal favorite and he’s still only 29, and he wasn’t bad with the Giants. He threw 35.1 innings with a 3.06 ERA (4.06 FIP) around biceps and blister issues. Sanchez missed last season with shoulder surgery and came back missing about 4 mph this year. His sinker velocity by season:

• 2017: 95.3 mph average and 98.4 mph max
• 2018: 94.2 mph average and 97.6 mph max
• 2019: 93.5 mph average and 96.7 mph max (shoulder began aching in September)
• 2020: did not play (shoulder surgery)
• 2021: 90.4 mph average and 93.2 mph max

The strikeouts are down this year (16.7%) and the walk rate is a tad too high (9.6%), though Sanchez did get a good amount of ground balls (52.3%). That’s not an elite ground ball rate but it is comfortably above the MLB average (43.0%), and the Yankees are suddenly all about ground balls. Ground ball ability led them to Clay Holmes and Joely Rodriguez, for example.

In addition to ground balls, Sanchez did great work suppressing exit velocity this year. His 86.5 mph average exit velocity allowed is in the top 11% of baseball. He won’t miss bats or pitch deep into games (his average start was 4.7 innings and 75.7 pitches before the injuries, and he wasn’t fully stretched out when he returned), but he will get weak ground balls.

Sanchez cleared waivers over the weekend and was released, so any team can now sign him for the prorated league minimum (the Giants owe him the rest of his $4M salary). The Yankees got Gerrit Cole back last night and will get Jordan Montgomery back today, but Luis Severino just suffered another setback and Domingo German is still hurt, and Corey Kluber isn’t close to returning. The rotation remains thin.

The Yankees could sign Sanchez on the cheap and put him in the rotation tomorrow. Even if he can only give you three innings at this point, that would help during a bullpen game, and he may even be an upgrade over Andrew Heaney. Point is, Sanchez is cheap and he has a skill the Yankees covet in his ground ball ability. It’s not difficult to connect the dots.

It takes two to tango and I would understand Sanchez preferring a team that a) doesn’t play in a hitter’s ballpark in a hitter’s division, and b) is in better postseason position, though the Yankees could offer an immediate rotation spot, even with Cole and Montgomery returning. Heaney shouldn’t stand in the way of anyone at this point, and the more pitching depth, the better.

Pick Sanchez up, put him in the rotation (over Heaney, if necessary), and see what happens. If it doesn’t work, try him in the bullpen (the Yankees could use help there too), and if that doesn’t work, the Yankees could simply release him. It would be very easy to cut bait given the prorated league minimum salary. I’m not expecting it to happen, but it wouldn’t be a terrible idea.

Giants extend Crawford

In other Giants news, they signed stalwart shortstop Brandon Crawford to a two-year extension worth $32M last week. He’s having a monster season (.306/.371/.547 and 142 wRC+) that actually dates back to last year, and there are swing changes that suggest the resurgence is for real, even at age 34. Crawford is barreling the ball up more than ever.

For the Giants, the extension makes perfect sense. They need a short-term shortstop until top prospect Marco Luciano is ready, and who better than the productive homegrown player (Crawford grew up in the Bay Area and was drafted by the Giants) to be that stopgap? And it works for Crawford too. He stays with a contender in his hometown. A win-win.

I’m mentioning this here because I thought Crawford could’ve been a potential free agent target for the Yankees after the season. The upcoming free agent class is loaded with big name shortstops, though the shine on the free agent class has dimmed a bit. To wit:

• Javier Baez: Having just an okay year, and extreme plate indiscipline concerns linger.
• Carlos Correa: Having a great year (albeit with a poor second half).
• Francisco Lindor: Took himself off the market with a long-term extension.
• Corey Seager: Missed most of the year with an injury.
• Trevor Story: Having a down year.

I’m not sure the Yankees have the appetite for another big money long-term contract, and if they are going to steer clear of the top free agent shortstops, Crawford would have made sense as an alternative. Resurgent lefty hitter, still a quality defender, veteran guy with postseason chops, short-term deal given his age, etc. Lots to like there.

Also, Crawford is Gerrit Cole’s brother-in-law (Cole is married to Crawford’s sister), and maybe that connection could’ve worked to the Yankees advantage. Had Crawford become a free agent, it likely would have been because the Giants indicated they’re moving on, so he would’ve had to find a new team anyway. The Yankees could offer a familiar face in the clubhouse.

Crawford is no longer an option now. He opted for an extension with the Giants and I totally get it. I’m not sure what the Yankees will do at short next season, though I think it’s more likely they stick with Gleyber Torres than drop nine figures on Baez, Correa, Seager, or Story. Potential stopgaps include Freddy Galvis, Jose Iglesias, and Andrelton Simmons. Yuck.

Red Sox claim Shaw

Last week the Brewers placed corner infielder Travis Shaw on outright waivers and, over the weekend, the Red Sox claimed him. That was a surprise. Boston took on the $500,000 or so remaining on Shaw’s contract (I assumed he would clear waivers because of the money) and they’re expected to have him on the active roster for today’s doubleheader in the Bronx.

Shaw hit .191/.279/.337 (68 wRC+) with six homers in 202 plate appearances before dislocating his shoulder diving for a ball, though he’s healthy now, and Milwaukee cut him loose rather than bring him back from the injured list. They’ve since replaced him with Rowdy Tellez at first base and Eduardo Escobar at third, so Shaw was a man without a roster spot.

As bad as he’s been the last three years (66 wRC+ overall and 74 wRC+ against righties), Shaw is a lefty who pulls the ball with exit velocity, and I thought he might interest the Yankees had he cleared waivers and been available for the prorated league minimum. Gio Urshela is at least a week away from returning and the Yankees are not particularly deep on the infield.

Shaw is almost certainly a worse player than Rougned Odor at this point, but he would’ve been a zero cost corner infield option at a time when the Yankees are without Urshela and also Anthony Rizzo. I’m not upset the Yankees missed out on him -- the Red Sox getting Shaw tells us the Yankees didn’t claim him on waivers -- I’m just saying he could’ve been an option.

6. Remembering a random Yankee: Jim Brower. By request, this week’s random Yankee is a pitcher who had us all grumbling (albeit briefly) because he was called up over Joba Chamberlain in 2007. Here’s the random Yankee archive. You can find links back to everyone we've covered there.

Brower grew up in Minneapolis and was a sixth round pick out of the University of Minnesota by the Rangers in 1994. He reached Triple-A in 1997, though apparently Texas was unimpressed, and Brower was released before the minor league season in April 1998. Cleveland signed him a few days later, and he made his MLB debut with the club as a 26-year-old Sept. call up in 1999.

Very quickly, Brower became a journeyman. He spent 2000 as an up and down depth arm with Cleveland, 2001 in the Reds bullpen after being traded for Ed Taubensee, and 2002 with the Reds and Expos after a midseason trade for Bruce Chen. Those three years Brower pitched to a 4.60 ERA in 271.2 innings spread across 21 starts and 94 relief appearances.

In March 2003, the Expos sent Brower to the Giants as part of the four-player Livan Hernandez trade, and at age 30, Brower finally found consistent MLB success. He pitched to a 3.64 ERA in 193 innings with San Francisco from 2003-04. Brower led MLB with 89 appearances in 2004. Only one righty has appeared in that many games since (Salomon Torres with 94 in 2006).

"They were going after bullpen help and they got the premier guy," Brower told Hank Schulman after the Giants signed Armando Benitez in Dec. 2004. Benitez was set to take over as San Francisco’s closer, a job some speculated could go to Brower.

The 2005 season was a grind. Brower allowed 22 runs in 30.1 innings with the Giants, which was bad enough that they released him in June. That forced Brower back into journeyman duty and he bounced from the Giants to the Braves to the Orioles to the Padres to the Marlins (minor leagues only with the Marlins) from 2005-06. Five organizations in 15 months.

Brower signed a minor league deal with the Pirates in Dec. 2006, but after only six appearances with their Triple-A affiliate, he was given his release. Pittsburgh released Brower on April 25th, 2007. The Yankees signed him to a minor league contract on May 5th and added him to a veteran-laden Triple-A Scranton pitching staff (Runelvys Hernandez! Kei Igawa! Scott Williamson!).

With Scranton, Brower was lights out, pitching to a 2.27 ERA in 47.2 innings and earning a trip to the Triple-A All-Star Game. The big league team, meanwhile, was trying to find a reliable bridge to Mariano Rivera all season. Kyle Farnsworth, Scott Proctor, Luis Vizcaino, and random Yankee Brian Bruney all took turns as the setup man and none ran with the job.

Lefty specialist Mike Myers had a shiny 2.66 ERA in 40.2 innings that season, though lefties hit .312/.379/.442 against him, and that wasn’t going to cut it. The Yankees designated Myers for assignment on Aug. 6th and summoned Brower to take his roster spot. At the time, we were all pining for Chamberlain, who was ripping through the minors.

“The experience Brower has, and also the fact that he can pitch multiple innings, three days in a row, he can do a lot of things,” then-manager Joe Torre told Tyler Kepner. “He gives us some durability. We’ve had days when we’ve had to dip into that bullpen a lot.”

We didn’t have to wait long for Joba -- he was called up the next day -- and Brower didn’t have to wait long to get thrown into the fire. He made his Yankees debut the day he was called up and was brought in to replace Andy Pettitte with two on, two outs, and a two-run lead in the sixth inning in Toronto. Brower got Reed Johnson to line out to end the inning.

“It’s been the best season I’ve ever had in 14 professional seasons,” Brower, then 34, told Kepner after the game. (Brower started the seventh inning and was pulled after allowing a leadoff single to Alex Rios. Vizcaino came in and got a double play to escape the jam).

Brower was right back at it the next night, allowing two runs (one inherited and one his own) in an inning in a blowout win. He did not pitch again until a week later, when the Orioles jumped on Jeff Karstens for five runs in three innings. Brower took over in the fourth and allowed six runs (four earned) in two innings. He threw 51 pitches in what became a lopsided loss.

“Since I’ve been (in baseball), the hitting has been contagious,” Brower told Kepner about letting the game get out of hand. “You get into that, and how do you get out of it? That’s the trick.”

Brower did not get a chance to get out of it. He and Karstens were sent down the next day to make room for fresh arms (Sean Henn and random Yankee Edwar Ramirez). As a player with 5+ years of service time, Brower could have refused the optional assignment to Triple-A and elected free agency, but he accepted it and reported to Scranton.

Being a good soldier and accepting the Triple-A assignment didn’t buy Brower much time. The Yankees released him two weeks later on Aug. 31st to clear 40-man roster space for Sept. call ups (Ian Kennedy was the big name, though the Yankees also needed 40-man space to activate random Yankee Doug Mientkiewicz and random Yankee Jose Veras off the 60-day injured list).

In three appearances with the Yankees, Brower allowed seven runs (five earned) in 3.1 innings. He had one good game (the first), one okay game (the second), and one bad game (the last). Brower faced 21 batters as a Yankee and struck out one. 724 Yankees have faced at least 20 batters and Brower is one of only 14 with no more than one strikeout.

Brower did not hook on with another team in 2007 despite his Triple-A success and that disaster game against the Orioles proved to be his final MLB appearance. He split 2008 between Triple-A (Astros, Cubs, Reds) and Japan (Hiroshima Carp), and 2009 between two independent teams. Brower finished his career in the Italian Baseball League in 2010.

Once his playing career ended, Brower jumped into coaching. He was a minor league pitching coach with the Royals from 2011-15 and a minor league pitching coordinator with the Cubs from 2016-17. Brower was the Mariners bullpen coach in 2018 and 2019, and these days he owns and operates Brower Baseball, an analytically-inclined training facility in Minnesota.

7. Rapid fire thoughts. Clint Frazier was placed on the 60-day injured list to clear a 40-man roster spot for Gerrit Cole yesterday (Brooks Kriske was sent down to clear a 26-man roster spot). Frazier started a rehab assignment last week, but he pulled himself from Sunday’s lineup after experiencing the same symptoms that sent him to the injured list in the first place. "Just didn't feel like he was good enough to post. Decided to pull the plug. We applaud him for making that decision,” Aaron Boone told Max Goodman. The Yankees have been secretive about the nature of Clint’s injury but the little we do know (vision issues, neurological tests, etc.) make me worry about another concussion. He has a history with them and brain issues are never good. Frazier can be activated as soon as Aug. 30th, though at this point I just hope he’s able to get better. This doesn’t sound good at all ... Welcome back, Sal Romano. Tri-State Sal elected free agency after being designated for assignment by the Brewers over the weekend, and the Yankees signed him to a minor league deal the next day. Triple-A Scranton’s pitching staff is thin because of all the COVID callups, so the RailRiders just needed a body. The Yankees originally signed Romano after the Reds released him, then lost him on waivers to the Brewers (he was cut loose to clear a 40-man roster spot for Andrew Heaney). He allowed four runs in one inning with Milwaukee. Romano has thrown 2.1 scoreless innings with the Yankees and allowed 18 runs in 21.2 innings with the Not Yankees in 2021. I guess Romano can only handle New York … And finally, are the White Sox good? I mean, obviously they’re good, but are they a legitimate powerhouse? The AL Central is the division of frauds -- AL Central teams are 3-16 in the postseason since Cleveland went to the 2016 World Series (and 1-16 since Cleveland took a 2-0 series lead in the 2017 ALDS) -- and the White Sox have played only 38 games against teams with winning records. 38! That’s 32% of their schedule. The Yankees have played 72 games against winning teams, or 61% of their schedule. I dunno, man. Chicago is good. I also would not be surprised to see them carry on the AL Central tradition of being a doormat in October

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