August 6th, 2021: COVID, Gallo, Debuts, Odor, Davis, Prospects, Schedule, Mailbag

At 13-6, the Yankees have the best record in the American League since the All-Star break. It hasn’t always been easy or pretty, but the Yankees have put themselves in position to win the second Wild Card spot (one back of the Athletics in the loss column) and think about a run at the AL East title (five back of the Rays). The 2021 Yankees in GIF form (GIF link):

The Italians have kept hope alive. The Yankees are on pace to go 88-74 with 54 games remaining. Exactly one-third of the season to go. Let’s get to today’s thoughts.

1. Weekday observations. The Yankees scored 10+ runs in back-to-back games for the first time this season earlier this week. It was only the fourth and fifth times they scored double-digit runs this year. They did it nine times in the 60-game season a year ago, and at one point in Sept. 2019, they did it five times in the span of 11 games. I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for more blowout wins. All these close games are exhausting. Some thoughts on the last few games.

Montgomery and Sanchez to COVID-19 list

I guess the only thing Gary Sanchez is allowed to catch from Gerrit Cole is COVID. The Pinstripe Variant is making its way through the clubhouse and the Yankees have another COVID outbreak (third of the season!) on their hands. Cole tested positive Monday, Jordan Montgomery tested positive Tuesday, and Sanchez tested positive Thursday.

“I think everyone can understand, that’s certainly a challenge and difficult,” Aaron Boone told Greg Joyce earlier this week. “Certainly feel for Gerrit and Monty in this situation, guys that are obviously in the midst of great seasons for us and integral parts of this team. So feel for them having to go sit out when, generally speaking, they’re feeling pretty well.”

The Yankees just spent a week in Florida and cases are spiking in the state, so maybe that contributed to their outbreak? Then again, the Marlins and Rays play there full-time, and other teams that played there recently haven’t had issues. The Yankees received the Johnson & Johnson single-shot vaccine earlier this year and boy, these outbreaks aren’t exactly a ringing endorsement for J&J (Pfizer Pfam represent).

“I guess I’m little concerned about everything, but we just got to do keep doing the best we can,” Boone told Larry Fleisher yesterday. “We were in Florida this past week and that’s been one of the places with some rising cases and things like that. So I’m sure that could have played a role, but it’s hard to know who contracted what, when, and how.”

Anyway, Cole, Montgomery, and Sanchez are all vaccinated and showing mild symptoms. There are protocols that allow vaccinated players to return before the end of their 10-day quarantine period, though that doesn’t guarantee they’ll return sooner. Wandy Peralta is vaccinated and he missed nearly three weeks. Hopefully these guys get healthy soon and can return quickly.

In the short-term, the Yankees are down two of their best pitchers and their starting catcher. Luis Gil (more on him in a bit) did a great Gerrit Cole impression filling in for Cole earlier this week, and the Yankees seem are going with a bullpen game in Montgomery’s spot tonight. Rob Brantly was called up to replace Sanchez, though Kyle Higashioka will be the starter in the interim.

Maybe the pause is a good thing for Cole and Montgomery? I mean, the virus sucks, that’s very obviously bad, though the 10-day breather could be coming at a good time. It seems a few guys around the league are hitting a wall (Yu Darvish, Carlos Rodon, Taijuan Walker, etc.) after the short season a year ago. Cole and Montgomery get a break with their workloads climbing.

"Not to make light of that situation, but it’s a nice 10 days where hopefully that can diminish some of the work that we’re building on them because both of those guys were chugging along for 150+ innings," pitching coach Matt Blake told Andrew Tredinnick earlier this week. "Each of them has had their dog days in June or July where they didn’t feel great and went out there and tried to post for us. I think we’re looking at it right now where everybody’s got to take the ball when it’s their turn and we’re fighting for a Wild Card and the division, and ultimately we’re going to monitor where they’re at and not put them in harm’s risk."

The Yankees may have more positive tests trickle in the next few days because that’s just how the virus works, and that’s how these team outbreaks have gone the last two years. Hopefully the outbreak ends with Cole, Montgomery, and Sanchez and they recover well. That’s the most important thing. After that, the sooner they get back on the field, the better it will be for the Yankees and their postseason chase.

Gallo’s breakout game

Anthony Rizzo’s hot start with the Yankees took some heat off Joey Gallo, who went into last night’s game 2-for-23 (.087) since the trade. Gallo had his breakout game last night, going 3-for-4 with two doubles and the game-winning three-run home run. It was a titanic shot. The hang time was insane (video). Make this the new MLB logo:

“I had a couple friends from Texas text me and say, ‘Hey, that’s an F9 in Texas, that’s an out,’” Gallo told Betelhem Ashame after the game. “And I was like, ‘Yeah, but we’re not in Texas anymore.’”

Statcast says Gallo’s home run would’ve been a homer in 10 MLB parks, which is nine more than I would’ve guessed. When the ball was in flight, I didn’t know if it would plop into the short porch, land halfway up the second deck, hook foul, drop into play, or be caught. It was up there so long -- the 48-degree launch angle is the highest for a Yankees homer in the Statcast era -- and the anticipation kept building. What a fun home run. What a great moment.

“I was just hoping that it would stay fair, and I was hoping that it would get out,” Gallo told Ashame. “And once I saw it get out, I was overcome with emotion a little bit. It was such a big at-bat in a big moment. You could feel that it could be a game-changing at-bat. I was happy I was able to come through and help the team win.”

Gallo’s game-winning blast was made possible by Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, who kept the inning alive with two-out, two-strike singles against Paul Sewald, who has held righties to a .173/.225/.253 line this year and all hitters to a .129/.198/.172 line with two strikes. He’s the kinda funky low slot righty with a killer slider who can eat up Judge and Stanton. Instead, they battled, they singled, then they scored on Gallo’s home run.

We’re still waiting on Gallo’s first single as a Yankee. He has four doubles and one dinger. He’s the first player whose first five hits with the Yankees are extra-base hits since … Mike Tauchman? Mike Tauchman. Before him it was Stanton, and before him it was Tony Clark. That sure is a collection of guys. Welcome to the Yankees, Joey. Enjoy the short porch.

“The 10-year-old me would be crying right now and not believing what’s going on,” Gallo told Ashame. “It’s really crazy. It’s something that I have to like, take a step back from and be like ‘I’m at Yankee Stadium, getting a curtain call from Yankees fans.’ It’s crazy to me. It’s just an honor to play for this organization and help them win.”

The Gil(a) Monster

In his most recent Triple-A start, Luis Gil allowed six runs on two hits and four walks in only 1.1 innings. So of course he goes out and dominates an admittedly weak Orioles lineup in his MLB debut Tuesday night. Gil was incredibly sharp, sharper than I think even the Yankees expected given his career long control issues, and the fastball/slider combo gave off Luis Severino vibes.

“I was so excited. I called my family, I barely slept. The emotions and everything I felt were going through my head,” Gil told Bill Ladson about making his MLB debut. “I prayed a lot. I asked for guidance, because I knew I was going to be nervous. Thankfully, I was able to relax. Thank God, myself and the team were able to work together very well.”

Gil was as advertised. He sat mid-to-upper-90s with his fastball, and the slider he picked up at the alternate site last year was very good too. Both pitches had well above-average spin rates as well, which is significant in the foreign substance crackdown era. Guys who can spin the ball naturally are that much more valuable. Also, look at the changeup (video link):

93 mph with that much movement? *old man voice* Back in my day that was a sinker, not a changeup. Gil missed bats in and above the zone with his fastball, and he painted the corners with his slider at times. Got away with some hangers, sure, but when hitters have to respect your fastball velocity, you can get away with hanging a slider now and then.

Fatigue definitely began to set in as Gil’s pitch count climbed. He started missing up and above the zone in that sixth inning, and his fastball velocity dipped too. Gil went from sitting 98 mph in the first inning to topping out at 95 mph in the sixth. His fastball velocity by inning:

Gil threw 13 changeups, though most were well out of the zone for easy takes, and he had just the one swing and miss with the pitch. Ultimately, the changeup and the ability to throw strikes consistently will determine whether Gil remains a starter or moves to the bullpen. Given what he showed Tuesday, he’ll get every chance to start. It’s a million dollar arm, easy.

“He was getting (strike one) all night. He was able to land his breaking ball and threw some good changeups too,” Boone told Ladson after the game. “So he had a presence with his secondary pitches. As we talked about before the game, the fastball really plays. It’s great velocity and it has great characteristics. He was pounding the strike zone.”

Gil threw 62 of his 88 pitches for strikes, or 70.4%. That essentially ties his career high strike rate (70.5% on May 16th, 2019) and is only the second time in 38 full season league starts that he threw at least 70% strikes. Go figure, huh? The guy with a 13.5% walk rate in the minors this year (13.8% in his career) became an aggressive strike-thrower in the big leagues. This sport, man.

James Smyth says Gil is only the eighth Yankees pitcher to throw six shutout innings in his MLB debut and only the second in the last 87 years (!?), joining random Yankee Sam Militello on Aug. 9th, 1992. The Yankees really needed it too. The rotation has been decimated and the bullpen had been taxed going into the game. A great performance at a great time. A season highlight, for sure.

“I feel so proud because of all the work that I’ve done and because of my family. They’ve always been there for me and they’ve offered a lot of support for so many years,” Gil told Ken Davidoff after the game. “I’m hoping this is just the beginning and we can keep working together the way we did tonight.”

(The Yankees sent Gil to Triple-A after the game but that’s nothing. He was on the roster as a COVID replacement and the 10-day rule doesn’t apply to COVID replacements. The Yankees sent Gil down to buy an extra roster spot for a few days. He’ll be back to make his scheduled start Sunday. The Yankees confirmed it.)

Ridings and Koerner debut

Gil started Tuesday’s game, then righties Stephen Ridings and Brody Koerner came out of the bullpen to close out the blowout win. All three made their MLB debuts. Pretty good day for the RailRiders pitching staff, eh? A few fun facts about the three debuts:

• First time in American League history a team used at least three pitchers in a game and every single pitcher in the game made his MLB debut.
• Second time in Yankees history they had three pitchers make their MLB debut in the same game. Lew Burdette, Dave Madison, and Ernie Nevel did it on Sept., 26th, 1950.
• Only the 11th time in Yankees history they had even two pitchers make their MLB debut in the same game, and the first time since Chad Green and Conor Mullee on May 16th, 2016.
• First time the Yankees had three players make their MLB debut in the same game since Francisco Cervelli, random Yankee Juan Miranda, and random Yankee Humberto Sanchez on Sept. 18th, 2008.

"I think there’s a lot of unknowns going into the day,” Blake told Tredinnick. "Obviously excited that you have some guys that are talented that earned an opportunity to come up for us. With everything that’s going on, you’re not sure what’s going to unfold in front of you. Ultimately, we got a 98th percentile outcome with Luis going six innings and Ridings getting in and Koerner getting to finish it for us."

Ridings was electric. The Yankees signed the 25-year-old behemoth (listed at 6-foot-8 and 220 lbs.) as a minor league free agent in January and he went four up, three down, three strikeouts in his debut. Ridings threw 11 fastballs, averaging 99 mph and touching 101 mph, and got seven misses on 10 swings (!). My man has his post-strikeout strut down too (video link):

Hell yes, Stephen. That’s how you do it. Why act like you’ve been there before when you haven’t?

Ridings is having an incredible minor league season (1.24 ERA and 2.19 FIP with 42 strikeouts and only four walks in 29 innings), and when I wrote about him a few weeks ago, I noted the scouting report said he was basically all fastball. The slider looked pretty good the other night though. Guess the scouting reports were wrong.

“This was our first time seeing him in person, and the stuff was impressive,” Boone told Joyce after the game. “He had a little emotion with it. Had a little strut out there.”

Ridings spent three years pitching (poorly) in the Cubs and Royals farm systems before getting released last year. He apparently worked as a substitute chemistry teacher in Florida before hooking on with the Yankees (this is not the Breaking Bad reboot I expected), and his grandmother passed away Monday, the day before his debut. It’s been an emotional week.

“To be able to have this moment with my family in the stands was very special,” Ridings, a native New Yorker from Huntington out on Long Island, told Joyce. “In the midst of my family trying to figure out funeral plans and wakes and dealing with all that, getting the call today and having this moment with them was indescribable.”

Ridings is on the roster as a COVID replacement, so he’s going back to Triple-A and coming off the 40-man roster at some point. We’ll see him again though, either later this year or next year. Ridings has earned an offseason 40-man spot (he’s Rule 5 Draft eligible) with his minor league season and MLB debut. Hard to believe the Yankees found an arm like this on the scrap heap.

Gil and Ridings were the stars of the show Tuesday. Koerner debuted as well and I love stories like him. He’s a minor league lifer -- the soon-to-be 28-year-old was a 17th round pick in 2015 and he’s unceremoniously climbed the ladder the last few years -- getting a taste of the show, even if he was only an emergency short-term call up. That’s still pretty cool.

“It’s been a whirlwind to be honest with you. The last 24 hours have been crazy. It culminated with being able to pitch in Yankee Stadium. It’s a blessing from God for sure,” Koerner said after Tuesday’s game (video). “It was awesome. It was a lot of fun. That's what you dream of when you're a little kid when you start playing when you're five years old.”

With all due respect, Koerner is a generic righty who was slinging upper-80s sinkers and iffy secondary stuff (cutters, sliders, changeups, etc.) in his debut. He has a 4.85 ERA with a 17.0% strikeout rate in 209.2 career Triple-A innings spread across three seasons. Koerner is not a prospect, but he is a big leaguer. Two innings in Yankee Stadium is more than I’ll ever throw.

Koerner is not a COVID replacement. He’s a regular old call up. The Yankees used Cole’s and Montgomery’s spots on Gil (so they could dance around the 10-day rule) and Ridings (because they’re not ready to give him a full-time 40-man spot just yet), so when the time comes, Koerner will go through waivers and be removed from the 40-man. The Yankees are not worried about losing him like they would be with Ridings.

Koerner mostly worked as a starter in Triple-A, so he could see a few innings in tonight's bullpen game. I guess we’ll find out in a few hours. He did not wow like Gil and Ridings the other night, but the Yankees are desperate for pitching right now, and Koerner is getting a look. Good for him. Better for the Yankees if he pitches well.

Odor at the hot corner

Gio Urshela is out with a hamstring injury and the Yankees don’t want DJ LeMahieu to make long throws as he nurses a triceps issue (and they don’t want to play Tyler Wade more than necessary), so Rougned Odor has taken over at third base. It’s the first time he’s played a position other than second in his MLB career.

"I'm just ready to play baseball. I'm not worried about (where I play)," Odor told Chris Halicke in Spring Training, after the Rangers told him he wouldn’t be their second baseman. “... That's (the manager’s) job, to put me wherever he thinks I can help make the team better. I'm just focused right now on baseball. I'm ready to go. I'm positive right now. I don't want to be thinking too much about other things.”

Odor played 57 innings at third base in Spring Training, then he didn’t play the position again until this past weekend in Miami. So far, it’s going well. His inexperience has shown at times, mostly when he takes his time making a throw (like this) because his internal clock is wired for second base, but he’s made all the plays he should make. All you can ask in this situation.

Barring other injuries (always possible), the Yankees will have to make room on the roster for Urshela and Luke Voit in the coming weeks. If Odor can play third, it makes it easier to send Wade down, because you’ll have a little more coverage on the infield. That said, if Urshela’s hamstring won’t allow him (or the Yankees don’t want him) to play short, Wade has to stay.

We can worry about who stays and who goes and how the roster shakes out when the injured guys get healthy and actually return. The more versatility, the better, and Odor was a second base only guy up until last week. The ability to play third competently is nothing but a positive and it opens the door for the Yankees to do some other things with their bench.

Yankees claim Davis

Welcome to the Yankees, Jonathan Davis. Not quite sure why you’re here, but you are, so let’s both make the best of it, mmmkay? The Yankees claimed Davis, 29, off waivers from the Blue Jays earlier this week. Toronto designated him for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for Joakim Soria at the trade deadline last week.

"He can play all three outfield positions and really run," Boone told Tredinnick. "We’re in 2021 where there’s no waiver wire trade deadline moving forward. I thought this was a good job by our guys of getting us some more depth to cover yourself as we move forward in these final couple months."

Davis is a classic Quad-A guy. He’s a .256/.357/.421 (110 wRC+) hitter with 15 home runs and 21 steals in parts of three Triple-A seasons and a career .182/.284/.263 (54 wRC+) hitter in 245 big league plate appearances scattered across the last four seasons. Davis is a good defender who can play center. That’s the best thing he has to offer, his defense.

The Yankees put Davis on the active roster prior to Wednesday’s game, then returned Greg Allen to Triple-A after the game (Peralta took Allen’s spot yesterday). Allen hasn’t played or hit much since his fast start (6-for-29 (.207) in his last 11 games) but I’d rather have him than Davis. I also don’t care enough about the fourth outfielder to belabor the point.

This seems like one of those “the Yankees like Davis more than we realize” situations, so he’s on the roster, and seems likely to platoon with Brett Gardner. Davis hasn’t hit lefties well in his career (74 wRC+), though he’s hit them better than Allen (career 52 wRC+ in a much larger sample) even though Allen is a switch-hitter. The numbers say Davis is faster and the better defender too.

“That was obviously very difficult, just because of -- first and  foremost, what a good pro he’s been in the room -- but also he’s performed  and helped us win games," Boone told Joyce about the decision to send Allen down. "... I can very much see (Allen) being back with us at some point, especially considering how he’s performed for us. So it’s  essentially getting a good right-handed hitter that we feel like can  platoon with (Gardner) out there and still build up our depth moving forward.”

Davis used his final minor league option with the Blue Jays earlier this year, so the Yankees can easily send him to Triple-A. I imagine that will happen when Urshela or Voit returns, and definitely once both return (assuming no other injuries). So the Yankees have a new fourth outfielder. He’s fast, he’s good defensively, and he can’t hit. Fourth outfielders in a nutshell.

2. Prospect thoughts. FanGraphs updated their farm system rankings following the draft and trade deadline and the Yankees only dropped two spots, from No. 11 to No. 13. Considering how much talent they traded away (six of my top 30 prospects) and Deivi Garcia’s regression, I expected them to drop further. It’s been a very good year in the system overall though. Lots of breakouts. Here are a few thoughts on a few prospects.

Vasquez’s breakout season

Right-hander Randy Vasquez is having a breakout season, so much so that he was rumored to be on the move at the trade deadline (he was reportedly involved in early iterations of the Joey Gallo trade). I haven’t written about him at all this year and it’s time to rectify that. The basics:

• Age: 22 (turns 23 in November)
• Acquired: Signed as an international amateur free agent out of the Dominican Republic in May 2018 ($10,000 bonus)
• 2021 stats: 2.54 ERA (3.02 FIP) with 30.1 K% and 9.9 BB% in 67.1 IP split between Low-A and High-A

The pre-2021 report on Vasquez said he was a low-90s fastball guy with big spin rates, though he’s added velocity this year. Statcast data from his time with Low-A Tampa says his fastball sat 94.4 mph and topped out at 96.8 mph, and his spin rates are indeed huge: 2,472 rpm average fastball (3,415 rpm max) and 3,087 rpm average curveball (3,420 rpm max). Yeesh.

MLB cracked down on foreign substances in the minors weeks before they did at the big league level (four minor leaguers were suspended in early June), so Vasquez is generating that spin naturally (in theory). As you’d expect with those spin rates, his stuff is visually stunning. His ball moves all over the place (GIF via Trevor Hooth):

Vasquez landed in MLB.com’s top 30 Yankees prospects following the trade deadline purge and their scouting report echoes everything I said above. Improved velocity, big spin, etc. They add his changeup and control are only so-so, which may land him in the bullpen. “He has the stuff to dominate in short stints, with his curveball effective against both lefties and righties,” they write.

There are some Jonathan Loaisiga vibes here as an undersized (Vasquez is listed at 6-foot-0) righty with big velocity and spin who came out of nowhere. The Yankees signed Loaisiga out of a tryout camp. Vasquez signed at 19, which is ancient for an international amateur free agent. Fast forward a few years and he’s throwing bullets in the minors, and apparently a trade chip.

Vasquez will be Rule 5 Draft eligible this offseason and I gotta say, the Yankees trading Ezequiel Duran and Alex Vizcaino (in part) to clear 40-man space for Vasquez and Stephen Ridings is not something I saw coming this year. I’m not sure Vasquez can start long-term, but his stuff is plenty good enough to get outs in some capacity. He’s become a keeper this year.

(Vasquez got hit by a broken bat during his start earlier this week, though apparently he came out of that fine, and even remained in the game.)

Pereira’s arrival

Along with Vasquez, outfielder Everson Pereira was also in early iterations of the Gallo trade. He ultimately remained with the Yankees. It feels like the 20-year-old has been in the system forever, though he came into the season with only 59 career games played due to injuries and the pandemic. That’s a lot of lost development time at a crucial age.

Pereira is making up for that lost time this year. The Yankees have promoted him aggressively -- Pereira started the year in Extended Spring Training, then played three games in the Florida Complex League and 19 with High-A Tampa before moving up to High-A Hudson Valley -- and he’s responded with a .340/.426/.638 (180 wRC+) line and six homers in 108 plate appearances.

Those six home runs are nearly double his career total coming into the season (four in 217 plate appearances), and because Pereira spent time with Low-A Tampa, we have Statcast data. His 37.3% chase rate is high and his 89.7 mph average exit velocity is good but not elite, though his max exit velocity is 110.9 mph, and that’s pretty damn good for a 20-year-old. Some max exit velocities:

• Everson Pereira: 110.9 mph
• Austin Wells: 109.9 mph
• Trevor Hauver: 109.6 mph
• Anthony Volpe: 108.3 mph

In his short time with Tampa (only 83 plate appearances), Pereira managed to hit a ball harder than Hauver and Wells, two college guys several years Pereira’s senior, as well as Volpe, the farm system’s darling this year. I know we all have exit velocity fatigue but it is valuable and you can’t fake it. Hitting a ball 110+ mph as a 20-year-old with little experience is damn impressive.

The 37.3% chase rate and 26.9% strikeout rate are eyesores, though MLB.com’s scouting report says those numbers “reflect his youth and facing much older pitchers rather than his true hitting ability.” Again, it feels like Pereira has been around forever, but he’s only 20. He’s only nine months older than Jordan Lawlar, the No. 6 pick in this year's draft. I get it though. Prospect fatigue is real.

I had Pereira as the No. 9 prospect in the system last year and No. 19 this year, after he spent the pandemic season at home. Reports indicate the tools are unchanged though -- Pereira has always been billed as a guy with good tools whose whole would be greater than the sum of the parts because of his baseball smarts -- and now we’re finally getting some performance.

Pereira will be Rule 5 Draft eligible after the season and tying up a 40-man spot on a soon-to-be 21-year-old outfielder who likely won’t help until 2023 at the earliest isn’t ideal. That said, you have to bet on a rebuilding team stashing Pereira on the bench for a year, like the Padres and Luis Torrens. A guy like this would never get picked in the past. Now he might be the No. 1 pick in the Rule 5 Draft.

I’m not sure what the Yankees will do with Pereira after the season, and the fact he popped up in trade rumors last month could indicate they’re on the fence about adding him to the 40-man roster (the same applies to Vasquez). We’ll find out in a few months. For now, Pereira is having that long-awaited breakout season. He missed a lot of time to fluke injuries and the pandemic, but is starting to put it together.

Cabrera’s reinvention

Infielder Oswaldo Cabrera has been on the prospect radar for a while now. Well, no, he was on the radar once upon a time, then he dropped off because he never took a step forward. I had him as a top 30 prospect in 2018 and so did Baseball America. Cabrera then hit .244/.291/.384 (86 wRC+) at two Single-A levels from 2018-19, and that was that.

This year though, the 22-year-old Cabrera is reemerging as a prospect, and he’s doing so as a different hitter. He’s authored a .255/.308/.483 (110 wRC+) batting line with Double-A Somerset, and his 14 home runs equal his 2018-19 output in 704 fewer plate appearances. Cabrera jumped into MLB.com’s top 30 Yankees prospects after the trade deadline. Here’s a snippet of their scouting report:

A switch-hitter, Cabrera demonstrated bat-to-ball skills as an amateur but didn't provide much impact at the plate before 2021. He has added some much-needed strength and is using his legs more in his swing, enabling him to drive the ball better than ever. He has adopted a more aggressive approach, which cuts into his walk totals.

Baseball America (subs. req’d) has Cabrera in their midseason top 30 Yankees prospects as well, and they say he “emerged from the shutdown a much stronger player, and the results have shown on the field since minor league spring training.” Cabrera spent last season at home and now two outlets say he’s returned to the field with added muscle and strength.

I’ve heard Cabrera’s power uptick has come with a corresponding increase in exit velocity (for what it’s worth, that was not the case with Hoy Jun Park), and the more aggressive approach hasn’t resulted in an untenable increase in strikeouts (or a decline in walks despite the scouting report above). From 2018-19, he had 16.8% strikeout rate and a 6.0% walk rate. This year it’s 22.9% and 7.3%, respectively.

Cabrera is a solid defender who can play shortstop, though he’s seen more time at second and third this season in deference to Oswald Peraza. A switch-hitting middle infielder with newfound power, strike zone awareness, and good defensive chops is a nice little piece, even if Cabrera doesn’t project to be a star or even an everyday player. He can be a good depth player.

Middle infielders with Double-A success are prime Rule 5 Draft fodder and I’m not sure what the Yankees plan to do with Cabrera after the season. He was passed over in last year’s Rule 5 Draft, though that was coming off two poor seasons and a pandemic. Now Cabrera is playing well at Double-A. I’m not sure there’s room for him on the 40-man, though a few months ago he was a fringe prospect. Now he’s at least in the conversation.

Deglan traded

The Yankees made a minor trade this week. They sent organizational catcher Kellin Deglan to the Blue Jays for nothing. The 29-year-old Deglan has been with the Yankees since 2017 as a whatever-level-needs-a-catcher catcher. The Yankees still have Rob Brantly as their No. 3 catcher and are apparently comfortable enough with their depth to make the trade (Deglan was traded before Gary Sanchez tested positive for COVID).

Deglan went 7-for-30 (.233) in 12 games with Triple-A Scranton this year, though he’s actually spent most of the season with the Yankees as their taxi squad catcher. Bullpen catcher Radley Haddad has been out with a broken arm (he got hurt on a cross up in a bullpen session) and Deglan filled in. Haddad must be healthy enough to catch again. Wouldn’t surprise me to see him back on another minor league deal next year. The Yankees like him.

3. 2022 schedule released. The 2022 regular season schedule was released earlier this week. It’s all tentative because we’re still in a pandemic and there’s a chance there’s a work stoppage this offseason, but the schedule is out. Here’s the Yankees (full-size image) (schedule link):

This will be the fourth time in the last five years MLB tries to have all 30 teams begin the season on the same day. It didn’t happen in 2018 (rainouts), 2020 (pandemic), or 2021 (rainouts), so they’re giving it a go again this year (the Athletics and Mariners opened 2019 in Tokyo). Anyway, Opening Day is Thursday, March 31st. Mark your calendars.

The Yankees will begin next season on a seven-game road trip through Texas before returning home to play the Red Sox in the home opener on Thursday, April 7th. They don’t go to Tampa until the end of May or Boston until the middle of July. Weird. That Orioles, Tigers, Cleveland, Orioles, Royals stretch in late April looks like a good opportunity to pile up early season wins.

Interleague play rotates to the NL Central and the Yankees will make trips to Pittsburgh (July 5th and 6th), St. Louis (Aug. 5th to 7th), and Milwaukee (Sept. 16th to 17th). The Cardinals series is part of the St. Louis to Seattle to Boston road trip. Someone please give MLB a map. The Cubs (June 10th to 12th), Reds (July 12th to 14th), and Pirates (Sept. 20th and 21st) visit the Bronx.

For whatever reason the schedule-makers thought it would be a good idea to give the Yankees off on Memorial Day and the Fourth of July. I don’t get it. Also, the All-Star break is unusually late. Usually it’s the second week of July. Next year it’s the third week. The All-Star Game is July 19th at Dodger Stadium. Only nine games between the All-Star break and the trade deadline.

I don’t have a whole lot to say about the schedule. It’s the schedule. I can be compelled to say only so much about it. Two West Coast trips in August bites, though the Yankees will play 16 of their final 24 games at home, including the final series against the Orioles. Three games against the O’s to close out the season could be good for postseason race purposes.

4. Rapid fire thoughts. Luis Severino made his first rehab start since the groin injury earlier this week and it went fine (43 pitches in 2.1 innings). Here’s video. Aaron Boone said the plan is two more rehab starts, then they’ll reevaluate. “Don’t want to feel like we’re rushing him back for a guy that hasn’t pitched in big league games for close to 20+ months. Don’t want to take him out of his rehab assignment, essentially his Spring Training, early," Boone told Erik Boland. As tempting as it would be to bring Severino back right away given the pitching deficiencies, he is coming back from a major arm surgery. They shouldn’t rush him back. Let him properly rehab instead of risking another setback (or something worse) with the elbow. Severino is making progress, but he’s not ready to help just yet … The Yankees and White Sox will (finally) play the Field of Dreams Game in Iowa next Thursday. The game was supposed to be played last year, but was postponed because of the pandemic. Here are the old-timey uniforms the two teams will wear during the game:

Man, those are sharp. Simple, classic, yet fresh. I’m a fan. Good work, MLB. I wish the Yankees would be more open to an alternate jersey. I know the pinstripes are iconic, but a navy blue jersey with the top hat logo seems easy enough. Not gonna hold my breath. Anyway, next Thursday, Yankees vs. White Sox in Iowa … Amid the flurry of roster moves earlier this week, the Yankees lost Sal Romano on waivers to the Brewers. Tri-State Sal was designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for Andrew Heaney over the weekend. Romano retired seven of the 10 batters he faced as a Yankee with three strikeouts. He’ll make a good random Yankee one day. The Yankees are down to two Italians on the active roster … And finally, Triple-A Scranton pitching coach Doug Glant has left the Yankees to become the pitching coach at Indiana, reports Kendall Rogers. College coaches becoming minor league coaches has been happening for decades, but it wasn’t until the last year or two that minor league coaches began leaving for college jobs. Glant has college roots (he was at Ball State before joining the Yankees last year) and he’ll be the head pitching honcho with the Hoosiers rather than one cog in the machine with the Yankees. Manager of Pitch Development Desi Druschel has filled in as Scranton’s pitching coach since Glant departed.

Mailbag Questions of the Week

Chris asks: Do you think the Yankees strategy of trying to be a competitive team every year is fundamentally flawed? In other words, if the Yankees' goal is to win as many championships as possible, would they have better success ebbing and flowing, trading pieces and sacrificing 2-3 years at a time to put out the best contention window possible?

I don’t think the “contend every year” strategy is flawed. Not with their resources. The Yankees should be in it every single year and I cite the Dodgers as evidence. The Dodgers are pretty much the only team on equal footing with the Yankees in terms of market size, resources, etc., and they’re a World Series contender every year. No reason the Yankees shouldn’t be too.

The Dodgers are not without their flaws. They make bad trades like every other team (Yordan Alvarez for Josh Fields!), they’re being investigated by the Department of Justice for international free agency shadiness, and then there’s the whole “look the other way and sign known terrible person Trevor Bauer” thing. There’s some really gross stuff going on in Chavez Ravine.

On the field, the Dodgers are pretty much the model big market team. They draft and develop well, they find under-the-radar gems in other organizations (Chris Taylor), they go after top tier talent when it becomes available (Mookie Betts, Max Scherzer), they retain their homegrown stars (Clayton Kershaw), on and on. They’re not perfect but they’re very good at every way you can add talent.

The Dodgers do all that without having a down cycle. They’ve won eight straight NL West titles and three pennants in the last four years (their two World Series losses were to teams we now know were cheating). Granted, the NL West hasn’t been nearly as competitive as the AL East (at least not until now), but still, these recent Dodgers teams would have been favored to win any division.

So no, I don’t think the Yankees are wrong to try to field a competitive team every season. That should be the goal and it’s not too much to ask as a fan. We pay exorbitant ticket prices and cable subscription prices and all that. The Yankees are the wealthiest team in the sport and the most popular franchise in sports. I think they should be World Series contenders every season without needing to retool or rebuild or deal with ebbs and flows like most other teams.

Rob asks: Let’s say the August waiver rules were still a thing and Giancarlo Stanton was put through and claimed. Would you send him for free to another team to free up money and make a push to refresh the roster? Would his no trade prevent that from happening? Curious on your Giancarlo thoughts.

Oh yeah, absolutely dump Stanton on another team. There are six years and $159M remaining on his contract after the season and they cover his age 32-37 seasons. Those will be almost all decline years. Stanton’s missed a lot of time with injuries the last few years and while he hasn’t been bad this season (.260/.358/.458 and 126 wRC+), he hasn’t been as good as in the past either.

When you sign or trade for a massive contract like this, you do so expecting the great years up front and understanding you’ll have to live with the bad years at the end. If you get a chance to avoid those bad years at the end, especially when you may already be seeing signs of decline, you take it. Give the Yankees a truth serum and I bet they’d say they dump DJ LeMahieu too.

I’m not sure whether a no-trade clause can block a waiver claim. A no-trade clause is technically a no-assignment clause, and everything in baseball is an assignment (trade, waivers, demotion to minors, etc.). It stands to reason a no-assignment clause would block a waiver claim, though I’m not sure. I feel like this would’ve popped up at some point, but I can’t find anything that covers it.

Jonathan asks: I know the Yankees are hot on Roderick Arias and you mentioned that the international draft will be in the next CBA. Will that for sure be after the Yankees get a shot at Arias? I don't want them to lose out on Arias like they lost out on Wander Franco after the rules were changed.

The Yankees signing Franco as an international amateur free agent in 2017 wasn’t a done deal (they didn’t have an agreement locked in), though they were considered the front-runner to sign him. Then the Collective Bargaining Agreement turned the bonus pools into a hard cap, and the Yankees could no longer offer the most money. From Jeff Passan:

By the time Franco turned 14, teams knew it would take an exorbitant guarantee to sign him, even if his body filled out early and didn't have the projection they coveted. Santin said a team would have paid $6 million, a number confirmed by officials from two clubs. It would have set a record for a 16-year-old Dominican player.

Then in December 2016, the new collective bargaining agreement capped international spending. Latin American amateurs already provided the greatest return on investment in baseball. Now they would come even more cheaply. Without restrictions in 2017, the Yankees were almost certain to spend the $6 million and sign Franco, according to multiple sources. The new rules scuttled that, and Tampa Bay swooped in with the largest bonus in the class.

The international draft is not a done deal but I assume it’s happening. MLB has pushed for one for years (decades, really) and the MLBPA doesn’t mind negotiating away the rights of amateurs to get concessions for their members. MLB does not nothing by accident and using the pandemic to move the international signing period into a single calendar year paves the way for a nice and neat draft.

Technically, the international signing period that begins Jan. 15th, 2022, is the 2021-22 signing period and is covered by the current Collective Bargaining Agreement. The rules have already been established (and later amended for the pandemic) and it’s not enough of a priority for MLB and the MLBPA to revisit it this winter. There will be a signing period in 2022, then likely a draft in 2023.

The Yankees have been expected to sign Arias since at least 2019. He’s not a Franco-caliber prospect but he is generally regarded as the best prospect in the upcoming signing period. If the upcoming CBA changes the rules again and if the Yankees miss out on Arias, then what can you do? I think they’re in the clear. I don’t think an international draft is coming until 2023.

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