July 19th, 2021: Injuries, Cole, Chapman, Stanton, Frazier

UPDATE I: I never received the post email, so this is just me sending it out again.

UPDATE II: My bi-weekly Yankees post at CBS is live. I wrote about Gleyber Torres hitting a few home runs, Nestor Cortes becoming a secret weapon, and Anthony Volpe's breakout.

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Two wins in Seattle, two wins in Houston, and two wins against the Red Sox. Would’ve been nice not to blow that last game against the Astros, but at least the Yankees picked up two games in the Wild Card race. All they had to do was sacrifice half the roster to the injured list to make it happen. The Yankees are on pace to go 85-77 with 70 games remaining. Here are Tuesday morning’s thoughts Monday night since it’s an off-day.

1. The New York RailRiders. The Yankees were about to go on a big second half run and vault themselves into the postseason mix, but that gosh darn COVID got in the way. I can hear Aaron Boone and Brian Cashman saying it during their end-of-season press conferences now. The injuries and the COVID outbreak make for a convenient excuse.

The good news is the COVID outbreak is limited to the six players who tested positive last week. It didn’t spread beyond them, either among the Yankees or among the entire league seeing how Aaron Judge was at the All-Star Game two days prior. There have been a lot of moves lately, so here’s what the roster currently looks like, as a refresher:

“We’re really excited to go take the field tonight and have an opportunity to go up against the first place team in our division. And we expect to go play well,” Boone told the Associated Press prior to Friday’s game. “It’s a great opportunity for our team and for a lot of people that are getting opportunities in some cases for the first time at the big league level, and for the first time in this organization.”

Players on the COVID list do not count against the 40-man roster, and this year’s rules say their replacements do not have to go through the usual process to come off the 40-man. When the time comes, the Yankees can send Allen, Amburgey, Brantly, and Park back to Triple-A as non-40-man roster players without passing them through waivers. The 40-man is a non-issue.

No, the issue is the Yankees are playing the most crucial stretch of the season with a decimated roster. I mean, this was the starting lineup Sunday night:

1. 3B DJ LeMahieu
2. DH Giancarlo Stanton
3. C Gary Sanchez
4. SS Gleyber Torres
5. 1B Chris Gittens
6. RF Trey Amburgey
7. 2B Rougned Odor
8. LF Ryan LaMarre
9. CF Greg Allen

What’s the opposite of Murderer’s Row? Pacifist’s Row? Whatever you call it, that lineup scored nine runs, so for one night it worked. If you watch the ESPN broadcast, Alex Rodriguez’s small ball fetish* would lead you to believe increased speed and aggressiveness and all that created the nine runs when, back on Planet Earth, the Yankees scored five runs on homers and two on bases loaded walks. But I digress.

* Like Joe Morgan, A-Rod the broadcaster seems completely oblivious to what made him such a great player.

“It’s a talented group that we have here across the board, guys with a variety of skill sets,” Allen told Bryan Hoch over the weekend. “Just looking at my own personal skill set, anything I can do to get on base -- increased traffic, playing good defense, just find ways to score runs -- that's the name of the game.”

A lineup with four RailRiders is not built for long-term (or even short-term) success, and no matter what I say, the Yankees are going to buy at the deadline. How aggressively? I have no idea. They have about $4M in luxury tax payroll space and it’s hard to see how they can make impactful upgrades without exceeding the $210M threshold (or gutting the farm system).

The trade deadline is 11 days away and the updated shopping list looks like this:

1. Outfielder because the Yankees have gotten nothing from left and center fields all season (.207/.292/.336 and 76 wRC+ combined!). A lefty hitter is preferable.
2. Starting pitcher because German is not to be trusted, and because Kluber and Severino are still weeks away from returning.
3. Relief pitcher because Chapman is broken, Britton is in Spring Training mode, and O’Day and Wilson have flopped.
4. First baseman because Voit hasn’t been 100% healthy since June 2019 and he hasn’t been good when on the field this year. A lefty hitter who could play another position or three would be ideal.

I’m totally cool with trading good prospects for players with control beyond this year (Joey Gallo, German Marquez, etc.). I’m not cool with the 2021 Yankees trading good prospects for rentals (Starling Marte, etc.) because I don’t think they’re not worth that investment. You’re welcome to feel differently, but I see this team as too far from championship caliber to spend big on rentals.

(I would find it very amusing if, after sitting on their hands the last two trade deadlines while having a much better roster, this is the team the Yankees chose to reinforce at the deadline.)

For now, the Yankees are in straight up survival mode. The lineup is decimated, there’s currently one (1) trustworthy reliever in the bullpen, and the Yankees don’t have five healthy starters. If they keep their head above water the next 11 days, they’ll likely get help at the deadline. And if not, they might get help anyway. The Yankees seem inclined to add at the deadline.

2. Weekend observations. Gleyber Torres hit two home runs in two games? In this economy? Saturday’s and Sunday’s homers were the first time Gleyber went deep in back-to-back games since ALDS Game 3 and ALCS Game 1 in 2019. He hadn’t done it in the regular season since Aug. 23rd and 24th in 2019. That was the Dodgers series in Los Angeles with the black and white Players Weekend jerseys. Feels like a lifetime ago. Some thoughts on the weekend.

Two non-moves

I’m going to get this out of the way first because I don’t want to dwell on it. There were two non-moves in the sixth inning Saturday that irked me. First, Tyler Wade was left in to face a lefty (a good lefty in Josh Taylor) with runners on first and second and one out in a close game. He hit into a fielder’s choice and the inning didn’t go anywhere after that.

To me, that was an obvious opportunity to pinch-hit Trey Amburgey. Amburgey pretty much only hits lefties. His Triple-A splits this year:

• vs. RHP: .250/.290/.457
• vs. LHP: .429/.525/.816

Taylor has issues with righties (.299/.413/.418 this year) and he would’ve had to stay in to face Amburgey because of the three-batter minimum, so it would have been a favorable matchup for the Yankees. Also, Amburgey is an actual outfielder whereas Wade is an infielder faking the outfield. I know Wade made a great leaping catch earlier in the game (video), but Amburgey’s the safer defensive bet in the final three innings of a close game.

(Hoy Jun Park would’ve been the only non-catcher on the bench had Amburgey pinch-hit for Wade and that’s fine. He’s a career infielder who has dabbled in the outfield in recent weeks, and even played right field for the first time in his career Friday. The Yankees still would’ve had coverage all over the field.)

The first non-move was not pinch-hitting Amburgey for Wade. The second non-move was not sending Wade following the force out. The Yankees had speedy runners on the corners with two outs and Greg Allen at the plate. I know Allen had himself a nice weekend, but c’mon. It’s Greg Allen. The chances of a hit or even a walk to turn the lineup over were small (Allen struck out). Send Wade and one of two things happens:

• Christian Vazquez holds the ball and Wade steals second uncontested, putting another runner in scoring position.
• Vazquez throws through, in which case Brett Gardner breaks for home from third and the Yankees try to steal a run.

Those two things could result in countless different outcomes. Best case is Gardner scores and Wade is safe at second anyway. Well, no, the best case is Vazquez throws the ball away, and not only does Gardner score, but Wade scores as well. Worst case is Gardner is demoralizingly thrown out at home and the inning is over. A million other things could’ve happened too.

Point is, the Yankees have a skeleton crew lineup at the moment and runs are in short supply. The Yankees had their two fastest runners on base, a weak hitter at the plate, and a chance to put pressure on the defense and create a run a different way. It’s the sorta thing they never ever do and rarely have the opportunity to even try, but there it was, and they didn’t try it.

Perhaps the rain and the soaked infield meant sending any runner was a bad idea. After all, the Yankees had speedy runners on the corners with two outs in the seventh inning Sunday, and they sent the runner then (Allen stole second but for some reason Ryan LaMarre stayed put), so they’re not against this. They just didn’t do it when they had a chance Saturday.

Anyway, the Yankees had a chance to push the envelope twice Saturday and didn’t bother. Amburgey stayed on the bench against a lefty and Wade didn’t run. Aaron Boone was too passive that inning (pinch-hitting and sending the runner are the manager’s call, obviously), and I hope he’s a little more on the ball going forward given the depleted lineup.

Cole and Gary

Gary Sanchez caught Gerrit Cole on Saturday and the oceans didn’t boil. Cole struck out 11 and held a high-powered Red Sox lineup to one run in six innings. It was his MLB leading fifth game with 10+ strikeouts and no more than one run allowed. Cole went back out to start the seventh at 96 pitches, though the umpires called for the tarp, and that was that.

“I guess when we needed to, we made a good pitch. It just so happened against the meat of the order,” Cole told Zach Braziller when asked about J.D. Martinez and Rafael Devers going 0-for-5 with five strikeouts against him. He caught a few breaks on borderline check swing calls and that’s just baseball. The baseball gods owed the Yankees a few of those anyway.

Cole usually gives lengthy and thoughtful answers, but when asked about working with Sanchez, he told Bryan Hoch “I thought we worked well,” and that was it. Short little one-sentence answer. Kinda funny. At this point though, Cole doesn’t have a choice. Kyle Higashioka will be out who knows how long. Either Cole throws to Sanchez or he throws to Rob Brantly, who will be gone as soon as Higashioka returns.

Losing Higashioka is unfortunate and I hope he’s okay. From a pure baseball perspective, his absence has a silver lining because it will force the No. 1 starter to pitch to the No. 1 catcher. Crazy idea, I know. Cole’s awesome and he can dominate with anyone behind the plate, but if this helps him grow more comfortable with Gary, then great. It can only lead to good things.

Regardless of who’s behind the plate, Cole seems to have gotten over his post-sticky stuff crackdown lull. His spin rates are still down, and he’s compensated with more breaking balls in general and more fastballs down in the zone. He’s still going to elevated four-seamers for swings and misses, just not as often. Cole’s “pitching” more now rather than overpowering hitters.

Chapman’s rebound

Two scoreless innings is two scoreless innings, but Aroldis Chapman did not exactly dominate in his two appearances this weekend. He gave up three well-struck fly balls to the warning track (this one, this one, and this one) and the hard contact is what worries me. Walks come with the territory with Chapman. He never gives up this much hard contact though.

“Better. Glad he was able to get in there,” Boone told Greg Joyce about Chapman’s outing on Friday. “I thought he recognized and made some little adjustments within the outing. When he’d miss with a pitch, it wasn’t snowballing on him. Like he could feel some things as far as making some adjustments within the game, within a batter, which I thought was encouraging. I thought a good step for him and hopefully one he can build on.”

After Sunday’s game, Boone admitted Chapman was his closer that night, and he was going to use him in a save situation. It’s weird. Declaring Chapman your closer indicates you trust him and consider him fixed (enough), yet they still brought him into the game with an eight-run lead, suggesting they know he’s still trying to fix things and needs work. Hmmm.

I guess Chapman is the closer again despite evidence (i.e. all the hard contact) he’s not yet a good bet for high leverage work, and I guess we’ll just have to hope for the best. The Yankees are going nowhere without getting Chapman right. I’m just not sure they should thrust him back into important situations so soon. I haven’t seen enough to believe he’s where he needs to be.

“It’s a mindset where you’ve got to get over the hump and find the positive results out of your daily work, your routine, your preparation,” Chapman told Hoch. “That’s how you get out of it. You keep working at it. Eventually you come out of it and you’re back where you want to be.”

Stanton in the outfield

Since last year, I’ve been writing about the need to get Giancarlo Stanton into the outfield to create more roster flexibility. Most notably, Stanton in the outfield means Aaron Judge can take a DH day without one of the team’s two best hitters sitting on the bench. Stanton has not played the outfield since the 2019 ALCS. Didn’t even play it in Spring Training.

“We’ve tried to push to get him back out there potentially next weekend,” Boone told Brendan Kuty over the weekend. ”... We want to make sure he’s sound and has been able to (build up) physically -- while also playing every day -- and be able to get to a workload in his defensive work that would satisfy putting them out there.”

With the roster decimated it’s easy to think the Yankees need Stanton to play the outfield now more than ever, though that’s not really the case. Put Stanton in the outfield now and the DH is who, Amburgey? Park? I guess it would free the Yankees up to give Sanchez or DJ LeMahieu or Torres a DH day, but eh. Those guys don’t take DH days often.

The Yankees play three games in Miami at the end of the month and Boone says the goal is to play Stanton in the outfield that series, which makes sense. They need his bat and the DH spot won’t be unavailable. The Yankees have nine games between now and then and I don’t see any reason to put him in the outfield those games. The roster is short. Just keep him at DH.

Frazier’s injury

The Clint Frazier situation is very weird. He was originally placed on the injured list with vertigo and dizziness, which was a concern given his concussion history, though his brain checked out okay, and he’s now being evaluated for vision issues. Here’s what Boone told Kuty over the weekend:

“Clint is still going through some testing,” Boone said before Friday’s game against the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium. “We’re really focusing on some vision stuff with how his eyes move and then how that affects his vision. I know they’re playing around with contacts, in and out of those. So, we’re really kind of narrowing it down to some of the vision things and thing that go on mechanically with his eyes.

Boone added, “I think they found some things with how his eyes move and how that affects how he processes different things, but I think some of the larger, more serious things have been ruled out.”

I am not a conspiracy theorist, but gosh, doesn’t it feel like the Yankees are keeping Frazier away from the team? Their actions the last few seasons (i.e. the constant demotions even when he hit) made it clear they don’t like him as much as they said publicly, and perhaps it all came to a head this year given his poor season. Maybe they just want him away from the team.

And hey, maybe it’s mutual. Maybe Clint is frustrated and wants out too. Maybe both sides feel it’s just not going to work and he needs a change of scenery. I’d understand the Yankees being frustrated (Frazier was given the left field job and flopped) and I’d understand Frazier being frustrated (benched for Gardner, lost the job to Miguel Andujar, etc.).

This whole situation is very weird given Boone’s explanations (how long does it take to get fitted for contacts?), and I feel like there’s more to it. To be clear, I have no inside info. Just a hunch. This is all very unusual. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if Clint has already played his last game as a Yankee. A trade at the deadline (even while on the injured list) feels possible.

3. Injury updates. Within the last 20 days the Yankees have placed six players on the COVID list and four others on the regular old injured list. All told, they have 16 -- 16! -- players on some sort of physically unable to play list at the moment. This bodes poorly for my first bold prediction. Some thoughts on the latest injury developments.

Loaisiga cleared to return

Let’s start with the good news: Jonathan Loaisiga completed his quarantine and checked out okay, and was able to travel back to New York over the weekend. Gotta say, spending a week cooped up in a Houston hotel room doesn’t sound like fun. Hopefully Loaisiga is one of those guys who brings his PlayStation on the road, and was able to eat some good BBQ.

“He’ll go through the cardiac workup (on Monday) and hopefully we’ll see him on Tuesday beginning his throwing program and back with us,” Aaron Boone told Randy Miller over the weekend.

Loaisiga will begin a throwing program tomorrow and I’m not sure what’s next. It’s been 10 days since he last pitched in a game, which isn’t too long. Maybe he threw a few Jack Flaherty style hotel room bullpen sessions to keep his arm in shape? With any luck, Loaisiga will throw a bullpen tomorrow, rest Wednesday, and be good to go Thursday. If he needs a little longer, so be it.

Locastro tears ACL

Poor Tim Locastro. He tore his ACL crashing into the wall Saturday and was replaced by Ryan LaMarre on Sunday. Then Trey Amburgey went down with a hamstring cramp -- a Yankee getting hurt while hitting into a double play is peak 2021 -- and LaMarre hurt himself attempting to make a catch at the wall an inning later. He was able to stay in the game.

“After last time, coming up for four days and hurting my hamstring so early, I told Booney, ‘I’m not coming out of the game,'” LaMarre told Greg Joyce and Dan Martin after Sunday’s game. “You don’t get too many chances to wear pinstripes, so I want to take advantage of every inning I’m given out there.”

Estevan Florial was not called up because he’s barely keeping his head above water in Triple-A. He’s hitting .213/.318/.408 (93 wRC+) overall with a 29.1% strikeout rate, and is 5-for-39 (.128) with 16 strikeouts in his last 10 games. Florial needs to stay in Triple-A (or even go back to Double-A) to continue his development. Calling him up doesn’t help Florial or the Yankees.

“He’s doing well,” Boone told Joyce and Martin about Florial. “The biggest thing for him is health and getting those regular reps. He’s had some ups and downs certainly down there, but the biggest thing is he’s been able to play regularly. Hopefully he’s in store for a big second half. Development’s important. The guys that have gotten called up to this point have been in line and earned that spot.”

What the Yankees can (and should) do is trade for former Yankees prospect Billy McKinney. The Mets designated him for assignment over the weekend and he’s a lefty hitting corner outfielder who’s been roughly league average against righties in his career (98 wRC+), and has a Yankee Stadium friendly pull heavy approach. His career spray chart:

The Yankees can’t really wait around for McKinney to go through waivers (he might not even get to them on waivers), so send the Mets cash or a Grade D prospect, and get him in the lineup tomorrow. That’s where the Yankees are right now. I’m writing about McKinney because Locastro and Amburgey (and LaMarre?) are hurt, and Florial’s struggling in Triple-A. Good times.

There’s a decent chance the injury ends Locastro’s time as a Yankee (he’s the kind of fringe guy who will be on the 40-man roster chopping block this offseason) though maybe the Yankees can re-sign him to a minor league deal and bring him to camp as a non-roster player next year. Either way, Locastro is now a 60-day injured list candidate whenever a 40-man spot is needed (the Yankees currently have an open 40-man spot because of all the COVID moves).

King not ready to return

Apparently Mike King’s pre-All-Star break catch session didn’t go well. He and his injured finger are in a “no-throw situation for another five or seven days,” Boone told Max Goodman over the weekend. It’s been nearly three weeks since King last appeared in a game, so at this point he’ll probably need a minor league rehab appearance or two before rejoining the Yankees.

King is hurt and Nestor Cortes is on the COVID list, so the Yankees are sans fifth starter at the moment. They’ve already announced Domingo German as tomorrow’s starter. Wednesday’s starter is TBA, though Deivi Garcia lines up perfectly to pitch that game. My guess is the team’s perfect world pitching scenario is this:

• Tuesday vs. Phillies: German goes 6-7 innings and Nick Nelson finishes the game
• Wednesday vs. Phillies: Nelson goes down, Garcia comes up to make the spot start*
• Thursday at Red Sox: Garcia goes down, Loaisiga is activated to take his spot, Jordan Montgomery starts
• Friday to Sunday at Red Sox: Gerrit Cole, Jameson Taillon, and German start in that order
• Monday: Off-day
• Tuesday at Rays: King and/or Cortes returns to make the start

* Rob Brantly caught six of Garcia’s 12 Triple-A appearances, so there’s some familiarity there. Tuesday would be a good day to get Brantly behind the plate, allowing Gary Sanchez to start all four Red Sox games later in the week.

The Yankees could skip the King/Cortes spot next Tuesday and go with Montgomery, Cole, and Taillon on normal rest during the three-game Rays series, and that’s probably their best option given where they sit in the standings. For at least this little pre-trade deadline stretch, the priority is winning games, not giving everyone extra rest with the big picture in mind.

Garcia has not pitched well in Triple-A but the Yankees are pretty much out of options at this point. Glenn Otto and Matt Krook also line up to pitch Wednesday, but I don’t see the Yankees adding anyone to the 40-man to make what will hopefully be one spot start. I guess they could go with a bullpen game, though that’ll wreck the pitching staff before the Red Sox series.

Whatever the Yankees do in the interim, they’ll be without King (and Cortes) for at least another few days, and likely a little longer than that should he go out on a rehab assignment. I wouldn’t say the Yankees are in dire straits pitching-wise, though they’re up against it a bit. They don’t have a fifth starter and the bullpen’s unsettled. It’s not great.

Severino faces hitters

Luis Severino faced hitters over the weekend for the first time since hurting his groin last month. He threw about 30 pitches in a live batting practice session at Yankee Stadium. Here’s video. Severino will throw another live batting practice session Friday or Saturday, and if that goes well, he could begin a minor league rehab assignment the following week.

“I thought he threw the ball really well,” Boone told Miller. “He looks strong, healthy, which I think syncs up with everything from the first go-round before he hurt his leg. I think there’s a confidence to what he’s doing. He’s in really good physical shape, which shows. And I thought he was pretty crisp with all his pitches, so another good step for him.”

The Yankees were planning to bring Severino back before he was fully stretched out the last time he was on a rehab assignment and I assume that is true again, especially since we’re deeper in the season and there's only so much time for him to contribute. If all goes well this week and Severino begins a rehab assignment next week, he could return in mid to late August. Something like this:

• Saturday, July 24th: 30-pitch live batting practice
• Friday, July 30th: 45-pitch rehab start
• Thursday, Aug. 5th: 60-pitch rehab start
• Wednesday, Aug. 11th: 75-pitch rehab start
• Tuesday, Aug. 17th: Return to MLB with an 80-ish pitch limit

That looks like the best case rehab scenario and wouldn’t you know it, the Yankees will need a spot starter on Aug. 17th. They’re playing a doubleheader against the Red Sox that day to make up last Thursday’s COVID postponement. Severino would slot in right when the Yankees need an extra starter. Long way to go between now then, though at least Severino’s on his way back (again).

“I’m not sure exactly what the end plan is about when exactly we’ll take him, but that’ll be something that we decide,” Boone told Miller. “If he’s at 50, 60, 70 pitches, there’s a chance he could be here at that point. I don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves in that regard. We’ll see where we’re at three, four and five weeks from now.”

Kluber close to throwing of a mound

Corey Kluber is kinda sorta maybe inching closer to a return. He could throw a bullpen session this week, which would be his first time throwing off a mound since getting hurt. Kluber was originally expected to be shut down two months, though a second (and third) opinion brought good news, and he was able to resume throwing earlier.

“Obviously (getting back on the mound) will be a big step and we’ll see how that goes,” Boone told Zach Braziller. “Right now he’s feeling good and feeling good about the direction he’s moving in. He’s been out to 120 feet and responding to that really well. Even though it’s been a long process, and by design with this throwing program, I would say it’s going pretty well.”

Next Tuesday is the two-month mark of Kluber being placed on the injured list, which is when he would have started playing catch under the original timetable. Instead, he’ll already be throwing in the bullpen. Kluber probably won’t return until September -- I will consider anything the Yankees get from him to be gravy given the nature of his injury -- though at least he’s making progress.

O’Day done for 2021

So long, Darren O’Day. Thanks for the 10.2 innings. Last week Boone called O’Day’s hamstring injury “significant,” and seeing how he downplays every injury, it was a pretty good indication that yeah, O’Day is really hurt. Over the weekend Boone took it a step further and said the injury will likely end O’Day’s season.

“Just because we haven’t announced anything, I want to make sure we’re on the same page with Darren as far as everything and knowing the timeline and schedule,” Boone told Miller. “I would say it’s likely that his season is over. We’ll have some more information on that when it’s ready to give out.”

O’Day injured his hamstring during a pregame workout in Seattle and he had surgery to repair the same hamstring in 2018, and a series of injuries to the same body part is never good. His innings totals the last four years: 20, 5.1, 16.1 (pandemic season), 10.2. Yikes. Getting old is no fun. Your body doesn’t recover the same way at 38 that it did at 28.

In the short-term, the Yankees lose a potential high-leverage reliever and gain 40-man roster flexibility because O’Day’s a 60-day injured list candidate. In the long-term, you have to figure O’Day will pick up his $1.4M player option for next year. The Yankees are getting hit with a $1.575M luxury tax hit no matter what. They might just release him if they don’t think he’s worth a roster spot in 2022, but we’ll see. For now, O’Day’s done for the year. Bummer.

4. 2021 draft signings. The draft signing deadline is Aug. 1st and the Yankees already have several deals in place. In the old days these things would drag on for weeks. In the bonus pool era, agreements come together quickly because they’re all worked out ahead of time. Teams (or at least the Yankees) don’t draft players unless they know their exact asking price.

As a reminder, the top 10 rounds are tied directly to the bonus pool and those are the picks that matter most. Here are the agreements the Yankees have in place (via Carlos Collazo and MLB.com):

The Yankees also signed Dartmouth C Ben Rice (12th round) and VCU RHP Danny Watson (15th round) to matching $125,000 bonuses, the maximum allowed after the tenth round without cutting into the bonus pool.

On a recent Effectively Wild episode, Eric Longenhagen said Selvidge had a $1.5M asking price before the draft, and the Yankees are well-positioned to pay it. They’ve spent the maximum 5% overage every year of the bonus pool era (after 5%, you start getting docked future first round picks, and no team has crossed that threshold yet), and I’m certain they’ll do so again this year.

The Yankees have about $2.45M to spend under the 5% overage. Give $1.5M to Selvidge and they have $950,000 to split between Fitts and two college seniors (Hardman and Warren). I could see Hardman and Warren getting, say, $125,000 each, and the rest going to an overslot bonus for Fitts, who was a first round talent that fell because of an injury this spring.

The $2.45M looks like plenty for Hardman, Fitts, Selvidge, and Warren. I don’t think there will be enough left over to sign either Florida HS RHP Sean Hermann (14th round) or New Jersey RHP Sean Hard (20th round), the two upside-y high school kids the Yankees took late. I didn’t expect them to sign (those kids are better off going to school and developing there, I think) and the current bonus pool situation all but confirms they won’t.

So, in the least surprising news ever, the Yankees appear to have their bonus pool settled down to the penny, and will sign everyone they want to sign. It’s almost like they knew exactly what it would take to sign each player and factored that into their draft strategy.

5. Remembering a random Yankee: Jose Veras. This week’s random Yankee comes by request and was part of the club’s shift in bullpen building philosophy in the late-2000s. Here’s the random Yankee archive. You can find links back to everyone we've covered there.

Veras originally signed with the (Devil) Rays out of the Dominican Republic as a 17-year-old international amateur free agent on Jan. 19th, 1998, two and a half months before Tampa played their first game. Veras was not really among the first players to sign with the (Devil) Rays, however. They had partial farm systems in 1996 and 1997, and they signed their first player (undrafted free agent righty Adam Sisk) way back on Sept. 26th, 1995.

In parts of seven seasons with Tampa, Veras flamed out as a starter and moved to the bullpen full-time, and spent 2003 and 2004 shuttling between Double-A and Triple-A. Only once did he rank among Baseball America’s top 30 Rays prospects (subs. req’d). They ranked Veras as Tampa’s No. 25 prospect in 2002 and their scouting report said his “fastball will touch as high as 97 mph” but “he has no consistency with his secondary pitches.”

Veras became a minor league free agent following the 2004 season and he hooked on with the Rangers, and pitched to a 3.79 ERA with 72 strikeouts in 61.2 Triple-A innings in 2005. He became a minor league free agent again after 2005, and the Yankees signed him to a minor league contract on Dec. 12th, 2005.

At the time, the Yankees threw money at every big name free agent reliever in an attempt to build a reliable bridge to Mariano Rivera. Random Yankee Steve Karsay, Kyle Farnsworth, Tom Gordon, Paul Quantrill, so on and so forth. The Yankees eventually changed course and went with cheaper, optionable relievers with higher end stuff like Veras, random Yankee Jonathan Albaladejo, random Yankee Chris Britton, random Yankee Brian Bruney, etc.

The Yankees sent Veras to Triple-A Columbus to begin 2006 and he was great, throwing 59.2 innings with a 2.41 ERA and 68 strikeouts. They called him up for two days in late June to help a tired bullpen, though he did not get into a game. Veras rejoined the Yankees in early August because they needed a fresh reliever. Random Yankee Bubba Crosby was cut loose to clear a roster spot.

On Aug. 5th, 2006, Veras made his MLB debut at age 25, and walked one in two scoreless innings in a loss to the Orioles. He appeared in four games during this call-up, allowing one run (on a Vlad Guerrero solo homer) in 3.2 innings. Veras went back to Triple-A for a spell, rejoined the team as a Sept. call-up, and allowed four runs in 2.1 innings in the season’s final month.

With Rivera nursing a forearm issue on Sept. 18th, and then-manager Joe Torre burning through five relievers to get eight outs following six strong innings from random Yankee Darrell Rasner, Veras was called upon to get the save. He entered with the Yankees up 7-6 on the Blue Jays and the tying run at first, and got Aaron Hill to hit a fly ball to end the game. Veras picked up his first career save in his seventh career game.

“We didn’t need to appreciate Mo that much,” Alex Rodriguez told Tyler Kepner after the game. “But it just tells you how important, how special and how irreplaceable he is.”

Veras had a chance to crack the 2007 Opening Day roster, but needed surgery to remove bone chips from his elbow in Spring Training, which sidelined him most of the season. He pitched in 12 games with Triple-A Scranton in the second half, rejoined the Yankees as a Sept. callup, and surrendered six runs in 9.1 innings, though four of the six came in one outing.

After clinching a postseason spot, the Yankees rested Rivera down the stretch, and Veras recorded saves in Games 159 (two-run lead) and 161 (one-run lead). Veras did enough in the final month to land a spot on the postseason roster, and in two appearances in the ALDS loss to Cleveland, he allowed one hit and one walk in 0.2 scoreless innings.

“We were pretty impressed with the ability to throw strikes, the ability to throw a number of pitches for strikes,” Torre told Kepner about Veras prior to the postseason, even though he walked seven in 9.1 innings in September.

It appeared Veras, then 27, had a path to an Opening Day bullpen spot in 2008. He was healthy and he pitched well enough in Sept. 2007 to be on the postseason roster. Instead, he returned to Triple-A Scranton to begin the season, and allowed three runs in 13 innings as their closer. Veras struck out 21 and walked only four. He was dominant.

The Yankees brought Veras back to the big leagues in early May and things were bumpy initially (five runs in his first 10 innings), but by the middle of June, Veras had entered the Circle of Trust™. He and Farnsworth were the setup crew after Joba Chamberlain transitioned to the rotation at midseason, then Veras took over as Eighth Inning Guy when Farnsworth was traded for Ivan Rodriguez at the deadline.

“He’s got a big arm,” then-manager Joe Girardi told Kepner in June. “He’s got a plus curveball, and when he locates his fastball, he makes it real difficult as a hitter. He throws 95, 96 with a curveball that has some depth to it. I like the way he goes right at hitters, too. I see an aggressive kid out there.”

“If you see 2006 to now, I can pitch one inning with not too many breaking balls,” Veras told Kepner. “(Rivera) told me to hit my spots -- —inside, outside, up, down -- and that just with my fastball, I can throw one inning and get people out.”

In the team’s final 100 games in 2008, Veras pitched to a 3.30 ERA with 52 strikeouts in 43.2 innings, though opponents hit .246/.352/.425 against him. He wasn’t a lockdown reliever by any means -- Veras walked 26 batters in those 43.2 innings -- but after wasting money on so many veteran setup men, the Yankees were having success hoarding cheaper guys who threw hard.

At age 28, Veras had finally settled into a big league role, and was assured a spot on the 2009 Opening Day roster. It didn’t hurt that he was out of minor league options and couldn’t be sent to Triple-A either. Unfortunately, his 2008 success did not carry over to 2009. Veras allowed a run in eight of his first 13 appearances (12 runs in 15 innings overall), which pushed him out of the Circle of Trust™ and into lower leverage duty.

On June 16th, the Yankees cut ties with Veras, and designated him for assignment to make room on the roster for Bruney, who was returning from an injury. Veras pitched to a 5.96 ERA with nearly as many walks (14) as strikeouts (18) in 25.2 innings across 25 appearances. Opponents hit .235/.353/.459 against him.

“It’s a hard decision, because he’s a great kid and he’s worked hard,” Girardi told Kepner. “It’s been a struggle for him this year with his control.”

Eight days later the Yankees traded Veras to Cleveland for cash. He had a 4.38 ERA in 24.2 innings the rest of the season, then entered the journeyman phase of his career. From 2010-14, Veras bounced from Cleveland to the Marlins to the Pirates to the Brewers to the Astros to the Tigers to the Cubs and back to Astros.

Veras had his best season in 2013, when he saved 19 games with a 2.93 ERA for a 111-loss Astros team, and was traded to Detroit for prospects at the deadline. From 2010-13, Veras was a perfectly solid reliever, throwing 248.2 innings with a 3.55 ERA (3.66 FIP) and 272 strikeouts. He has long since credited his success to Rivera taking him under his wing.

“It’s hard to find people like that,” Veras told Kepner in March 2008. “That’s why we appreciate everything he does, because if you’re 20-something and he’s 30-something, he doesn’t want to be my baby sitter. But he can say, ‘Don’t do this, that’s bad.’ It just takes a couple of seconds, but some guys think it’s hard to say. So when you find people like that that can teach you the right way, it’s awesome. It’s unbelievable to find people like that.”

Veras pitched in more games (106) and threw more innings (103.2) with the Yankees than any other team in his career. He had a 4.43 ERA (4.87 FIP) with 94 strikeouts but also 55 walks in those 103.2 innings. Veras spent 2015 in Triple-A with the Astros and 2016 in an independent league. He retired with a 3.91 ERA in 423 big league innings and signed a little over $9M in player contracts.

6. Rapid fire thoughts. Clark Schmidt update: he is facing hitters in Tampa and has for a week or two now. His return from an elbow injury is coming along slowly (remember when he was shut down 3-4 weeks in February?) though it’s coming along. If there’s an Arizona Fall League this year (that’s up in the air because owners are still trying to use the pandemic as an excuse to cut costs), Schmidt is a prime candidate to go and make up innings. I wouldn’t count on him helping the Yankees in a meaningful way this season … Remember Freicer Perez? He had a breakout 2017 season and was a top 30 prospect going into 2018, but he blew out his shoulder six starts into the season, and has not been heard from since. At least not until last week. Perez, now 25, is currently in the Florida Complex League and has allowed four runs in two appearances and two innings. It’s his first game action since 2018. Perez isn’t a prospect at this point, but I can’t say I ever expected to see his name pop up in another box score. Cool to see he’s still sticking with it. Would be a hell of a comeback story … And finally, the Blue Jays are going back to Toronto. Last week the team announced they’ve received the thumbs up from the Canadian government to return home on July 30th. As part of the deal, unvaccinated players will be subject to a bubble-like setting while in Toronto. The Blue Jays have not played at Rogers Centre since the last day of the 2019 season. My weird baseball dream has come true, and the Yankees will play three road series against the Blue Jays in three different cities this year. They already played them in Dunedin (April 12th to 14th) and in Buffalo (June 15th to 17th), and will play them in Toronto (Sept. 28th to 30th). Neat. The Yankees have not played in Rogers Centre since Sept. 15th, 2019. That was the game Dellin Betances returned from his shoulder injury only to blow out his Achilles hopping off the mound following a strikeout. It was Dellin’s final appearance as a Yankee.

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