July 6th, 2021: Selling at the Trade Deadline, Green, All-Stars

UPDATE: My bi-weekly Yankees post at CBS is live. I didn't want to write about Gerrit Cole's and Aroldis Chapman's struggles since the foreign substance crackdown, but I didn't really have a choice.

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The Yankees were 41-40 through 81 games and, according to Andrew Simon, only 29 teams in the divisional play era (1995-2019, not including the pandemic season) reached the postseason after starting 41-40 or worse. 29 teams in 24 years, and one of those 29 teams was the 2007 Yankees. They started 40-41 and finished 94-68 to get the Wild Card spot. That team added Roger Clemens at midseason, called up Joba Chamberlain in August, and received an all-time great performance from Alex Rodriguez. The 2021 Yankees don’t have any of that going for them, but hey, there’s still a chance. The Yankees are on pace to go 82-80 with 79 games remaining (three triple plays, two Immaculate Innings, one no-hitter, and they’re on pace to go 82-80? good grief). To today’s thoughts.

1. It’s time to sell. I held out as long as I could. I’m of the belief the Yankees should try to win every season and go for it at the trade deadline whenever they’re in striking distance, but over the last 11 days, this team has declared itself a noncontender. Go to Boston, get swept, then come home and let winnable games slip away. This team has shown us who they are.

The Yankees are 42-41 and 5.5 games behind the second Wild Card spot with five teams ahead of them. One of those teams is the Mariners. The MARINERS. The Yankees start a three-game series in Seattle tonight and it is their biggest series of the season (to date). A big series against the Mariners. What a season. Only five teams make the postseason and six American League clubs have better postseason odds than the Yankees.

The past week was revealing. Aaron Boone (“our season is on the line”), Brian Cashman (“we suck right now”), and Hal Steinbrenner (“the majority of the blame lies with them”) called the players out, and Aaron Judge held a team meeting. Yankee Stadium had its biggest crowds of the season over the weekend and was very energetic. What more do the Yankees need?

All that happened and the Yankees still came out flat and looking very much like a team that deserves to be behind the Mariners -- again, the MARINERS -- in the standings. Something like that goes beyond a simple “we need better players” problem. A showing like this past homestand (and a showing like last weekend in Boston) indicates a culture problem.

The culture problem starts at the top and ownership and the front office have demonstrated a lot of complacency the last few years. The luxury tax plan, the trade deadline inactivity, ignoring the lineup imbalance, the "this is supposed to work and we're going to stick with it until it works" mentality, etc. That complacency bleeds down onto the field. Everyone is waiting for someone else to make something happen.

So, with the Yankees going down in flames, they should sell at the trade deadline. Repeatedly they’ve shown us they are not good enough to compete with the league’s better teams, and since they’re (probably) not going to win this year, the focus should shift to the future, and putting the team in the best position to win in the coming years. It sucks, but it is necessary.

“Cash’s job is to consider everything, right?,” Hal told Lindsey Adler (subs. req’d) last week when asked about selling at the deadline. “That’s not a direction I’m contemplating right now, even thinking about … It’s Cash’s job to consider everything, but that’s not something I’m contemplating right now.”

At minimum, the Yankees should not give up potential future pieces for rentals (Tyler Anderson, Starling Marte, Joc Pederson, Trevor Story, etc.). This team isn’t worth that sort of short-term investment. Trading for a player(s) with multiple years of control? By all means, go for it. Just don’t sacrifice anything to try to prop up a roster that is not worth propping up.

The Yankees sold at the 2016 trade deadline because Aroldis Chapman rejected an extension, and everything snowballed from there. If it were up to them, they would’ve kept Chapman and Gleyber Torres would still be a Cub. Cashman recommended the Yankees trade Robinson Cano at the 2013 deadline, but ownership shot it down. They should sell, but they may not.

With all that in mind, I have a few thoughts on the possibility of selling at the deadline. We can tackle individual players and potential trade destinations in the coming weeks. Here are a few thoughts on the selling strategy.

2021 is not the same as 2016

The Yankees sold at the 2016 trade deadline for the first time in nearly three decades, and the 2016 trade deadline will be referenced a lot -- a LOT -- in the coming weeks. The situations are different though. First and foremost, that 2016 team was decrepit. Their most commonly used lineup and each player’s season age:

1. CF Jacoby Ellsbury (32)
2. LF Brett Gardner (32)
3. DH Alex Rodriguez (40)
4. 1B Mark Teixeira (36)
5. C Brian McCann (32)
6. RF Carlos Beltran (39)
7. 3B Chase Headley (32)
8. 2B Starlin Castro (26)
9. SS Didi Gregorius (26)

Starlin and Sir Didi were the only 20-somethings. This year’s regular lineup has only three 30-somethings (Gardner, DJ LeMahieu, Giancarlo Stanton). The 2016 team was old and they performed like an old team. This team has a lot of players in what should be their prime who are underperforming. You can more easily talk yourself into there being better days ahead.

“We made some trades and we got rid of some guys, but I just don’t see this as that situation (in 2016),” Hal told Adler (subs. req’d). “These players are in their prime. They’ve been incredible in very recent years. There’s no reason why they can’t be incredible again, offensively speaking, because they’re in the prime of their careers. I mean, that’s just a fact.”

The 2016 Yankees also had several prominent impending free agents. Chapman was the most notable, and there was also Beltran and Ivan Nova, who were also traded at the deadline. The 2021 team’s top free agent-to-be is Corey Kluber, and he has minimal value because he’s seriously injured. Every deadline sale starts with impending free agents and the Yankees have none.

Also, the farm system is in a different place. The Yankees sold at the 2016 trade deadline and called up Judge and Gary Sanchez (and Tyler Austin). High-end prospects with a ton of Triple-A seasoning who were MLB ready. The 2021 Yankees have a not yet ready Estevan Florial and Hoy Jun Park. Selling isn’t clearing the way for the next wave of Baby Bombers.

That doesn’t mean the Yankees shouldn’t sell! Just that 2016 is not especially relevant to 2021. Two different teams with two different rosters at two different points in the competitive cycle. The 2016 Yankees had an aging roster and were stuck in a prolonged period of mediocrity. The 2021 Yankees are still fairly young and will (probably) miss the postseason for the first time in five years.

The comparisons to 2016 are inevitable and I get it, but they’re misguided. That team was old with a lot of free agents heading out the door, and some top prospects ready to make the jump to the big leagues. This year’s team has none of that. This year’s team is mostly young with no free agents-to-be, and no MLB-ready impact prospects. This thing is not like the other thing.

What’s the goal of selling?

When a team sells, it means one of two things. Either they’re ready to embark on a prolonged rebuild, or they’re retooling and planning to make a run next year. There is no middle ground and the Yankees are almost certainly in the latter camp. The Yankees will never tear it all down. Selling would be a slight step back so they can go for it next year.

And that is 100% the correct decision. Stanton and Gerrit Cole are on huge money long-term contracts and in their prime. If the Yankees are going to throw in the towel and begin a deep rebuild now, they better be willing to eat a ton of money to move Cole and Stanton, otherwise they’re half-assing it. Too many good players in their prime to tear it down completely, I think.

The goal is to contend next season, presumably, which will shape their trade decisions. It’s not a smash and grab where you take whatever you can get and figure it out later. The Yankees have to make trades with a purpose. They need to get better defensively, get more left-handed, and improve their organizational depth. Every trade has to help accomplish that.

Bottom line, everything we’ve seen this year tells us the Yankees need to change their roster. They have several glaring organizational deficiencies to address, and rather than wait until the offseason to address them, the Yankees can get a head start now. That’s the goal. To give the Yankees as much time as possible to reshape the roster and build a 2022 contender.

Who should be available?

Well, everyone should be available, but some players should be more available than others. As terrible as Gleyber has been this season, the Yankees shouldn’t trade him just for the sake of trading him, or to shake things up. He’s only 24 and we’ve seen him perform at an elite level. If Torres were on another team, we’d look at him as a very attractive buy-low candidate.

We have a few weeks to break down the trade markets for individual players. For now, I’ll just say the selling should begin with the bullpen. The Yankees excel at building bullpens, so trust yourself to rebuild the bullpen over the winter, and cash in your relievers as trade chips. Many contenders (Astros, Blue Jays, Dodgers, Giants, Nationals, etc.) need high-leverage bullpen help. It's a seller's market.

Chapman (no-trade clause, hefty contract) and Zack Britton (hefty contract, hurt) figure to be difficult to move. Chad Green and Jonathan Loaisiga though? Every team will want them, and as much as it would hurt to trade them, it has to be on the table. Green is a year away from free agency and Loaisiga has a long and scary injury history. They are obvious trade chips.

Luke Voit’s future with the Yankees is worth a longer discussion at some point because he’s already 30 and he’s constantly hurt. Sports hernia in 2019, “foot stuff” in 2020, knee and oblique trouble in 2021. I don’t think he has much trade value because teams no longer pay top dollar for one-dimensional first base types (Jesus Aguilar was dealt for an up-and-down depth arm at a similar point in his career) and the Yankees need to get lefties into the lineup. First base is a spot to do it.

If the Yankees don’t trade Voit at the deadline, he could very well be a non-tender candidate after the season. His salary will climb into the $6M range his second trip through arbitration as a Super Two, and as much as I love the guy, you can find a good first base bat for less. Maybe a lesser hitter, but a better defender and a lefty who better fits the roster.

Gio Urshela is an eye test superstar and one of the few genuinely likeable players on the team. The Yankees could easily move LeMahieu to third base, however, clearing the way for Torres to move to second base next year, and the Yankees to pursue one of the free agent shortstops this offseason. Two and a half years of Urshela should fetch a nice return (hello, Nationals).

I have no idea what Gary Sanchez’s trade value is right now. He’s hit .290/.377/.630 (168 wRC+) with nine homers these last six weeks, but he also lost his job in April, and he’s still not considered a good defender. Quality catchers are a scarce commodity and I feel like Gary has more value to the Yankees on their roster than anything he could realistically fetch in a trade. But still, listen.

The Yankees aren’t really in position to give away pitching but they might as well listen on their starters, right? The best non-Cole starter they have to offer is Jordan Montgomery, who’s fine. He’s someone who helps get you through the 162-game season and you hope you don’t need to start in the postseason. Domingo German and Jameson Taillon aren’t even that right now.

An x-factor: Luis Severino. He threw 20-25 pitches in the bullpen recently and will join Double-A Somerset to continue his rehab this week (he’s not ready to jump into a rehab game just yet). Severino is signed through next year with a club option for 2023. Is there a contender out there willing to give up prospects to get a potential impact starter? I’m guessing the answer is yes.

Severino is one of those players who, if he were on another team, we’d look at him as a buy-low candidate who could help the Yankees accomplish their goal of contending in 2022. Keeping him is 100% justifiable. Given the recent injury history though, the Yankees have to be willing to listen, because we don’t have much reason to count on Severino in 2022, do we?

If (when?) the Yankees sell, it should start with Green and Loaisiga, and the rest of the bullpen as well (Luis Cessa, Lucas Luetge, Darren O’Day, and Wandy Peralta probably aren’t moving the needle much though). It’s not a 2016-esque perfect storm, but lots of contenders need bullpen help, and the Yankees have demonstrated the ability to rebuild bullpens quickly.

Urshela and Voit (and Sanchez) are the most movable position players. I’d rather not sell low on Torres, you can’t trade LeMahieu four months into a six-year contract if you ever hope to attract a big name free agent again, and others like Gardner*, Miguel Andujar, and Clint Frazier have minimal value. You can trade them, but those trades aren’t going to accomplish much.

* Gardner has 10-and-5 rights and thus full no-trade protection, so he can block any trade. It’s hard to see him approving a trade, but then again, who knows? Maybe he’d rather take one last chance at a title with, say, the Giants or Mets or White Sox than stay on the sinking ship.

Again, the Yankees shouldn’t trade anyone just to make a trade. Either now or in the offseason, they have to get lefties into the lineup, and first and third bases (and left field) are the easiest places to do it given who else is on the roster. The Yankees are good at building bullpens, so trade your relievers to address other needs, then find new ones. Easier said than done, of course, but that’s the plan.

What about Judge?

Widespread rebuilds have screwed baseball up so much that a not insignificant number of Yankees fans believe trading Aaron Judge is a good idea. You can’t scroll through your social media app of choice without seeing it suggested. It's silly, of course. Judge is on the very short list of the game’s best players and the Yankees would be a substantially worse team without him next season.

The Red Sox traded Mookie Betts? Cool, but they would be a much better team with Mookie rather than the dollar store Nick Markakis they got in the trade. Cleveland received no one who will make a difference for Francisco Lindor. The Orioles turned Manny Machado into nothing they couldn’t get in minor league free agency. Elite players with short-term control don’t bring much back in trades these days.

Until they indicate otherwise, we should expect the Yankees to try to contend next season, and keeping Judge helps the cause. Trade him and the Yankees will have to spend about $25M in free agency to replace Judge with a player who isn’t as good as him. I know he’ll be a free agent next year, but worry about that later. You can always trade him for a similar blah package to what you’d get this deadline at next year’s deadline, if it comes to that.

The Yankees should listen to trade offers for Judge because they should listen to trade offers for every player. You never know when someone will blow you away with an offer, though the whole “blow you away with an offer” concept isn’t really a thing that happens these days. To a fault, MLB teams are overly protective of their top prospects and young big leaguers.

Cashman & Co. have to plot a course at the deadline. They can either add pieces and try to win (unwise but I'd respect it), tear it all down and begin a rebuild (unwise and I'd hate it to the point where I'd probably shut the Patreon down rather than spend my summer writing about a team making no effort to win), or take a step back with an eye on next year (smart). Painful? Yeah, but the evidence is mounting that this team isn't good in its current form. 

To me, selling at the deadline involves gutting the bullpen, shopping Urshela to teams with a need at third base, and seeing whether you can find a taker for German and Voit. Do that, focus on improving the defense and getting more left-handed in the offseason, and go to work next season. The Yankees should sell, but that doesn’t mean a total tear down.

2. Appreciating Green. The Yankees went 2-4 on the homestand and let two winnable games slip away, and one of the two games they did win required a Herculean performance from Chad Green. Nine up, nine down with a one-run lead, capped off by the eighth Immaculate Inning in Yankees history (video), all after pitching in the first game of the doubleheader. Unreal.

“He had terrific command, throwing the ball how and where he wanted to,” Aaron Boone told Bryan Hoch following the game. “I was a little reluctant to send him out there for a third inning, but he wanted the ball. He was dominant and efficient. That was just a huge effort for us.”

Three innings is the second longest perfect outing of Green’s career (he had a 10 up, 10 down game against the Red Sox in 2017) and again, he did that after pitching in the first game of the doubleheader. Only two pitches, but he warmed up and got in the game. How many pitchers have thrown three innings in the second game of a doubleheader after pitching in the first game? Can’t be many.

“We’ve had some pretty devastating losses the past few games. Games we should have won that we just weren’t able to get done,” Green told Hoch. “I think that was a very important game for us.”

Halfway through the season Green owns a 2.28 ERA (3.09 FIP) with strong strikeout (29.5%) and walk (5.1%) rates, and is holding opponents to a .163/.206/.293 batting line. He is as good as he’s ever been. His 21 shutdowns (i.e. relief appearances that improve the team’s win probability at least 6%) are already only five short of his career high.

Green has a difficult role and a thankless job -- pitch in high-leverage situations without the glory (or money-making potential) of saves -- and he’s done it very well. Every team has relievers with a 30% strikeout rate these days, but few have a guy who is this good year after year, and while pitching multiple innings as often as Green. What a stud. Appreciate it, because relievers with as much dependability and staying power as Green don’t come along often.

3. 2021 draft prospect: Oregon State RHP Kevin Abel. The 2021 MLB Draft begins this coming Sunday and J.J. Cooper (subs. req’d) reports MLB has informed teams the draft will be 20 rounds, the minimum number allowed under last year’s March agreement. The Yankees hold the No. 20 pick. Here is our 2021 draft prospect coverage archive.

Abel, 22 on draft day, has been on the prospect radar a long time. Had he been signable as a Southern California high schooler in 2017, he could’ve gone in the top 10 rounds, but he turned down the Padres as their 35th round pick and went to Oregon State. As a freshman in 2018, Abel turned in one of the greatest College World Series performances ever:

• June 18th: 4 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K in relief (58 pitches)
• June 23rd: 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K in a start (95 pitches)
• June 27th: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K in relief (23 pitches)
• June 28th: 9 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 10 K in a start (129 pitches) (video)
• Total: 21 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 6 BB, 23 K

Four appearances and 21 innings in 11 days, and that June 27th appearance came with Oregon State’s season on the line. June 28th was Game 3 in a best-of-three series and clinched the National Championship. Abel finished his freshman season with a 2.88 ERA and 108 strikeouts in 81.1 innings spread across seven starts and 16 relief appearances.

Unfortunately the workload caught up with Abel in 2019, and he blew out his elbow three starts into the season. He had Tommy John surgery and didn’t make it back in time to pitch before the pandemic last year. There was interest in Abel as a below-slot lottery ticket guy last year, but he opted to return to school, and was not picked in the five-round draft.

Abel returned this spring and had a 3.62 ERA with 109 strikeouts in 82 innings. He’s always had walk issues (13.3% in 2018) and that was especially true with the new elbow ligament this year (16.8%). Baseball America (subs. req’d) and MLB.com rank him the 134th and 167th prospect in the class, respectively. Here’s 2021 video and here’s a snippet of MLB.com’s scouting report:

He generally throws his fastball up to 91 mph, occasionally touching 92, but sitting more often than not in the 88- to 90-mph range while showing the ability to command it to both sides of the plate. His changeup, a plus offspeed offering, is his best secondary pitch and he’ll throw his above-average curve at any point in the count … He does mix his pitches well and keeps hitters off balance with his consistent performance, pointing to a future in the back end of a rotation.

Baseball America’s scouting report says Abel “draws rave reviews for his competitiveness and makeup,” and that’s one reason I’m highlighting him. The Yankees prioritize good makeup, and scouting director Damon Oppenheimer has a known affinity for SoCal players. I’m certain he grew familiar with Abel during his high school days in San Diego.

Although he’s been in school four years now, Abel technically just wrapped up his sophomore season. He took a medical redshirt after hurting his elbow in 2019 and everyone was granted an extra year of eligibility because of the pandemic last year. Abel is not the usual college senior with no leverage. He can go back to school and re-enter the draft next year.

That said, Abel is already 22 and he’s already blown out his elbow once, and he’s already won a National Championship. To each his own, but Abel has already accomplished the ultimate goal with Oregon State, and it seems like it’s time to cash in. He would be 23 going into next year’s draft and the older you get, the less teams will pay you. That’s just the way it is.

Abel checks two Oppenheimer boxes as a SoCal kid touted for his makeup, and I wonder whether he’s willing to take, say, fifth or sixth round money ($250,000 to $350,000) in the third round, saving bonus pool money the Yankees could then use to give someone else an overslot bonus. Gauge his signability prior to draft and see whether there’s an opportunity to bank bonus pool space.

Bottom line, Abel has two quality secondary pitches and he’s succeeded on the biggest stage in college baseball. The fastball is a little short and the walk issues are a red flag, but that’s still a pretty good foundation for a mid-round pick (the Yankees are pretty good at helping pitchers add velocity too). Someone will take a shot on Abel and see whether they can unlock the kid who threw a two-hit shutout in the 2018 National Championship Game.

4. Remembering a random Yankee: Don Gullett. Our next random Yankee comes by request and is a pitcher who played for six pennant winners and won four World Series championships in nine years as an active player. Here’s the random Yankee archive. You can find links back to everyone we've covered there.

Gullett grew up in rural Kentucky and was a three-sport star in high school who once struck out 20 batters in a seven-inning perfect game. The Reds selected Gullett with the No. 14 pick in the 1969 draft and he made his MLB debut as a 19-year-old in April 1970. He had a 2.43 ERA in 77.2 relief innings as a rookie, and allowed two runs (one earned) in 10.1 postseason innings.

The Reds moved Gullett into the rotation the following year and he was a mainstay during the Big Red Machine years. From 1971-76, Gullett pitched to a 3.07 ERA (111 ERA+) and averaged 184.9 innings and 2.0 WAR per season. He twice finished top seven in the Cy Young voting and also had a 2.99 ERA in 78.1 postseason innings during Cincinnati’s dynastic run.

Gullett started Game 7 of the 1975 World Series against the Red Sox (the Reds won in the ninth inning and he didn’t factor into the decision) and also Game 1 of the 1976 World Series against the Yankees. He allowed one run in 7.1 innings to beat Doyle Alexander, but exited the game after stepping in a divot in the mound and suffering a dislocated tendon in his right ankle.

“I saw a hole there on the previous pitch and I should have covered it over then,” Gullett told the New York Times. “But I didn't and I stepped in it.”

The injury would have sidelined Gullett the rest of the World Series, though he wasn’t needed anyway as the Reds swept the Yankees in four games to win their second straight title. Gullett became a free agent after the season, and while the ankle injury (as well as shoulder and neck problems he battled earlier in the season) was a cause for concern, it didn’t hurt his market.

“I was extremely gratified by the tremendous interest shown in Don,” Gullett’s agent, Jerry Kapstein, told Murray Chass in Oct. 1976. “Only one club expressed some concern, but that club also said they would just have to see the doctor's report. All the other clubs told me they knew the fact that he was on crutches had nothing to do with his pitching.”

If you can’t beat ‘em, sign ‘em, so the Yankees signed Gullett to a six-year deal worth $2M on Nov. 18th, 1976, a month after he beat them in the World Series. The Yankees needed a quality lefty in the rotation (Ron Guidry went up and down as a reliever from 1975-76 and didn’t break through until 1977) and Gullett was an obvious fit.

“We're not finished. We're still working,” George Steinbrenner told Chass after signing Gullett. “We did not have a doctor examine him and we didn't ask to see a doctor's report. Jerry Kapstein operates above board. He assured me his ankle is all right and we took his word.”

Steinbrenner wasn’t kidding when he said the Yankees weren't finished. In the weeks after the Gullett signing the Yankees signed Reggie Jackson, traded for reigning MLB walks leader Jim Wynn, and traded for Paul Blair. Then, right before Opening Day, they made one last move and traded for Bucky Dent, who was in a contract dispute with the White Sox.

Gullett opened 1977 as the No. 3 starter behind Catfish Hunter and Ed Figueroa, and his first start went very well (two runs in 8.2 innings), though the offense gave him no support and he took the loss against the Brewers. In his next three starts Gullett allowed seven, five, and five runs. He finished April with a 7.13 ERA in four starts and 24 innings.

On April 25th, Gullett slipped on a wet mound at the old Memorial Stadium in Baltimore and suffered a sprained ankle and a strained back muscle. “It's serious with Gullett. His neck is in a brace and he could miss at least two turns or more,” then-manager Billy Martin told Chass after the game. Hunter was hurt at the time too, so the Yankees were down two starters.

The Yankees lost eight of their first 10 games in 1977 before righting the ship in mid-April. When Gullett rejoined the team on May 7th, they’d improved to 14-10 and moved into a tie with the Brewers atop the AL East. Gullett struck out 10 and allowed two runs in a complete game win over the Athletics in his return, then allowed one run in a complete game win against the Angels a week later.

“It's coming together for me,” Gullett told Paul Montgomery about the four-hitter against the Angels. “I feel this was my best game yet.”

From his return from the neck and back injury through the end of July, Gullett pitched to a 3.15 ERA and held opponents to a .235/.316/.368 line in 13 starts and 94.1 innings. He missed August with a shoulder issue -- “His arm was really bothering the living hell out of him … I'm very concerned,” Martin told the New York Times -- but returned in September and pitched well.

Gullett finished 1977 with a 3.58 ERA in 22 starts and 158.1 innings. The Yankees started 2-8 and finished 100-62, and their rotation was five deep with Figueroa, Guidry, Gullett, Hunter, and Mike Torrez. Add in Reggie, Thurman Munson, Graig Nettles, Willie Randolph, et al, and Cy Young closer Sparky Lyle, and you had the makings of a championship team.

The Yankees renewed their rivalry with the Royals in the ALCS -- I badly wish I’d been around to see the 1970s Yankees and the Royals rivalry -- and Gullett drew the Game 1 start. It did not go well. Kansas City tagged him for four runs in two innings, and Gullett exited the game with renewed shoulder problems. He did not pitch again in the series.

“I asked him, ‘Is your arm bothering you?” Martin told Joseph Durso about Gullett after Game 1. “He said yes and I told him ‘You're coming out of there.’ The last time he got hurt like this he didn't pitch for a month. So that's your answer now. Unless they come up with some miracle drug, we'll just have to replace him.”

The ALCS went the distance and Guidry had to start the decisive Game 5 on short rest because Gullett was hurt. The Yankees went into the ninth inning down 3-2 in Game 5, but rallied to score three runs in the top of the ninth to win the series. They advanced to face the Dodgers in the World Series and Gullett was healthy enough to get the ball in Game 1.

“After the last game there's no question that you give thought to what's gone wrong, why me, and so on and so forth,” Gullett told Chass following Game 1. “But coming out of the bullpen, you're throwing well and it gets you hyped up. It makes you try to do more than you're capable of doing. When you want to do something so badly, it's hard for me to contain myself so I overdo it and try to do something that's physically impossible.”

The Dodgers jumped on Gullett for two runs in the top of the first inning in Game 1, though he settled down and pitched into the ninth inning, allowing three runs on six hits and six walks in 8.1 innings. “I felt good about this game. I had confidence I could throw the ball well,” Gullett told Chass. The Yankees won Game 1 in 12 innings on Blair’s walk-off single.

The Yankees lost Game 2, then rallied to win Games 3 and 4 behind Torrez and Guidry to take a commanding 3-1 series lead. Gullett got the ball in Game 5 with a chance to clinch a World Series title, but he couldn’t get through five innings. Los Angeles hammered him for seven runs (six earned) in 4.1 innings to force Game 6.

“Gullett made a couple of mistakes and got hurt,” Martin told Durso after Game 5. “Hanging forkballs and hanging screwballs.”

Reggie slugged three homers on three pitches against three different pitchers in Game 6 to give the Yankees their first World Series championship since 1962. For Gullett, it was his third World Series title in as many years, though he had a rough postseason while pitching through shoulder trouble (14 runs in 14.2 innings).

Although he turned only 27 in Jan. 1978, Gullett’s playing career would soon be over. He went down with discomfort in his shoulder in Spring Training and his recovery took longer than initially expected. Gullett made his 1978 season debut on June 4th but couldn’t make it out of the first inning against the Athletics. He allowed two runs in one-third of an inning.

“I felt fine physically. I've just got to start all over putting things together,” Gullett told Leonard Koppett after the game.

Gullett’s next six starts went very well. He pitched to a 2.47 ERA in 43.2 innings with complete game wins at Fenway Park and at home against the Tigers. Then, on July 9th, Gullett faced nine Brewers and allowed four runs on three hits and four walks. It would prove to be the final game of his MLB career.

“(Gullett) couldn't move his arm,” Martin told Chass a few days later. He was placed on what was then called the disabled list soon thereafter, and after rest and rehab didn’t work, Gullett had surgery to repair multiple tears in his rotator cuff in September. The surgery ended his season and made him a question mark going into 1979 as well.

Despite the surgery, the Yankees carried Gullett on their active roster for the 1978 World Series, according to Charles Faber. The Yankees beat the Royals in the ALCS again and the Dodgers in the World Series again, and with that, Gullett became one of the few players who didn’t play for the 1930s to 1950s Yankees to play for four straight World Series champions.

In Spring Training 1979, Gullett had progressed well enough following shoulder surgery to begin throwing bullpen sessions. “He's about three months ahead (of schedule). We didn't think he'd throw until midseason,” then-GM Cedric Tallis told Chass.

“I didn't think they gave up on me,” Gullett told Chass. “I understand it's a difficult operation and it's difficult to get back. I don't have a frame of mind that I won't pitch this year. It'll be a day-by-day thing and no one knows what will happen. There's no timetable, but I have in my mind that I want to pitch this year.”

Gullett never made it back to the mound in 1979. He spent the year rehabbing and showed up to Spring Training feeling good in 1980. “The delivery is so much better. The delivery he had was conducive to hurting himself. It was a matter of time,” then-pitching coach Stan Williams told Malcolm Moran.

The shoulder never cooperated and Gullett did not pitch in 1980. The Yankees released him after the season, four years into his six-year contract, though they brought him to camp as a non-roster player in 1981. The comeback attempt went nowhere. Gullett had a 3.59 ERA in 30 starts and 203 innings as a Yankee, plus three starts during the 1978 postseason.

Gullett retired with a career 109-50 record (his .686 winning percentage is 11th best among the 1,460 pitchers with at least 100 career decisions) and a 3.11 ERA (113 ERA+) in 1,390 innings. He was done at age 27, however. Turns out throwing 217.2 innings at age 20 and 1,124 innings before your 25th birthday isn’t good for long-term pitcher health.

Following his playing career, Gullett got into coaching, and was Cincinnati’s pitching coach from 1993-2005. The Reds inducted him into their Hall of Fame in 2002.

5. Rapid fire thoughts. Gerrit Cole and Aroldis Chapman will join Aaron Judge in the All-Star Game. The rosters were announced Sunday -- pretty bad timing for Cole and Chapman! -- but the player vote took place weeks ago, hence Chapman being an All-Star. Very reminiscent of Dellin Betances in 2017. Betances was lights out in April and May but a disaster in June, and made the All-Star Game anyway. Too bad Gary Sanchez didn’t make it. They only took two catchers per league this year and Mike Zunino, the token Rays player, got the backup spot behind Sal Perez. I was hoping Gary would make it given how everything went last year and earlier this year. Maybe he’ll get the nod as an injury replacement … The Yankees released Robinson Chirinos, Derek Dietrich, and Nick Goody over the weekend, the team announced. Given the timing, it’s safe to assume they all had July 1st opt-out clauses in their contracts. Dietrich needed a big June to get his Triple-A batting line up to .215/.413/.393 (128 wRC+) and Goody was far down the bullpen depth chart. Chirinos is the most significant loss only because he’s a catcher, and it’s a position where you want depth. Rob Brantly is hitting .232/.360/.442 (115 wRC+) with the RailRiders and is now the No. 3 catcher by default (Chirinos signed with the Cubs yesterday and was added to their MLB roster) … And finally, Shi Davidi reports the Blue Jays submitted a proposal to return to Toronto at the end of this month. They’re waiting for the Canadian government to review the plan and respond. The government allowed NHL teams to travel in and out of Canada without a quarantine period during the playoffs these last few weeks, though they had to maintain a bubble-like setting. My dream of the Yankees playing their first road series against the Blue Jays in Dunedin, their second in Buffalo, and their third in Toronto is still alive. Bring me the weirdness.

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