June 1st, 2021: LeMahieu, Stanton, Taillon, King, Trade Deadline, Coaches

The April Yankees are back, baby. The rotation is shaky, the offense can’t hit, and the defense is booting the ball left and right. Watching the championship window close on this core in real time is not an enjoyable experience. It always happens sooner than you expect too. The Yankees are on pace to go 87-75 with 108 games remaining. To today’s thoughts.

1. Weekend observations. It was hard to tell which team was the last place team in Detroit this weekend, huh? Getting outscored 15-5 in three games by that team (one of the five runs was a gift too) is a total embarrassment. It is June 1st, and already any on paper advantage the Yankees had in the AL East race coming into the season is gone:

“This is just a bad ending to a terrible weekend. We’ve got to get better,” Aaron Boone told Bryan Hoch after Sunday’s game. “As pissed off as I am -- and as we should be -- by the way we played, it’s a bad weekend. We need to turn the page. We have an important homestand coming up against some really good opponents.”

How did the Yankees respond? With a loss to the Rays yesterday, of course. The only thing this team has done consistently the last two seasons is fail to rise to the occasion. The Yankees have scored two runs or fewer 21 times in 54 games. Only the Pirates (23) and Tigers (23) have done it more often. Good company. Some thoughts on the last few games.

LeMahieu’s down year

On the list of problems with the offense, DJ LeMahieu is not at the top, but he is definitely on the list. LeMahieu owns a .262/.345/.338 (97 wRC+) batting line at the moment. He hit .336 the last two years and is slugging .338 this year, and has four extra-base hits in his last 35 games (two in the same game). He's making a spirited run at a Willie Randolph OBP > SLG season.

“Anytime you don’t see him hitting .320 or .340, by his standards, it’s a slow start,” Boone told Hoch over the weekend. “I think just like a lot of guys, he’s a tick off what he normally is. He’s done a really good job of getting on base at a nice clip. We feel like, over time, we expect him to really get it rolling like we know he’s capable of doing.”

Earlier this year LeMahieu was pulling everything on the ground. That is no longer the case (LeMahieu’s 25.9% pull rate is his lowest since 2017), though there are a lot of red flags. 147 players have batted at least 200 times this year after batting at least 200 times last year. Some year-to-year changes among those 147 players going into yesterday’s games:

Isolated power
1. Marcell Ozuna: -.155
2. DJ LeMahieu: -.147 (.226 in 2020 to .079 in 2021)
3. Brandon Lowe: .-097
4. Mookie Betts: -.082
5. Jeimer Candelario: -.080

Strikeout rate
1. Kyle Seager: +9.4%
2. Nick Solak: +7.9%
3. DJ LeMahieu: +7.6% (9.7% to 17.4%)
4. Andrew McCutchen: +7.3%
5. Brandon Lowe: +5.4%

wRC+
1. Marcell Ozuna: -99
2. DJ LeMahieu: -75 (176 to 101)
3. Freddie Freeman: -62
4. David Fletcher: -52
5. Brandon Lowe: -51

LeMahieu also has the seventh biggest increase in swing-and-miss rate (+2.1%) and the seventh biggest decrease in hard contact rate (-9.0%). That is: bad. All of it. LeMahieu is striking out at his highest rate since 2014 and he’s not hitting the ball as hard as often. He’s starting from such a high baseline that he remains productive enough despite those huge declines, but give the Yankees a truth serum, and they’d tell you they expected more from LeMahieu.

At least part of the power loss can be attributed to the deadened baseball, but I refuse to believe this big a drop is on the baseball and the baseball alone. Truth be told, a decline in power and an increase in swings and misses are often a sign the player is losing bat speed, and LeMahieu turns 33 next month. Age-related decline can’t be ruled out, and that is not a sentence I wanted to type two months into a six-year contract.

Whatever the reason, LeMahieu is playing like the guy we all thought he would be when the Yankees first signed him two years ago. Yankees fans have never been as collectively wrong about something as we were about the original LeMahieu signing. Pretty much everyone hated it. Some decline this year was to be expected (he wasn’t going to be MVP caliber forever), but this much? That was unexpected, and it’s hard for me to see the offense being the offense it is expected to be with this version of LeMahieu.

Stanton’s return

In three games back from his quad strain, Giancarlo Stanton is 0-for-12 with eight strikeouts and two walks. He looks like a hitter who needed a rehab assignment after a two-week layoff, similar to how Luke Voit looked like a hitter who needed a longer rehab assignment than he got (five Triple-A games) following his six weeks on the shelf.

“It really doesn’t matter how difficult it is (to come back without a rehab assignment). If I’m going to be in the lineup, I’ve got to get it done,” Stanton told Brendan Kuty following his first game back. “... Felt good. It was definitely tested. A lot of checked swings, didn’t run too much. But everything checked out great.”

The Yankees brought Stanton back without a rehab assignment because their replacement DHs have been terrible (they rotated people through the DH spot during Stanton’s absence, but you know what I mean). They determined they’re better off rolling the dice with Stanton after a two-week layoff than sticking with the status quo. Same deal with Voit. He came back quickly because his replacements were so terrible.

Is that a sign of a healthy organization? No. No it is not. It is the opposite. It is an indictment of their depth, and to some extent an indication of panic. You don’t bring two core hitters back from injuries without sufficient rehab unless you’re starting to feel the heat. And frankly, the Yankees should feel the heat, because the offense has been terrible. The weekly update:

• AVG: .229 (24th in MLB)
• OBP: .316 (13th)
• SLG: .371 (24th)
• wRC+: 96 (15th)
• Runs per game: 3.74 (27th)

Give Stanton enough time and he’ll get back to annihilating the ball like he was prior to his quad injury. Of course, Giancarlo is liable to get injured again before that happens, and that is just the reality with Stanton at this point. He mashes when healthy and you just hope he’s healthy often enough to really make a difference in the standings or in a postseason series.

“He’s been back a couple days. G will be fine. As long as he’s healthy and starts to get his reps going, he’ll be fine," Boone told Greg Joyce yesterday. "It’s fair to say he’s probably dusting off some rust right now. But as long as he’s healthy, he should round into form  here.”

That the Yankees were compelled to bring Stanton back without a rehab assignment (and Voit back after a short rehab assignment) is damning. The Yankees were willing to bring them back without a proper rehab because their organizational depth is lacking. It’s good they realize that, I suppose, but it’s bad overall. It’s not something teams do when they’re on solid footing.

Taillon’s sinker

Jameson Taillon went back to his sinker yesterday. He threw more sinkers in yesterday’s game (nine) than in his other nine starts combined (four), and all four of those previous sinkers came in his last start. A graph:

Kyle Higashioka caught Taillon for the first time this year yesterday, so maybe Higashioka is responsible for the uptick in sinkers, though I don’t think we can say that yet. The Rays knocked Taillon around the last time he faced them, so it could just be that he changed things up against a team that hit him hard recently. We’ll see.

As good as Taillon’s fastball has been this season (top five swing and miss rate among starters!), his secondary pitches have been iffy. His curveball and slider have below-average swing and miss rates, and he doesn’t throw his changeup enough for it to be a factor. Too often he’s a fastball-only pitcher. Taillon could probably be a fierce Chad Green-esque reliever, but I think there are enough encouraging signs to keep starting him (not that the Yankees have alternatives even if they didn’t want to start him).

King and Nestor

In his first start as Corey Kluber’s replacement, Mike King needed 63 pitches to get seven outs against a Tigers lineup that went into Sunday’s game hitting .225/.293/.358 (82 wRC+) with a 28.3% strikeout rate. Detroit’s lefty hitters reached base in half their plate appearances against him. Nomar Mazara’s first inning at-bat tells the story:

King jumped ahead in the count 0-2, then had nothing to put away Mazara, a legitimately terrible hitter. Mazara fouled away two pitches, worked the count back full, then got a mistake he could hit hard, which he did for a two-run double. Lefties have hit .227/.363/.427 (.348 wOBA) against King in his MLB career and it tracks. There’s no obvious weapon to get them out.

The Yankees brought up Nestor Cortes, who is not a Major League caliber pitcher (3.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 3 K on Sunday), to piggyback with King because a) they needed someone to piggyback with King because he isn’t stretched out yet, b) Cortes was lined up to pitch multiple innings, and c) the Yankees don’t care about stunting Cortes’ development or anything. He’s disposable. Harsh, but true.

Robert Murray says Mike Montgomery is planning to opt out of his minor league contract today, and I thought the Yankees might drop Cortes and add Montgomery after Sunday’s game, but it didn’t happen. Montgomery’s been pretty bad in Triple-A (15 runs in 16.2 innings), so losing him is not a huge blow. It just means the Yankees will need another Triple-A innings-eater. (Former RABer Sung Min Kim passed along word that Montgomery is likely heading to Korea.)

The larger problem is the King/Cortes rotation spot, which is now a full-time thing. The Yankees live and die with their pitching and that rotation spot is not going to be competitive all that often. They don’t have the offense (or defense or baserunning) to make up for it. The Yankees are going to have to scramble to cobble together innings every fifth day for the foreseeable future. It’s not great, but it is the state of that rotation spot.

Frazier in center

So it seems using Clint Frazier in center field is not a thing the Yankees will do despite Boone saying he’s willing to do it. The Yankees have seen seven lefty starters in their last 12 games, and in those seven games Brett Gardner started in center five times, and Estevan Florial and Tyler Wade started once each. If you’re not going to start Clint over Gardner against a lefty, I’m not sure when you would.

“I don’t know what could happen outside the organization, but inside, we can call someone up if we get in a pinch, and I feel comfortable putting Tyler Wade out there or sliding Clint Frazier over in a pinch,” Boone said last week. “I don’t think I’d do that with Aaron Judge right now, but we’ll see. We can’t run Gardy out there nine innings every day and run him into the ground.”

The Yankees have just kinda given up on addressing the center field situation, it seems. The rumored Delino DeShields Jr. trade hasn’t come together, though maybe they decided to wait until he could opt out of his minor league deal (today) and sign him as a free agent rather than trade anything to get him. I dunno. Otherwise they’re doing exactly what Boone said he didn’t want to do, which is “run Gardy out there nine innings every day and run him into the ground.”

The margins of the roster are a mess right now. The Yankees don’t have a real backup center fielder, Mike Ford is in Year 2 of contributing absolutely nothing (may we all have as much job security), and they didn’t even bother to call someone up to replace LeMahieu when he went on the paternity list. What is even going on here? How complacent can you get? A functional roster isn’t too much to ask.

Maybe the Yankees were just biding their time until DeShields opts out, and he’ll be in uniform later this week. I hope that’s the case (hoping for Delino DeShields Jr.! good grief) so they can at least sit Gardner against lefties. The Yankees clearly don’t want to play Frazier out there, and Wade against a lefty doesn’t help anything. No rush addressing center field, guys. Position’s not going anywhere.

Gittens on the radar

Chris Gittens, the Triple-A masher flavor of the year, is hitting .268/.464/.634 (190 wRC+) with four home runs and more walks (14) than strikeouts (13) in 14 games. He’s cooled down a bit of late (5-for-27 in his last eight games), but with Yankees first basemen hitting a collective .173/.276/.264 (57 wRC+) this year, calling Gittens up should be on the table.

“He’s been back to playing now a few days (after paternity leave). But, yes, he’s very much on our radar,” Boone told Kuty when asked about Gittens over the weekend. “We know he’s swinging the bat really well to start the season which follows up what he’s done the last couple of seasons. Had a strong Spring Training with us. So, he’s very much on our radar.”

This is Year 4 of the Boone era and in the previous three years, whenever Boone said “he’s on our radar,” he often meant “I acknowledge his existence, but we’re not planning to call him up, so please stop asking me about him.” Not always, but more often than not, I’d say. That quote about Gittens reads very much like something intended to placate the masses.

I’m not a Gittens guy, but Yankees first basemen have been so impossibly bad this year that he’s worth a try. “He can’t be worse!” is usually a terrible reason to make a move, but sometimes it is enough of a reason to make a move, and I think it is here. The Yankees re-signed Gittens as a minor league free agent for a reason. Depth in case Voit gets hurt and his replacements are awful is presumably that reason.

"I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing here and whenever they do call me up, I'll be ready," Gittens told Kyle Franko. "... I'm  in Triple-A with the RailRiders, so this is my team. I really don't care what's going on outside in the big leagues because this is my priority, this is my job to win games and produce with the RailRiders."

2. Trade deadline needs. Five years ago Brian Cashman cited getting swept by the last place Rays as the reason the Yankees sold at the deadline. “A true playoff contender, you know, not a playoff pretender, wouldn't do that,” he said. Well, the Yankees just got swept by the last place Tigers. They scored five runs in the three games (two in garbage time).

No, I do not think the 2021 Yankees should sell like the 2016 Yankees. But the season is now one-third complete. The time for evaluation is over, and the time to make changes has arrived. The 60-game mark is about when you know what you have and the Yankees are almost there. Calling up Chris Gittens or whoever is lipstick on a pig. The Yankees need a talent infusion.

The trade deadline is eight weeks and three days away, but the Yankees would be smart not to wait to address their needs. The sooner they plug their roster holes, the longer those players can help them. Of course, it takes two to tango, and the Yankees would have to find a willing seller. It’s doable. To me, this is the trade deadline shopping list:

1. Center fielder
2. Corner outfielder
3. Starting pitcher
4. First baseman
5. General depth

Brett Gardner shouldn’t be the everyday center fielder and smart, contending teams do not lean on their backup infielder as their backup center fielder. The Yankees need a legitimate everyday center fielder because Aaron Hicks isn’t coming back. A lefty hitter would be ideal to give the lineup some semblance of balance, though the Yankees are in no position to be choosy.

Yankees left fielders are hitting .230/.302/.317 (78 wRC+) and Clint Frazier is not working out. Also, it’s been three weeks since Aaron Judge started more than two consecutive games in right field as he nurses his lower body soreness. On the days Judge DHs, Giancarlo Stanton sits. So yeah, the Yankees need a corner outfield bat. Ideally a lefty, but a good hitter first and foremost.

Do not mistake me listing starting pitcher at No. 3 to mean it's not important. It’s very important. Corey Kluber is going to miss two months, possibly more, and it’s hardly a guarantee he’ll return and be effective. Smart teams do not count on a 35-year-old with two shoulder injuries in two years coming back to make an impact. They replace him and take whatever they get from him as a bonus.

Luis Severino is doing well with his rehab and could begin a minor league rehab assignment “at the end of (this) week,” Aaron Boone told Brendan Kuty, which is great. Boone also said the Yankees are planning to activate Severino before he is fully stretched out, which is less great, in my opinion. I don’t like rushing back the Tommy John surgery guy. From Kuty:

“Part of the plan actually has him … probably going to come (off the injured list) and still be building up even from his first outing with us. He’s had a couple of live simulated game, so he’s getting close to entering game mode now in kind of a spring training setting. Whether (he’s ready in) a month, four weeks, six, whatever it is, he’s getting to that point now.”

Mike King starting every fifth day does not appeal to me and it’s pretty clear the Yankees are not ready to give Deivi Garcia a full-time rotation spot. Kluber shouldn’t be counted on and I’d rather the Yankees not count on Severino to be the postseason No. 2 behind Gerrit Cole so soon after Tommy John surgery (if they even get to the postseason, of course). Get a starter, please. A good one too. Someone you can start in October.

First base is something the Yankees could, in theory, handle internally until Luke Voit returns, and it’s more reasonable to assume Voit will return and be productive than the pitchers because it’s just an oblique strain. It sucks, but it’s not surgery or structural damage. He pulled a muscle. It happens. Gittens or Miguel Andujar could -- could -- be serviceable at first base in the interim.

That said, the Yankees have exhausted the “we’re just waiting on guys to get going” period. I suppose they could target a second baseman and put DJ LeMahieu at first, but a) they would sooner play Rougned Odor everyday, and b) it seems like it would be easier to get a good first baseman than a good middle infielder. A first baseman who could settle in as a multi-position bench guy after Voit returns would be ideal (Colin Moran?).

To be clear, I have no expectation of the Yankees adding everything on my wish list, and little confidence they’ll add even one thing on my wish list. Trades are hard to make (I have to think the White Sox will be in on every outfielder the Yankees are in on), and also the Yankees have limited luxury tax payroll space. They’ve been quiet the last two deadlines too.

For the Yankees to address all their needs, it would require a significant departure from their recent behavior. They’d have to raise payroll and exceed the $210M luxury tax threshold (likely by a lot), and also be aggressive at the deadline. We’ve seen them do both things in the not too distant past! Are they willing to do it now though? I’m not sure we can confidently say yes.

To date, the offseason has been a disaster (DJ LeMahieu has been average at best, Kluber broke down after five good starts, Jameson Taillon has a 5.10 ERA and 4.60 FIP, and everyone they spent Adam Ottavino’s money on has been a dud), and the result is a long trade deadline shopping list. The luxury tax plan makes it fair to question whether winning is the priority, and addressing all those needs at the deadline will require a radical shift in the team’s behavior. I am ready to be disappointed.

3. Coaching staff changes. Unless the Yankees rally to win the World Series, I don’t see how they can do anything other than clean house with the coaching staff this offseason. Maybe the pitching has been good enough to spare Matt Blake, but a) who really knows?, and b) there are other smart pitching coaches out there anyway. No one’s irreplaceable.

The Yankees lead the world in outs on the bases, which reflects poorly on first base coach and baserunning instructor Reggie Willits. The defense is exceedingly mistake prone, which reflects poorly on Willits (also the outfield instructor) and bench coach and infield instructor Carlos Mendoza. The offense has gone completely in the tank, which reflects poorly on hitting coaches Marcus Thames and P.J. Pilittere. Thames is the man, but this is a results-based business, and the results aren't there.

Whatever message Aaron Boone is trying to send the clubhouse, it’s not working, and that ain’t great for a guy the organization hails as a master communicator. The fact every supposed core player has stalled out or gone backwards the last few years except Aaron Judge reflects horribly on the coaching staff and especially Boone. This group was handpicked to take the core to the next level and the opposite has happened.

I don’t think Brian Cashman should be replaced but I am in favor of kicking him upstairs into a team president role, and bringing in someone else to run the day-to-day baseball operations. I’ve been writing about that possibility since 2012, so this is not a new feeling. Cashman’s experience in this market is valuable, but the Yankees could benefit from a fresh set of eyes and a fresh set of ideas. Someone willing to say “let's not plan our offseason around DJ LeMahieu, and seriously consider alternatives."

As outsiders, we can’t evaluate coaches accurately. We just can’t. Lotsa folks were convinced Kevin Long had to go because Mark Teixeira and Brian McCann became dead pull hitters (as if that problem was limited to them), and since then Long has had a lot more success without the Yankees than the Yankees have had without him (Long was hitting coach for the 2015 Mets and 2019 Nationals). Larry Rothschild’s Padres have been, by frickin’ far, the best pitching team in baseball this year. You think you know, but you don’t.

Sometimes a team just needs to make a change though, and sometimes a dumb fan just needs to vent. This is definitely the latter, and maybe it’s the former too. The Yankees haven’t made an in-season coaching change since June 1990, when they canned manager Bucky Dent, hitting coach Champ Summers, third base coach Joe Sparks, and bullpen coach Gary Tuck all that once, and I don’t expect them to start now. Given how the season has gone though, I’m not sure how you can maintain the status quo after the year. It sends the message that this is acceptable.

Cashman and Hal Steinbrenner love love love Boone, but if the Yankees continue on this path, they won’t hesitate to lay the blame at his feet after the season. If they do that, an entirely new coaching staff is in order. Whatever this group is doing, it doesn’t seem to be working. Hopefully the Yankees don’t treat “manager of a historic franchise with World Series aspirations” as an entry level job again when they replace Boone, whenever that happens.

4. 2021 draft prospect: Pennsylvania HS OF Benny Montgomery. The 2021 MLB Draft will take place during the All-Star break 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.

Pennsylvania has produced several ultra-toolsy high school outfielders the last few years and Montgomery, 18 on draft day, will follow in the footsteps of Austin Hendrick (12th pick in 2020), Sammy Siani (37th pick in 2019), and Sammy’s brother Mike (first round talent who fell to the fourth round for bonus reasons in 2018). Pennsylvania, huh? Who knew?

Anyway, MLB.com ranks Montgomery the 17th best prospect in the draft class. Baseball America (subs. req’d) ranks him 23rd. Here’s some video and here’s a snippet of MLB.com’s scouting report:

All summer long, he showed off his close to top-of-the-scale speed (some scouts have 80 run times for him) and his tremendous raw power that helped him win the Perfect Game All-American Classic Home Run Derby. The main concern with the Virginia recruit had been with his ability to get to that power, with a bit of a rigid swing and flat bat path.

Though he lacks fluidity in his swing, the 6-foot-4 right-handed hitter did a very good job of making contact against good competition on the summer showcase circuit. A premium, fast-twitch athlete, Montgomery is a plus defender with an outstanding work ethic.

“Tool for tool, Montgomery might be the most talented player in the 2021 class,” Baseball America wrote in their scouting report, and MLB.com says Montgomery’s size and athleticism “reminds some of Jayson Werth.” For what it’s worth, Jim Callis says the Yankees “seem to be linked” to Montgomery in his latest mock draft.

The Yankees have gone position player heavy at the top of the last few drafts (only five pitchers in the top five rounds the last three years) and it is intentional. Scouting director Damon Oppenheimer confirmed it. The Yankees typically go for players with strong hit tools, however. Not power-first guys. Think Blake Rutherford and the Anthonys (Seigler and Volpe).

Montgomery’s upside and athleticism stand out, though he “lacks fluidity in his swing,” and the Baseball America scouting report says there is “crudeness to his offensive approach.” That is a risky profile. It’s the Estevan Florial profile, basically. Great tools, great athleticism, potential to impact the game in many ways, but will he make enough contact for it all to matter?

There’s something to be said for taking a big swing on a player like Montgomery. It’s difficult to get players who project to be stars in the back half of the first round. Montgomery has that ability even though he has a very, very long way to go to reach that ceiling. I think the Yankees will be more conservative at No. 20, but it’s okay to zag after zigging for so many years.

5. Remembering a random Yankee: Ron Coomer. By request, this week’s random Yankee is one of the select few who have hit a home run in their first at-bat with the team. Here’s the random Yankee archive. You can find links back to everyone we've covered there.

Originally a 14th round pick out of a California junior college by the Athletics in 1987, Coomer was well-traveled before making his MLB debut. The A’s released him in 1990, the White Sox signed him the next year, Chicago sent him to the Dodgers in a minor trade in Dec. 1993, then Los Angeles traded him to the Twins in a six-player deal at the 1995 deadline. The details:

• Twins receive: 1B/3B Ron Coomer, RHP Greg Hansell, RHP Jose Parra, player to be named (OF Chris Latham)
• Dodgers receive: LHP Mark Guthrie, RHP Kevin Tapani

Los Angeles was in the race and Minnesota was stuck behind the Cleveland powerhouse in the AL Central, so the Twins shipped out two veteran pitchers for a collection of young players. At the time of the trade, Coomer was hitting .322/.357/.554 with 16 homers in 85 Triple-A games. It was his fourth straight season at Triple-A, and the Twins called him up the day after the trade. He made his MLB debut at age 28.

From 1995-2000, Coomer settled in as a useful corner bat on some bad Twins teams, hitting .278/.315/.431 with 77 home runs in nearly 700 games. A .282/.313/.458 batting line in the first half earned him a trip to the 1999 All-Star Game as Minnesota’s token All-Star. The Twins cut ties with Coomer after Corey Koskie and random Yankee Doug Mientkiewicz began to emerge.

The Cubs signed Coomer to a one-year contract worth $1.1M in Jan. 2001 and he had a solid season as a righty bench bat (.292/.343/.469 against lefties). The Yankees, in need of a righty corner bat to back up Jason Giambi and Robin Ventura, signed the then-35-year-old Coomer to a one-year contract worth $750,000 in Jan. 2002.

“Joe (Torre) really doesn't use the bench much, anyway, but this year he may use it more,” Brian Cashman told Tyler Kepner in Spring Training 2002. “We have a whole new team now, and with new circumstances he'll have an opportunity to play with his bench more than he has in the past.''

Ventura suffered an ankle injury late in Spring Training that proved to be minor, so Coomer did not make his Yankees debut until the fifth game of the season. In a third base spot start against (Devil) Rays lefty Wilson Alvarez, Coomer went 2-for-4, and swatted a solo home run in his first at-bat of the year. Here’s the video. It proved to be the game-winning run.

“I thought I'd finish my career with the Cubs but it just didn't work out,” Coomer, who grew up just outside Chicago, told Ira Berkow following the game. “After everything, it's great to be here. It was good to help the team win. That's what we're all here for. And if I can give Robin a day off, or someone else, that's fine with me. This is an unbelievable organization, the way they win.”

Playing time was not easy to come by behind Giambi and Ventura. Coomer started only five of the team’s first 27 games, and on two other occasions he came off the bench to pinch-hit. On April 30th, Coomer started against A’s lefty Barry Zito, the eventual 2002 AL Cy Young winner, and launched a three-run home run to cap a six-run first inning. “You try to give the manager an excuse to put you in there,” Coomer told Paul Schwartz after the game.

By the end of May, Coomer owned a .356/.383/.600 batting line with three home runs in 48 plate appearances. He started 11 of the team’s first 54 games and came off the bench seven other times. Coomer was very effective in limited action. It did not last though. Coomer did not hit another home run the rest of the season, and he hit .223/.250/.272 from June 1st on.

That batting line came in 108 plate appearances spread across 37 starts and 12 appearances off the bench in the team’s final 108 games. Coomer finished the season in an 11-for-62 (.177) skid. All told, he hit .264/.290/.372 as a Yankee, including .288/.313/.413 against southpaws. Coomer played 26 games at third base, 11 at first base, and 15 at DH.

Despite the poor finish to the regular season, the Yankees did carry Coomer on their ALDS roster against the Angels, and he drew a spot start at DH against lefty Jarrod Washburn in Game 4. Coomer went 1-for-2 with a single before being replaced by Nick Johnson once Washburn was out of the game. It was the only postseason action of Coomer’s career.

The Yankees moved quickly to sign Todd Zeile to be their righty bench bat after 2002, ending Coomer’s time in pinstripes. He hooked on with the Dodgers, hit .240/.299/.368 with four home runs in 137 plate appearances in 2003, then retired after the season. Coomer got into broadcasting following his playing days and is currently a Cubs radio analyst. He’d previously called Twins games.

6. Rapid fire thoughts. Clarke Schmidt threw his first bullpen session over the weekend, according to Bryan Hoch. He’s still a few weeks away from facing hitters, but at least he’s graduated to throwing off a mound. Figure Schmidt will suffer a setback I mean become an option for the Yankees sometime after the All-Star break … Some quick draft rumors: Jim Callis says the Yankees “seem to be linked” to Georgia HS C Harry Ford (my write-up), New York HS C Joe Mack (my write-up), and South Carolina HS OF Will Taylor (my write-up), and Carlos Collazo (subs. req’d) says they’ve been scouting Wake Forest RHP Ryan Cusick (my write-up). Big fan of the Yankees being connected to players I’ve already written up. Makes my life easier and makes me feel smart … And finally, Josh Donaldson scored the 2,000,000th run in MLB history over the weekend. A meaningless stat, but a cool round number milestone nonetheless, and something MLB should’ve marketed. Here’s what MLB gave away when former Yankees GM Bob Watson scored the 1,000,000th run in 1975 (via Anthony McCarron):

There was much at stake besides just a slice of oddball lore — publicity, a Seiko watch worth $1,000, a million Tootsie Rolls and a million pennies that would go to a baseball charity. There was even a contest for fans to predict who would score and when; the winner would get the candy and the pennies, too.

MLB couldn’t be bothered to promote the milestone this year. Hard to understand why this league struggles to make inroads with younger fans like the NBA and NFL. Real head-scratcher. Hold a fan contest and give $2M bucks to whoever guesses the player who scores the 2,000,000th run, with the date and the hitter who drives him in as the tiebreaker. Is that so hard? If $2M is too big a giveaway, then make it an all-expenses paid trip to the All-Star Game. Or a free year of MLB.tv. Do something, man. You have to make an effort to cultivate fans. I’m willing to be MLB’s common sense marketing guy for $450,000 a year plus expenses. Just email me.

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