February 2nd, 2021: Marquez, Winter Ball, Longest Tenured Yankees, Tanaka

Spring Training is two weeks away and I gotta say, it isn’t very Spring Training-y outside. Lotta snow in New York the last day or two. Hope you’re all safe and weathering the storm (or enjoying the not stormy weather wherever you are). Let’s get to today’s thoughts.

1. Trade target: German Marquez. Over the weekend the Rockies agreed to send franchise player Nolan Arenado to the Cardinals in a salary dump trade. Colorado will get a few mid-range prospects and unload about $150M of the $199M remaining on Arenado’s deal. His no-trade clause and unhappiness meant the Rockies had little leverage (similar to the Giancarlo Stanton trade) and it shows in the return.

Colorado had the seventh worst record in baseball the last two years and they’re stuck in the NL West with the powerhouse Dodgers and Padres. They just traded their franchise player and earlier this offseason ownership sent season ticket holders a letter telling them not to expect the team to spend money. This should -- should -- mark the beginning of a rebuild. Trevor Story is one year away from free agency and I imagine they’ll trade him next.

We’ve discussed Jon Gray in this space several times over the years and now I want to focus on another Rockies righty: German Marquez. Marquez turns 26 later this month -- I would have guessed he was 28 or 29, not almost 26 -- and he’s been really good since his first full MLB season in 2017. The numbers quick:

Last year’s home run rate is an outlier, but Marquez is an innings eater who misses bats and gets grounders, and he doesn’t walk the park either. Lefties have had more success against him than righties but not a crazy amount. Nothing that scares me long-term. Once adjusted for Coors Field, Marquez has been about 14% better than league average since 2017.

Stuff-wise, Marquez works in the mid-to-upper-90s with an average spin four-seamer, and it’s just a setup pitch for his two breaking balls. His mid-80s curveball and upper-80s slider are high spin pitches with comfortably above-average swing-and-miss rates. From 2017-20:

• Curveball: 43.4% whiffs per swing (34.6% league average)
• Slider: 42.0% whiffs per swing (35.6% league average)

The breaking balls are Marquez’s money makers and he knows it. He’s thrown the slider and curveball 38% of the time since 2017 and 44% of the time since 2019. Marquez will throw the occasional sinker and changeup, but the breaking balls define him. Those two pitches plus the big fastball are the reasons he’s had so much success. Here’s video.

Get Marquez out of Coors Field and he could really be something, and I don’t say that just because he’s been better on the road (3.51 ERA and 3.89 FIP) than at home (5.10 ERA and 3.82 FIP) in his career. Marquez leans heavily on his breaking balls and he’d get more consistent movement on his them away from altitude. Adam Ottavino spoke about this when he joined the Yankees. Breaking balls behave differently at Coors Field and road trips require constant adjustments.

Even if he doesn’t get better away from Coors Field, Marquez is really good as he is, and he’s especially attractive because he’s signed to an affordable long-term contract. The Rockies don’t do much right, but giving Marquez a five-year extension worth $43M in April 2019 has proven to be a masterstroke. Here are the contract particulars:

• 2021: $7.5M
• 2022: $11M
• 2023: $15M
• 2024: $16M club option with $2.5M buyout
• $8.6M luxury tax hit from 2021-23, then $13.5M in 2024 if option is picked up

That is pretty darn team friendly. Marquez’s age, production, and contract landed him in the No. 22 spot on FanGraphs’ Trade Value series, one spot ahead of Bo Bichette and five spots ahead of Aaron Judge. If you want to acquire Marquez -- I’m writing about him because I would like the Yankees to acquire him -- it’s going to hurt. Really, really hurt.

Here’s the thing though: Colorado is rudderless. The most inept organization in the sport. The Pirates have less talent but you can at least understand what GM Ben Cherington is doing, even if you don’t agree with it. The Rockies? Forget it. There’s no apparent plan. They throw money away (Wade Davis, Ian Desmond) and let good players leave (DJ LeMahieu, Tom Murphy), and the GM alienated his star player.

If any team is liable to under-appreciate Marquez, it’s the Rockies, the team that employs him. The same team that pushed Arenado out of town. It’s not often pitchers like Marquez become available, though two recent trades can work as a guide. The two years leading into their trades:

Snell was traded with three guaranteed years remaining on his contract. Quintana was traded at midseason with one and a half guaranteed years and two club option years on his deal. Marquez has three guaranteed years and one club option remaining on his contract. It’s not a perfect comparison but I think we’re in the ballpark.

As a former Cy Young winner, Snell is the biggest name of the three, but he is also the only one with an injury history prior to his trade (or hypothetical trade in Marquez’s case). Snell had loose bodies removed from his elbow in July 2019 and a nagging shoulder problem in 2018. Quintana had no injuries prior to his trade and Marquez has been healthy.

Here’s are the Quintana and Snell trade packages:

• Quintana: Traded for a top 10 global prospect (Eloy Jimenez), a top 75 global prospect (Dylan Cease), and two non-top-30 team prospects (Bryant Flete and Matt Rose).
• Snell: Traded for an MLB player with four years of control (Francisco Mejia), a top 20 global prospect (Luis Patino), a top 10 team prospect (Cole Wilcox), and a top 25 team prospect (Blake Hunt).

The Rockies would not be wrong to demand a young big leaguer or a top 25 prospect, another top 100 prospect, and two other pieces in a Marquez trade. For the Yankees that’s what, Clint Frazier, Deivi Garcia, and two others? I don’t think that would be an unreasonable ask. I’m not saying the Yankees should do it. I’m just saying Colorado wouldn’t be wrong to ask.

Beyond being really good and really young and really affordable, part of Marquez’s appeal is the Rockies don’t seem to know what they’re doing, so there’s at least a chance to get him for something less than what a smart team would extract. Maybe that means one top 100 prospect plus other stuff rather than two top 100 prospects. Who knows? Doesn’t hurt to call and ask.

The Yankees have about $11M in wiggle room under the $210M luxury tax threshold, so they could fit Marquez’s $8.6M luxury tax charge. That would mean no room to re-sign Brett Gardner though, and it wouldn’t leave much room for in-season moves. Including Frazier and his $2.1M salary in the trade would clear money, though my hope is getting Marquez and keeping Clint.

Aside from a potential Gardner re-signing and miscellaneous minor league deals, the Yankees are likely done for the offseason. File Marquez away for the trade deadline or next offseason. I love him as a target though, and if the Arenado trade pushes the Rockies into a rebuild, Marquez is the first player I’d ask about. The Yankees need a pitcher exactly like him.

2. Winter ball roundup. The Caribbean Series is taking place this week and the individual 2020-21 winter ball regular seasons and postseasons are over. Here’s a recap of the notable Yankees-related winter ball stories.

German limps to the finish

Stats: 16.1 IP, 17 H, 13 R, 13 ER, 9 BB, 18 K (7.16 ERA in 5 GS)

In his first winter ball start German struck out seven and walked one in four scoreless innings as part of an Opening Day combined no-hitter. He then allowed 13 runs and put 26 runners on base in his final 12.1 innings. Seems bad. Also, Sweeny Murti says German’s velocity dipped as his workload increased. Here’s what pitching coach Matt Blake told Murti:

“Regardless of his results in winter ball, getting back into competition was really important and getting some quality work in between his outings, just starting to get back into the flow of being a baseball player again and everything that demands. We need to continue to see just him working and showing up with a good bill of health and making sure he’s doing all the right things off the field, but I think he could slide right into the middle of the rotation like he did in 2019. It’s just a lot of boxes we have to check before we get to that point.”

Brian Cashman told Dan Martin the Yankees are planning to sit down with German when Spring Training begins -- “We’ll have a sit-down, in-person conversation when (he reports). We look forward to getting him back in the fold. I can report that, so far, everything is going well with him and his family,” Cashman said -- and discuss whatever they need to discuss. He’s cheap and at worst serviceable. I’d be surprised if they cut him loose.

Anyway, I’m not worried about German’s poor winter ball. I mean, it would’ve been nice to see him pitch well, but it was his first game action in over a year. The priority was shaking off any rust and not getting hurt, and it seems German did that. Now that he was able to get a few innings under his belt, hopefully he’ll hit the ground running in Spring Training.

Andujar’s swing adjustment

Stats: .300/.333/.400 with four doubles and no homers (10 G and 42 PA)

Toros del Este was shut down for a bit with a COVID-19 outbreak and Andujar also spent time away from the team for an undisclosed reason, so he only got into 10 regular season games. In those 10 games he played more left field (50 innings) than third base (34 innings). Andujar did smack a home run in the postseason. Here’s the swing (GIF via Talkin’ Yanks):

Notice anything? Andujar used a two-handed follow through rather than his trademark helicopter follow through. Ismael Hernandez (translated article) says Andujar is working to eliminate the helicopter and develop a more compact stroke. That’s kinda lame, the helicopter is a fun and unique thing, but if getting rid of it helps, then go for it.

Andujar does not have an obvious spot on the 2021 Yankees, but Gio Urshela is coming off offseason elbow surgery, and all it takes is one injury to get Miggy into the lineup. It’s not like Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton are pinnacles of health, you know? As hard as it is to see where Andujar fits moving forward, these things have a way of working themselves out.

Medina wins Pitcher of the Year

Stats: 16.2 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 6 BB, 32 K (0.54 ERA in 4 GS)

Hoo boy. Medina was out of this world good with Indios de Mayaguez in Puerto Rico and it earned him Pitcher of the Year honors. Here’s Medina unleashing a fastball/curveball combo on Dominican Winter League MVP Ronald Guzman in his Caribbean Series start over the weekend (GIF via Rob Friedman):

Enrique Rojas says Medina hit 100 mph in that game. That was also Medina’s worst start of the winter. He had those four great regular season starts, was good in his first postseason start (5.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K), then got roughed up in his Caribbean Series start (3.2 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K). He faced a lineup with nine players with big league experience, including Melky Cabrera, Robinson Cano, Juan Lagares, and Jonathan Villar, so I’m sure that was a humbling experience for the kid.

It’s so easy to dream on Medina, who has top 1% stuff and was so very good at the end of 2019 (1.77 ERA and 2.02 FIP with 35.3% strikeouts and 8.4% walks in his final 45.2 innings), and now dominated in winter ball. He has two career starts above Low-A and I imagine the Yankees plan to send him to Double-A to begin 2021 after he spent last year at the alternate site. No matter where he starts, I’m excited. Perhaps too excited.

“Medina is a great athlete with an incredible arm and a delivery he should be able to repeat, but his problem has always been throwing strikes. I’ve seen him hit 99 in the same start where he couldn’t get out of the second inning because he was so wild, and he has two plus or better secondary pitches too,” wrote Keith Law (subs. req’d) in the just misses of his top 100 prospects list. “... If he can build on (winter ball) and put together a full season, or even most of one, with this level of control, he’s a top 50 prospect at worst.”

Abreu has strong showing

Stats: 19.1 IP, 10 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 12 BB, 23 K (2.79 ERA in 5 GS)

Very nice winter ball showing for Abreu. The walks are an eyesore, but the guy has a career 11.1% walk rate in the minors, so they come with the territory. The strikeouts are nice and so are the innings after the shortened season. Abreu appeared in two games (1.1 innings) with the Yankees last year and spent the rest of the summer at the alternate site.

Abreu is out of minor league options and right now there appears to be a path for him to make the Opening Day roster as the last guy in the bullpen. Five good starts in winter ball won’t win him a roster spot, but it is better than getting hit around, and it was a good showcase for other clubs. If Abreu doesn’t make the Yankees’ bullpen, he wants to make some other team’s.

Other winter ball notables

Gary Sanchez hit .245/.355/.434 with four doubles and two homers in 15 games and 62 plate appearances with Toros del Este, and went 2-for-20 to close out his winter ball stint. He shut it down after Christmas and did not play in the postseason … Deivi Garcia was budgeted for 20 winter ball innings and threw only six (6 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 6 K) in three starts because they had him on a tight pitch count. Tigres del Licey did not qualify for the postseason, so he couldn’t get in any additional work after the regular season … It was announced Gleyber Torres would join Leones del Caracas in Venezuela as a DH in late December, but apparently that never happened. I went through the game logs and he didn’t play in the regular season or the postseason. Huh. Torres only missed out on 7-10 days worth of at-bats. No biggie, just kinda weird … In 18 games with Leones del Escogido in the Dominican Republic, Estevan Florial hit .280/.373/.420 with two doubles and one homer. He batted 59 times. For a guy who was stuck at the alternate site facing the same dozen or so pitchers all summer, that’s fine work ... Luis Gil allowed four runs in 5.2 innings before Tigres del Licey was shut down for two weeks with a COVID-19 outbreak in December and he never rejoined the team. I guess he packed it up and shut down for the winter.

3. Longest tenured Yankees. Masahiro Tanaka is a Rakuten Golden Eagle and Brett Gardner remains a free agent. I expect the Yankees to re-sign Gardner -- “We'll see how things transpire over the coming weeks,” Brian Cashman told Brendan Kuty when asked about Gardner last week -- though it hasn’t happened yet, so he’s still a free agent.

Gardner and Tanaka were the two longest tenured Yankees last season -- Gardner was the longest tenured player in the organization (drafted in 2005) -- and Tanaka’s departure got me wondering about the current longest tenured Yankees, and folks, let me tell you, the names are surprising. Surprising because I feel like these players just got here.

We’re going to look at this a few different ways. Let’s start with the date the player made his debut with the Yankees. This does not mean they have been on the Yankees' roster continually since their debut (or even continually in the organization). This is just the date current Yankees appeared in their first game as a Yankee.

1. Adam Warren: June 29th, 2012
2. Luis Severino: Aug. 5th, 2015
3. Gary Sanchez: Oct. 3rd, 2015
4. Aaron Hicks: April 5th, 2016
5. Luis Cessa: April 8th, 2016

Warren is on his third (technically fourth) stint as a Yankee, so among players who haven’t left the organization at some point, Severino has the earliest debut. Pretty wild, huh? Feels like the Yankees just called Severino up last week. He did spend time in Triple-A in 2016, and he’s barely played the last two years, so it feels like he hasn’t been around much lately.

Next, let’s look at the Yankees who have been on the MLB roster the longest. No shuttling back and forth to Triple-A, no leaving the organization and coming back. These are the dates these players joined the Yankees for good. The guys with the longest continuous run on the MLB roster (I’m not dinging guys for injured list and minor league rehab stints).

1. Aaron Hicks: April 5th, 2016 (Opening Day 2016)
2. Gary Sanchez: Aug. 3rd, 2016
3. Aaron Judge: Aug. 13th, 2016
4. Luis Severino: Sept. 2nd, 2016
5. Aroldis Chapman: April 2nd, 2017 (Opening Day 2017)

Aaron Hicks, longest tenured Yankee. How in the world did that happen? Giancarlo Stanton is sixth on that list (March 29th, 2018) and Gleyber Torres -- literally Gleyber Torres -- is seventh (April 22nd, 2018). I have no idea how GLEYBER TORRES suddenly became one of the most senior Yankees, but it happened.

Zack Britton (July 24th), Luke Voit (Aug. 21st), and Luis Cessa (Sept. 1st) also joined the roster for good in 2018. I expected Chad Green to appear on this list but forgot he was briefly sent to Triple-A in 2019. He made his MLB debut in May 2016 and was called up seemingly for good in May 2017, but then the April 2019 demotion happened and reset his clock.

Jordan Montgomery deserves a mention. He went up and down in the second half of 2017 and was called up for the final time on Sept. 1st that year. Montgomery then spent most of 2018 and 2019 on the injured list, which doesn’t reset his clock, but the Yankees sent him to the alternate site to begin last year to buy a roster spot for a few days, and that does reset his clock. Don’t get mad at me, Jordan. Those are the rules.

Let’s wrap this up with the longest tenured players in the organization. This is continuous tenure with the Yankees, so Warren leaving and coming back (and then leaving and coming back again) doesn’t count. These are the dates these players initially joined the organization.

1. Kyle Higashioka: July 21st, 2008 (signed as 2008 seventh round pick)
2. Gary Sanchez: July 2nd, 2009 (international free agency)
3. Miguel Andujar: July 2nd, 2011 (international free agency)
4. Luis Severino: Dec. 26th, 2011 (international free agency)
5. Thairo Estrada: Aug. 2nd, 2012 (international free agency)

After those five, you run into the 2013 draft picks (Judge and Tyler Wade), then the 2014 draft picks (Montgomery and Chris Gittens). The 2012-13 and 2013-14 international signing classes were stinkers and, as best I can tell, no one from those classes remain in the organization.

So there you have it. Hicks is currently the longest tenured Yankee (!) and Higashioka is the longest tenured player in the organization, at least until Gardner returns, which feels inevitable to me. Gardner was drafted in 2005, he made his MLB debut on June 30th, 2008, and he was called up for good on Aug. 15th, 2008.

4. Remembering a random Yankee: Lee Guetterman. This week’s random Yankees came by request and was a lefty reliever during the lean years in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Here's the random Yankee archive. You can find links back to everyone we've covered there.

Guetterman, or “Goot” as everyone called him, was drafted in the fourth round by the Mariners in 1981. He reached the big leagues with Seattle briefly in 1984 and arrived for good in 1986. From 1986-87, Guetterman had a 5.23 ERA in 189.1 innings as a swingman, and he struck out only 80 batters in those 189.1 innings. That’s a 9.6 K% and 3.8 K/9.

The Yankees acquired Guetterman, then 29, in a five-player trade with Seattle on Dec. 22nd, 1987. They pulled the plug on the Steve Trout experiment and sent him to the Mariners along with outfielder Henry Cotto for Guetterman and righties Clay Parker and Wade Taylor.

“He'll get a chance to be the fifth starter,” then-GM Lou Piniella told Murray Chass about Guetterman’s role with the Yankees. “If not, he'll pitch out of the bullpen.”

Guetterman started 1988 in the bullpen -- the fifth starter’s job went to a young lefty named Al Leiter -- and he pitched well in a low leverage role, allowing four runs in his first eight games and 14.2 innings. He walked seven and struck out six in those 14.2 innings though, and that earned Guetterman a demotion to Triple-A in early May.

“After I was traded, I was told I’d have every opportunity to be a starter and I opened the year in the bullpen,” Guetterman told Jack O’Connell. “Then I was (demoted) after one bad game. When something like that happens, you start to wonder, ‘What are they doing?’ You start to think you have to be perfect every time out or you’ll lose your job.”

It was not until early August that Guetterman rejoined the Yankees (he had a 2.76 ERA in 18 Triple-A starts in the interim). He allowed 17 runs in 29 innings to close out the season, including seven runs in 6.2 innings in two spot starts (the final starts of his career). Guetterman had a 4.65 ERA with 14 walks and 15 strikeouts in 40.2 innings for an 85-win Yankees team in 1988.

In 1989, Ron Guidry’s balky elbow cleared the way for Guetterman to make the Opening Day roster. He started very well, striking out four and walking zero in seven scoreless innings in his first four appearances, which temporarily earned Guetterman the closer’s role while Dave Righetti dealt with his own elbow problems.

“With Goot, I’m running a little bit of a hot hand,” then-manager Dallas Green told O’Connell. “He’s been our best pitcher. I need a guy in that situation who’ll throw strikes and not walk people. I have faith Goot can do that.”

Guetterman nailed down his first save on April 12th but it was not pretty. With the Yankees up 5-3 on the Blue Jays, he allowed three singles to load the bases, then escaped in part to a Fred McGriff double play grounder. “I was nervous. That’s not a familiar situation for me,” Guetterman told O’Connell after the game.

Righetti reclaimed the closer’s role in late April -- “It's not my role. I feel like I'm a fill-in just because I'm pitching well. Over the long haul, Dave and Lance (McCullers) are going to get the call late in games. That's their forte, what they do best,” Guetterman told Michael Martinez -- and Guetterman took a 2.15 ERA into the All-Star break.

The second half did not go quite as well, neither for Guetterman nor the Yankees. He allowed 12 runs in his first 5.1 innings out of the break (he allowed 13 runs in 57 innings in the first half), and finished the season with a 2.45 ERA in 70 games and 103 innings. He struck out 51 and walked 26, and the 74-win Yankees went 10-24 in Guetterman’s final 34 appearances. Eek.

From 1990-91, Guetterman was a workhorse reliever, pitching to a 3.53 ERA in 181 innings. He picked up eight saves those two years and also led the Yankees with 11 wins in 1990. Never good when a reliever leads the team in wins. The Yankees went 67-95 in 1990 and 71-91 in 1991. Guetterman was a bright spot on bad teams, and he was a bit of a fan favorite thanks to his gangly 6-foot-8 frame, bushy mustache, and big leg kick.

The problem? Guetterman was not happy as a reliever, especially once Greg Cadaret and the late Steve Howe pushed him into a less glamorous middle relief role. He wanted to start, and by August 1991 agent Jeff Moorad suggested a trade would be best for everyone involved.

"The frustration of not being used has led him to question his long-term desire to remain in New York. I'm told the Yankees would trade him if the deal was right,” Moorad told Jack Curry. "... I think when a player is not being used in a familiar way, he begins to question a number of things in his surrounding environment. That process has occurred with Lee."

Guetterman opened 1992 back in the bullpen and it did not go well. Not at all. He allowed multiple runs in five of his first eight appearances and in seven of his first 15 appearances. In those 15 appearances Guetterman surrendered 24 runs in 22.2 innings. He walked 13 and had as many homers allowed as strikeouts (five each), and opponents hit .354/.421/.596 against him. Oof.

The Yankees pulled the plug on Guetterman on June 9th. He was traded to the Mets for righty reliever Tim Burke, who, like Guetterman, struggled that year (15 runs in 15.2 innings) after stringing together several successful seasons (2.62 ERA in 656 innings from 1985-91). It was a pure change of scenery trade and only the second Yankees-Mets trade involving Major Leaguers (behind the 1987 Rafael Santana trade).

"I hope the change of scenery will help both pitchers. I especially hope it helps the pitcher we are getting,” then-manager Buck Showalter told Curry. Guetterman added: “There is a lot of sadness, but under the circumstances there is hope. I felt like I was in a rut. There is no one to blame. My slide didn't start this season. It has been building."

(Gerry Hunsicker, then the Mets vice president of baseball operations, was particularly harsh on Burke after the trade, telling Curry, “We had very little confidence in Tim Burke.” Ouch. Burke, then 33, had a 3.25 ERA in 27.2 innings after the trade, but put 42 runners on base in those 27.2 innings, and had 15 walks to only eight strikeouts. He became a free agent after the season and never pitched again. The Yankees were his final stop.)

The Yankees traded Guetterman even though Howe was serving an indefinite drug suspension and Cadaret moved into the rotation. There was an opening to take over as the top lefty bullpen option and Guetterman couldn’t capitalize, then the trade was made. The Yankees then cycled through lefty relievers like Jeff Johnson and Jerry Nielsen the rest of the season.

Guetterman, then 33, had a 5.82 ERA in 43.1 innings with the Mets after the trade. He became a free agent after the season and bounced to the Dodgers to the Cardinals to the Angels to the Padres to back to the Mariners from 1993-96. Guetterman had a 2.93 ERA in 46 innings with the 1993 Cardinals, then allowed 21 runs in 28 innings the rest of his MLB career. He spent 1997 with the independent Sioux Falls Canaries before finally retiring.

“They had to take the uniform away from me,” Guetterman said in a 2016 interview with his alma mater, Liberty University (video link).

In parts of 11 MLB seasons Guetterman had a 4.33 ERA and +3.4 WAR in 658.1 innings. He threw more innings (347.1) and had more WAR (+4.0) with the Yankees than all other teams combined (311 innings and -0.6 WAR). Guetterman is the last lefty reliever to throw 100 innings in a season for the Yankees (righties Mariano Rivera and Scott Proctor have done it since).

5. Rapid fire thoughts. Masahiro Tanaka held his (re)introductory press conference with the Rakuten Golden Eagles over the weekend and man of the people Jim Allen has a full English transcript. Tanaka confirmed he wanted to return to the Yankees -- “Truthfully, my desire was to re-sign with the Yankees and continue playing for them,” he said -- and he left the door open on returning to MLB in the future. ”I feel I have unfinished business in America and I haven’t given up on that, so (we agreed to contract terms) that would keep those options open,” he said. Maybe the Yankees and Tanaka will reunite in the future. Would be kinda cool. For now, Tanaka is back with Rakuten and the Yankees will roll with Corey Kluber and Jameson Taillon (“two for the price of one,” as Brian Cashman called it) … Not sure I understand Kyle Schwarber getting $10M, Adam Eaton getting $8M, and Joc Pederson getting only $7M, all on one-year contracts. That Pederson signing is a great deal by the Cubs. Would’ve loved him on the Yankees, but he doesn’t fit the almighty luxury tax plan, and it sounds like Chicago will give Joc a full-time lineup spot. The Yankees couldn’t promise that given their outfield situation and Pederson has to do what’s best for him. Can’t believe the Cubs got him so cheap … And finally, the MLBPA rejected MLB’s latest expanded postseason proposal, the union announced last night. Shortly thereafter MLB issued a whiny statement announcing they will adhere to the Collective Bargaining Agreement in 2021. MLB proposed a delayed 154-game season with full pay, a universal DH, and a 14-team postseason. That is essentially the "universal DH for expanded postseason" proposal the union rejected last week, only with eight fewer games on the schedule, so MLB did that “the same offer presented in different ways” thing they perfected during the shutdown last year. Delaying the start of the season would be smart for health reasons (MLB’s proposal called for pushing Opening Day back three weeks and extending the season one week into October), though MLB proposed it so they can play as many games with fans in the stands as possible. Expanded postseason is the most significant bargaining chip the MLBPA has had in quite some time, and MLB never bothered to put anything remotely lucrative enough on the table to get the union to consider it. Their various proposals have been DOA. (It's always possible the MLBPA will cave and give them the expanded postseason at the 11th hour like last year, of course.)

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