October 13th, 2020: Offseason, Sanchez, Sawyer, Minors, Stanton

How terrible is this ALCS? I badly want both teams to lose. I've concluded the best outcome is the Astros beating the Rays, preferably in soul-crushing fashion, then the Astros losing the World Series again, also preferably in soul-crushing fashion. Tampa winning is the worst case scenario because it would give owners across baseball another reason to cheap out. This is a no-win ALCS either way. Not sure I'd watch if I didn't have to for CBS. Let's get to today's thoughts.

1. General offseason thoughts. There are two ways to look at the 2020 season. The first is a big picture view. The Yankees went toe-to-toe with the American League's best team and a five-game series essentially came down to the last inning. Not a whole lot would've had to go differently for the Yankees to win that series. It was close to a coin flip.

The other way is a little more ... frenzied. Four straight disappointing postseason exits, each more heartbreaking than the last, and a regular season that wasn't particularly fun. Granted, that's not all on the Yankees -- this pandemic sucks! -- but the Yankees wouldn't have made the postseason without the expanded 16-team format. This season was anything but easy.

The Yankees went into last offseason confident they would bounce back from their ALCS defeat and be a stronger team. Instead, basically the same thing happened. The Yankees could stay the course because they've been just a few bounces away the last few years, or they could make significant changes, because as much as the postseason is a crapshoot, there are ways to swing the odds in your favor.

We'll get into offseason specifics in the coming weeks -- I get the sense the first few weeks of free agency will be painfully slow, even slower than usual -- so, for now, here are a few big picture offseason thoughts on the Yankees and their direction going forward.

The window is closing and urgency is necessary

Fifteen days ago the Tampa Bay Lightning broke through and won the Stanley Cup. That came after a six-year span during which they won more games than any other team but lost twice in the first round (including a humiliating sweep last year after posting the NHL's best record in 25 years), twice in the conference finals, and once in the Stanley Cup Final.

As you might expect, there were calls to fire the coach and break up the core during that six-year stretch because they OBVIOUSLY couldn't get it done in the playoffs. The Lightning resisted all that, kept their coach and talented core, and continued working aggressively to improve the roster around them and shore up any weaknesses. Eventually, it paid off.

The Yankees are a little bit like the Lightning. They're very talented but they haven't broken though, and the longer they go without a championship, the easier it is to believe they have to make significant changes. The Lightning show you don't have to take a sledgehammer to the roster to get over the hump, but you do have to attack your weaknesses.

These last two years, the Yankees have not done enough of that, and now that great young homegrown core we all fell in love with in 2017 (Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, Luis Severino, etc.) is getting expensive and nearing free agency. Gerrit Cole, Aaron Hicks, and Giancarlo Stanton are all 30 or older. They won't stay in their primes forever. The window is closing.

This time of year, it's easy to look at the teams still playing and say "we need to be more like them." The Yankees need to build pitching depth like the Rays? No way! They should strike out less like the Astros? Hadn't thought of that! Become a player development powerhouse like the Dodgers? Well, now I've heard everything. I mean, come on. We all know all that.

The lesson to take from the Rays is not building a deeper building or a more versatile lineup or whatever. The lesson is don't sit on your hands when your window is open. It's okay to trade prospects. Tampa traded a top 100 prospect (Jesus Sanchez) for Nick Anderson. They traded a top 100 prospect (Matt Liberatore) for Jose Martinez and Randy Arozarena, and when Martinez stunk, they quickly moved on rather than hope he'd eventually play to his track record. They had needs and acted decisively.

The Astros seemed to learn this lesson on the fly. They didn't do anything at the 2017 trade deadline, Dallas Keuchel called out the front office, and then they went out and got Justin Verlander. The Astros then added Zack Greinke last year despite already having Verlander and Gerrit Cole. Remember when the Dodgers added Yu Darvish and Manny Machado?

Sometimes it doesn't work. Sometimes you get a Sonny Gray or, well, a Darvish, who gave up nine runs in 3.1 innings in the 2017 World Series. But man, you have to put your best foot forward and at least try. "Try" isn't the best word, because I'm sure the Yankees are working hard behind the scenes, but the lack of moves can be misconstrued as a lack of effort.

The Yankees had clear weaknesses at the last two trade deadlines and did nothing. Signing Cole last offseason was great! Allowing Dellin Betances and Didi Gregorius to leave without replacing them was pretty bad though. If I were the Yankees, the possibility of this window closing without a title after being so inactive these last 18 months would haunt me.

This offseason the Yankees again have clear needs (at least one starting pitcher, a bullpen arm, maybe an infielder depending on DJ LeMahieu's free agency, possibly a catcher too), and sitting on the sidelines won't cut it. There needs to be some urgency. Be smart about it, I'm not saying go nuts and overpay, but those needs have to be addressed. They shouldn't stand pat, make some minor tweaks, and hope the bounces go their way next year.

Changes to the front office?

Understandably, Brian Cashman is catching some heat after the early postseason exit. That comes with the territory. There is little chance the Yankees will replace Cashman though, nor do I want them to. Cashman's front office is very good at this whole team-building thing, and they blend the old school with the new school as well as any team in the sport.

That said, I wonder whether the Yankees would benefit from some front office reshuffling. Kick Cashman upstairs into a president of baseball operations role and bring in a new general manager to run the day-to-day. Something like that. An outside hire with a new voice and a fresh set of eyes. A new perspective, basically. The more smart folks, the better.

Looking around the game, possible candidates include Brewers assistant general manager Matt Arnold, who's also worked with the Dodgers, Rangers, Rays, and Reds and is believed to be the next great front office executive. Longtime Athletics assistant general manager Billy Owens is another name. The Giants tried to poach him after Farhan Zaidi took over.

My idea is probably far-fetched but it is possible front office change is on the horizon this offseason anyway. The Angels recently fired general manager Billy Eppler, Cashman's former right-hand man, and it would not surprise me at all to see him back with the Yankees. Eppler ran the pro scouting department back in the day, among other things.

Also, Reds president of baseball operations Dick Williams stepped down last week to focus on the family real estate business. Tim Naehring, the Yankees' vice president of baseball operations and Cashman's current right-hand man, is considered a candidate to replace Williams. Naehring is highly regarded and he grew up (and I think still lives) in Cincinnati.

One other thing: Cashman has been at this 22 years now. He's still only 53, but we're closer to the end of his tenure than the beginning, and there's no obvious line of succession. Hire a Matt Arnold or a Billy Owens or whoever and you get an experienced executive with his own strengths and ideas who can be groomed as the next head of baseball operations.

Hall of Fame football coach Bill Walsh had a theory that coaches and executives have a 10-year shelf life in one place. Longer than that and you risk things getting stale. I don't buy it entirely, but I do believe it's possible for complacency to set in, especially once folks get comfortable. I worry the Yankees are there now. A new front office voice could light a spark.

Boone's future

Let me start by saying it is approximately a billion times more likely the Yankees sign Aaron Boone to a contract extension this offseason than replace him. Boone's contract includes a club option for next year and Cashman recently made it clear that not only will the option be picked up, but he wants Boone around long-term. Here's what he said (via Brendan Kuty):

"We’re lucky about Aaron Boone. When I went through and opened up the interview process, I was very fortunate to be open-minded to interviewing him. I had a lot of people suggest him and as we went through the process it was like, ‘Wow, can this be real?’ I think since we’ve hired him, he’s proven it is real. We have a club option for him but we certainly hope we can have him for a long time. I had a chance to work for (Joe) Torre for 10 years, (Joe) Girardi for 10 years. I’d love to be in a position that Aaron Boone can be here for a similar type of time frame. I would say he has a more than likely chance to last than me because -- 10 years is a lot longer for me, I guess. Because I’m getting long in the tooth."

In the year 2020, almost no managerial decision is solely the manager's call. Everything -- everything -- is mapped out ahead of time with the front office. The manager just puts it all into action. Rays manager Kevin Cash had a great line about this last week: "I try not to use gut feel. If we're using gut feel, we're not prepared as a staff," he told MLB Network Radio.

The Game 2 pitching plan was a collaborative effort. So was pinch-hitting Mike Ford and removing Luke Voit for defense. Boone gets the blame when it doesn't work because that's the job -- the manager is essentially the public face of the front office -- but he's one link in the chain. Fire the manager for his strategic decisions and the front office indicts itself.

The thing is, watching the Yankees these last three postseasons (2018 and 2020 moreso than 2019, I think), it doesn't feel like Boone is in control of the game. The Yankees are always on the defensive and reacting to the other team. There was never a point in the ALDS where the game sped up on Cash. He was in command. He was in the Yankees' heads, really.

I don't know if that's a Boone thing or a front office thing or a combination of the two, but I'm pretty sick of being at the managerial disadvantage in October! Boone could be -- and by all accounts is -- excellent at all the things a manager does behind the scenes. Communicate, build a positive clubhouse, etc. That's like 90% of the manager's job. It really is.

The other 10% though? The other 10% is very public, and for 162 games, Boone is pretty good at it. In October though, I dunno man, the Yankees always seem to behind the 8-ball. I don't expect the Yankees to replace Boone and I don't think they should (I think?), but man, I sure would like to know why this keeps happening. It's been three years now.

Diversifying the lineup

I mentioned this last week: I believe the Yankees need to diversify their lineup. The current lineup has too many similar hitters. It was painfully obvious in ALDS Game 5, when the Rays went to their parade of power righties. A starter or group of relievers who match up well with Aaron Judge also match up well with Giancarlo Stanton, Luke Voit, Clint Frazier, Gary Sanchez, and even Gleyber Torres too. That's a problem!

The Yankees had the platoon advantage in 43.8% of their plate appearances this season, second fewest in baseball behind the Astros (43.2%). Houston has a righty heavy lineup too but they are different types of hitters. George Springer is the power guy. Jose Altuve is the bat-on-ball guy. Alex Bregman is good at everything. Yuli Gurriel is an elite bad ball hitter. They have diversity among their righties. The Yankees don't. They're all similar.

Now, this isn't to say the Yankees should get more left-handed just to be left-handed. Tyler Wade at shortstop rather than Torres would diversify the lineup but no one wants that. The Yankees need quality lefty (or switch-hitting) bats. The thing is, where do you put these bats? Right field, center field, third base, and designated hitter are pretty well occupied. They're non-options.

Catcher and move on from Sanchez? Okay, but there are so few lefty or switch-hitting catchers. The Yankees could trade Voit and replace him (possibly at second with a re-signed DJ LeMahieu* at first). Shortstop with Gleyber sliding to second? Left field is a possibility but then Frazier's blocked (again), and the lefty bat would probably just end up being Brett Gardner anyway.

* I know he's a righty hitter but LeMahieu is unlike the Yankees' other righties. It would be impossible to replace his all-around excellence. I wrote a big picture thing about the Yankees at CBS over the weekend and, while writing that, it dawned on me LeMahieu is going to get something like the Josh Donaldson contract (four years and $92M).

I never said diversifying the lineup would be easy. It will require some roster shuffling and decisions that would've seemed unthinkable a few weeks ago, like trading Voit. I think it's necessary though. The Yankees came up with that Game 2 pitching plan to maximize the platoon advantage against the Rays lineup and yet they seem to ignore it for themselves with their own lineup. Hmmm.

We have weeks (unfortunately) to sort through possible targets and lineup scenarios and all that. For now, I just wanted to say I think the Yankees need to balance their lineup a bit. Give me a good righty hitter over an okay lefty hitter, but it's time to replace some of those good righty hitters with good lefty hitters. The lineup can be too easy to navigate at times.

"In a perfect world you would have this perfect balance, but I would rather have our hitters than just the sake of balance," Boone told George King last week. "Throughout the year I have tried to have three lefties in there at three, six, nine. In (Game 4's) case two. You do try to balance it out, especially when you know another team is trying to take advantage of some of their situational guys who are real good against righties or real good against lefties. Where you can you try to break that up a little bit, but when we are going well no matter who we are facing, I feel we are the best offense in the game."

2. The future at catcher. Probably the single biggest question going into the offseason. What do the Yankees do with Gary Sanchez and the catcher position? He was benched at times in the regular season and again late in the postseason. With their season on the line in ALDS Games 4 and 5, the Yankees went with Kyle Higashioka at catcher. Ouch.

A few things about this. One, a postseason benching doesn't automatically mean an offseason divorce is coming. The Dodgers benched Yasmani Grandal in the 2017 postseason following his disappointing (but not Sanchez level bad) regular season -- Austin Barnes started 13 of their 15 games -- then Grandal bounced back with a career year in 2018 and was their starter throughout that postseason.

Two, Sanchez's trade value is at an all-time low. Trading him would be epitome of selling low, which is something we've seen the Yankees do on occasion (see: Gray, Sonny). I have no doubt several teams would happily take Sanchez for pennies on the dollar and try to get him back to where he was literally last year. Not a fan of selling this low though. Not at all.

"He definitely still has trade value," a rival team executive told Erik Boland recently. "It’s not close to what it might have been, say, three years ago, but no one has catching. And there’s still the bat potential and the arm. Teams will inquire for sure."

Three, non-tendering Sanchez would be indefensible. His arbitration raise over this year's $5M full season salary will be small, and that's nothing. Bring the 27-year-old two-time All-Star back and try again next year rather than let him go for nothing. If Sanchez were with another team and about to be non-tendered, we'd be all over him as a buy-low candidate.

Four, I have no interest in Higashioka as a starting catcher. I like the guy, but hard pass on that. Higashioka has a very long injury history and you can't count on him carrying that workload. Also, the "let's make this backup catcher a starter" plan almost always fails. Case in point: Austin Romine. He got exposed quickly as an everyday catcher in 2020. 

Five, there's little reason to think the Yankees will pursue J.T. Realmuto. Payroll is almost certainly coming down, maybe even below the $210M luxury tax threshold. In a vacuum, of course the Yankees should pursue Realmuto*. He is the best catcher in baseball and the window is as open as it's going to get. He'd maybe help get the Yankees over the top.

* There are reasons to avoid Realmuto too. He'll be 30 on Opening Day and he's already having hip problems. Joe Mauer and Buster Posey were better versions of Realmuto and they were done as elite players by age 31. I see Realmuto as a faster, right-handed version of Brian McCann, which makes him the worst "best catcher in baseball" since pre-Piazza.

Six, there are maybe five legitimately above-average catchers in baseball at any given moment, and Sanchez can be one of them. We've seen it! Either you have one of those guys or you're cobbling together a platoon, and hey, sometimes it works. I mean, the Nationals won the World Series with Kurt Suzuki and Yan Gomes behind the plate. It happens.

That said, two platoon catchers does not equal one starting catcher. It just means you have a catcher not good enough to be an everyday player in the lineup every day. Catchers collectively had a 92 wRC+ this year and the only reason they were that good was the short season and reduced wear and tear. Last year catchers had an 89 wRC+ in the first half and an 82 wRC+ in the second half. Catchers collectively stink. They all have hamburger for hands because everyone throws 98 mph. It's a brutal position.

Seven, the alternatives other than Realmuto are unappealing. The best available free agent catchers behind Realmuto are Jason Castro, a full-fledged backup at this point who might have to settle for a minor league deal this winter, and James McCann, who's defensive stats are worse than Sanchez's.

• Sanchez from 2018-20: -8.2 FRAA (-4.8 per 1,000 innings)
• McCann from 2018-20: -15.2 FRAA (-7.1 per 1,000 innings)

There is a case to be made for pursuing McCann and that case is based on buying into the bat. After hitting .240/.288/.366 (75 wRC+) from 2014-18, he hit .273/.328/.460 (109 wRC+) last year (133 wRC+ in the first half and 83 wRC+ in the second half) and .289/.360/.536 (144 wRC+) this year (111 plate appearances). If you buy into the bat, sure, he's an option, and he is probably the best option after Realmuto. Eh.

And eight, I don't think the Yankees actually want to move on from Sanchez. They know the catching market stinks, they know Higashioka's limitations -- there's a reason he played his first full MLB season at age 30 -- and they know what Sanchez can do when he's right. Here is what a scout told George King:

"A lot of times his balance was off and looked non-athletic at the plate, lot of chasing and then missing good pitches to hit," a scout long-versed in watching Sanchez said. "He needs to go home, hit the reset button, lose some weight to be more athletic and work on the high velocity [pitching machine] and set it at the top of the zone so he can feel like a kid. He doesn’t look like a kid."

I have mad respect for scouts -- they are a lifeblood of the sport and they work hard and they're all underpaid and treated as disposable, and it sucks -- but that is an impressively useless quote. He needs to feel like a kid again? Was hoping for a little more insight than that. Sheesh.

Sanchez is under team control through 2022 and I think the best way to maximize those two years is scrapping the one-knee catching stance and just letting Gary be himself. Let Michael Kay and people in the (virtual) bleachers complain about passed balls, and let Aaron Boone answer questions about them. Just let Sanchez go out and mash and do what he does best. When Gary's right, he's a game-changer. It is not a coincidence this core had its two deepest postseason runs during Sanchez's two best seasons.

I don't think the Yankees are ready to move on from Sanchez despite the benching. There's too much upside to cut the cord after this bastard 60-game season, during when he was trying to learn a new catching stance without a proper Spring Training. We're going to hear a lot -- a lot -- about Realmuto in the coming weeks. I don't see the Yankees going there financially. In that case, sticking with Sanchez is by far the best option, in my opinion.

3. Sawyer on the 40-man. This has been irking me the last few weeks. On Sept. 16th, the Yankees slid James Paxton to the 45-day injured list and added catcher Wynston Sawyer to the 40-man roster. Sawyer was a minor league free agent pickup during the offseason. The 28-year-old hit .260/.333/.409 (91 wRC+) in 43 Triple-A games with the Twins in 2019.

This irks me only because the timing is unusual and I can't figure out what's up. The Yankees did not include Sawyer in their original 60-man player pool in July. He was added the player pool on Aug. 18th, soon after Kyle Higashioka got hurt and Erik Kratz was called up. They needed another catcher at the alternate site. Simple, right?

The Yankees then added Sawyer to the 40-man on Sept. 16th and immediately optioned him down to the alternate site. Despite being on the 40-man, the Yankees did not include Sawyer on the 40-man postseason pool -- non-40-man roster guy Rob Brantly was the extra catcher on the postseason taxi squad -- so they added him to the 40-man and sent him home. Huh.

I've come to the conclusion this is all minor league free agency related. The alternate site shut down on Sept. 20th because postseason pool players had to go into their pre-postseason quarantine on Sept. 22nd. That's when Sawyer would've become a free agent, so the Yankees added him to the 40-man four days earlier to keep him in the organization.

Sawyer was never a top prospect -- he's been in four organizations since being drafted in 2010 and has never appeared on his team's Baseball America top 30 prospects list -- and aside from an outlier 2016 season in High-A (.281/.481/.462 and 150 wRC+ in 89 games), he's never really hit either. Not exactly prime 40-man roster fodder, you know?

Sawyer spent 2019 with the Twins, catching coach Tanner Swanson's former team, and the Yankees hired Swanson away from Minnesota last offseason. Surely he had input into the signing. The Yankees didn't see Sawyer much at the alternate site, but he was in Spring Training as a non-roster invitee, so he wasn't a total unknown the to big league staff either.

So, long story short, the Yankees added Sawyer to the 40-man roster to prevent him from becoming a minor league free agent, and he will presumably go into next season as the optionable third catcher. It was just weird timing, is all. Wasn't added to the 60-man player pool until a month into the season, then a month later he was too valuable to let hit free agency. Huh.

4. Minor league update. The Professional Baseball Agreement (PBA), the agreement that binds Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball, expired at the end of September. As of right now, there is no agreement in place to conduct a minor league season in 2021. It's coming though. The two sides are working on it and the contraction plan is happening.

There have been several important developments the last few weeks. First, MiLB's central offices are moving from Florida to New York, and Yankees minority owner Peter Freund has been appointed to guide the transition as MLB takes over minor league operations (Freund owns three minor league teams, including Low-A Charleston). This was considered inevitable but is now official. MiLB is moving under MLB's umbrella.

"As we look to grow the partnership between Major League Baseball and its licensed affiliates and share our resources, it has always been our intention to have Minor League ownership partner with us in shaping the future of Minor League Baseball," MLB deputy commissioner Dan Halem said in a statement. "Peter’s reputation and experience in the industry make him exceptionally well suited to assist us in transitioning to a Minor League system that will better serve Minor League fans, Minor League players, Minor League owners, and our Major League Clubs."

(Note that MLB is now calling minor league teams "licensed affiliates," which implies licensing can be taken away if teams don't cave to MLB's wishes.)

Secondly, the rookie Appalachian League will now be a wood bat collegiate summer league. MLB announced a partnership with USA Baseball and the Appy League is now part of something called the Prospect Development Pipeline (PDP). The Pulaski Yankees? They're gone. No longer part of the organization. From the press release:

Plans include a 54-game regular season and an annual All-Star Game. MLB and USA Baseball will provide support for the league’s staffing, player participation and administrative functions. The parties are in communication with the NCAA to ensure athlete eligibility requirements are met.

To herald the start of this exciting new format, each of the 10 teams in the Appalachian League have decided to undertake a process for changing their names and logos to incorporate symbols and images important to their respective local communities, to be adopted before the 2021 season. MLB and USA Baseball have already begun the process of identifying and inviting the top 320 players to participate in the 2021 Appalachian League.

Pulaski Yankees owner David Hagan purchased Calfee Park from the Town of Pulaski in 2015 and has sunk $3M into renovations to upgrade the park, largely because the team was affiliated with the Yankees and marketable. Now it's a collegiate summer league team. Woof.

The minor league contraction plan calls for eliminating the short season leagues and giving each MLB organization four full season affiliates (Triple-A, Double-A, High-A, Low-A) and one rookie ball affiliate. The Appy League is gone. The Staten Island Yankees and the rest of the NY-Penn League (and Northwest League and Pioneer League) can't be far behind.

Third, the Somerset Patriots of the independent Atlantic League are being considered a potential minor league affiliate for the Yankees, according to ESPN. Huh. TD Bank Ballpark in Somerset opened in 1999 and is apparently state of the art, plus it's close to New York, and that's always convenient. Here's what Randy Miller hears:

“I think the talks with Somerset is a negotiating ploy for the Yankees to try to get something they want out of the (Trenton) Thunder, whether that’s a new grounds crew or upgrades in the clubhouse or whatever … stuff that cost real money,” the source said.

Ah, yes, that makes more sense now. An affiliation with the Yankees is extremely valuable to a minor league franchise. Even though they don't share the "Yankees" team name, it's an enormous marketing tool, and if the Yankees are using Somerset as leverage to get the Thunder to upgrade the ballpark or whatever, I suspect it'll work. 

MLB is planning to realign the minors to cut down on travel (a good thing!) and there's been chatter the Tampa Tarpons and Charleston RiverDogs may flip levels, so Low-A Charleston becomes High-A Charleston and High-A Tampa becomes Low-A Tampa. That way players promoted from rookie ball to Low-A just have to cross the street in Tampa.

I suppose there's a chance the Yankees link up with Somerset and drop Charleston all together (the RiverDogs draw extremely well would surely hook on with another MLB team). Rookie ball and Low-A could be at the Tampa complex, then the Yankees could have their High-A (Somerset?), Double-A (Trenton), and Triple-A (Scranton) affiliates close together and near New York. Promotions and demotions would be a piece of cake.

The minor league contraction plan is underway and the Yankees have already lost Pulaski. They're likely to lose Staten Island -- the Staten Island franchise could affiliate with another MLB organization rather than fold or become a collegiate summer team or whatever -- and one of their two rookie Gulf Coast League affiliates. Can't imagine they'd get to keep both.

That's three -- three! -- minor league affiliates gone in one offseason. That's 75 roster spots gone* and a corresponding number of coaches and player development folks. It really sucks. So much lost opportunity. For players, coaches, analysts, broadcasters, etc. I don't understand how cutting off pathways into the game is good for baseball. This is dumb. It's all dumb.

* MLB is expected to implement a contract limit moving forward, so every MLB team will have the same number of players in the organization. No more signing as many players as you want (usually internationally) and seeing who sticks in Extended Spring Training before finalizing short season rosters.

5. Remembering a random Yankee: Bob Melvin. Our next random Yankee is currently the longest tenured manager in baseball. Here's the random Yankee archive. You can find links back to everyone we've covered there.

The Tigers made Melvin the No. 2 overall pick in the old January secondary draft back in 1981 and he made his MLB debut with Detroit four years later. From 1985-93, he was a light-hitting (.234/.268/.337) backup catcher who bounced from the Tigers to the Giants to the Orioles to the Royals to the Red Sox.

Melvin went to Spring Training with the Red Sox in 1994, didn't make the team, and was cut loose in April. The Yankees signed the then-32-year-old to a minor league contract and sent him to Triple-A Columbus. Melvin was summoned to the Bronx in mid-May, after Mike Stanley landed on the disabled list.

For all intents and purposes, Melvin was the Erik Kratz of the 1994 Yankees. Stanley spent two weeks on the injured list and Jim Leyritz started 11 of the team's 12 games during his absence, then, when Stanley returned, the Yankees kept Melvin around as a third catcher because he couldn't be sent to Triple-A and the Yankees didn't want to lose the depth.

Melvin spent a month on the active roster. He started one game at catcher, one game at first base, and one game as designated hitter. On six other occasions he took over behind the plate or at first base late in blowouts. Melvin's first base start was just the fourth of his career and in that game he didn't stretch on a double play, contributing to a three-run rally and a 6-5 loss in Texas.

"We just have to have faith in those people there," then-manager Buck Showalter told Jack Curry about using bench guys Melvin at first base and Gerald Williams in left field in the same game. "It didn't work out tonight."

Melvin went 4-for-14 (.286) as a Yankee and managed to hit one of his 35 career homers in pinstripes. On May 21st, he hit a three-run home run during a five-run first inning against the Orioles. The Yankees won the game 5-4 and it was the final homer of Melvin's career. Eventually carrying three catchers became untenable and the Yankees put Melvin on the injured list with a phantom neck issue.

Then-GM Gene Michael tried to trade Melvin but had no luck. Melvin was placed on waivers and claimed by the Angels on July 22nd. "The Yankees promised me that they'd make a deal for me. They never went through with it and tried to slip me through the waiver wires. It didn't work," Melvin told Paul Sullivan.

The thing is, Melvin never did play for the Angels. In fact, he was traded to the White Sox for righty reliever Jeff Schwarz the same day he was claimed. Would've been a fun day on the ol' internet, I bet. Imagine spending a month trying to trade a guy, losing him on waivers for nothing, then watching the team that claimed him trade him for an arm the same day. Heh.

Melvin went 3-for-21 (.158) in 11 games with Chicago then returned to the Yankees in 1995. He spent the summer as Jorge Posada's backup with Triple-A Columbus. Melvin retired after that season and has built quite the post-playing career resume:

• 1996: Brewers scout.
• 1997: Brewers roving instructor.
• 1998: Brewers assistant general manager.
• 1999-2000: Brewers bench coach.
• 2001-02: Diamondbacks bench coach.
• 2003-04: Mariners manager.
• 2005-09: Diamondbacks manager.
• 2010: Mets scout.
• 2011-present: Athletics manager.

Melvin has three Manager of the Year awards (2007, 2012, 2018) and the Yankees tried to interview him for their managerial opening following the 2017 season. The A's denied them permission -- teams almost always grant permission to interview for a promotion but not often for lateral moves -- and the Yankees eventually hired Aaron Boone instead.

6. Rapid fire thoughts. I forgot to mention this the other day but my ALDS x-factor was J.A. Happ and I was kinda right? The series looks very different if Happ pitches well in Game 2 rather than give up four runs in 2.2 innings. Oh well. Spilled milk at this point. I have Game 2 pitching plan fatigue. Time to move on ... In the least surprising news ever, Jon Heyman reports Giancarlo Stanton will not opt out of his contract this offseason. He'd leave seven years and $218M on the table and there's just no chance he'd get that in free agency, even with the monster postseason. The injuries the last two years and the pandemic ensure it. The Yankees are responsible for $188M of that $218M, though Stanton's luxury tax hit will remain $22M per year (it's $26.9M in actual salary) ... Brian Cashman will hold his end-of-season press conference at some point soon and those usually bring news, like Didi Gregorius' Tommy John surgery a few years ago. Hopefully we don't get anything like that this year, though I would bet on Gio Urshela having that bone spur removed from his elbow. Once those begin to act up, surgery is inevitable, and it's a fairly quick recovery. If he does have surgery, Urshela should be ready to go come Spring Training. I suppose Luke Voit's "foot stuff" could require surgery too. We'll see ... No surprise here, but the Arizona Fall League was canceled this year. The AzFL season was supposed to start in the middle of last month. MLB is allowing teams to hold Instructional League at their Spring Training park and at their Dominican Republic complex, and Baseball America has Instructs rosters for every team except the Cardinals and Yankees. Go figure. J.J. Cooper says those two teams are doing something different for their prospects. No idea what, but something. I'm sure we'll find out eventually. With no AzFL, I reckon winter ball roster spots will be high demand these next few weeks ... And finally, Maury Brown has ratings numbers for 2020. Yankees viewership was up 4% year-over-year, exactly the MLB average during this spectator-free season. The White Sox saw a 152% increase, the largest in baseball. The Red Sox were down a whopping 54%, the biggest decrease in baseball, and the Nationals were down 16%. I know it's a weird season and all, but how do you win the dang World Series and lose 16% of your viewership the next year?

7. Whitey Ford passes. Last, but most certainly not least, sad news to pass along: Hall of Famer Whitey Ford passed away last Friday. He was 91. Ford had suffered from Alzheimer's disease in recent years. The Yankees say he passed away peacefully at his Long Island home surrounded by family.

"Whitey’s name and accomplishments are forever stitched into the fabric of baseball’s rich history," Hal Steinbrenner said in a statement. "He was a treasure, and one of the greatest of Yankees to ever wear the pinstripes. Beyond the accolades that earned him his rightful spot within the walls of the Hall of Fame, in so many ways he encapsulated the spirit of the Yankees teams he played for and represented for nearly two decades."

Born Edward Charles Ford -- he was nicknamed Whitey for his light hair -- in New York City, Ford grew up in Astoria and signed with the Yankees out of high school in 1947. He made his MLB debut in 1950, then served two years in the military before rejoining the Yankees for good in 1953. The career stats: 236-106 with a 2.75 ERA (133 ERA+) in 3,170.1 innings. Works out to +53.6 WAR.

Ford's career .690 winning percentage is the best in history among pitchers with at least 200 decisions, and I think he is pretty clearly the best starting pitcher in Yankees history. Also, "Chairman of the Board" is on the very short list of the coolest nicknames in baseball history. By WAR, Ford is the second best pitcher the Yankees have ever had:

1. Mariano Rivera: +56.3 WAR
2. Whitey Ford: +53.6 WAR
3. Andy Pettitte: +51.3 WAR
4. Ron Guidry: +47.8 WAR

That's the Mount Rushmore of Yankees pitchers, with Red Ruffing and Lefty Gomez the two honorable mentions. Ford and the Yankees went to the World Series an incredible 11 times in his 16 seasons. Sure, he played on stacked teams, but Ford wasn't just along for the ride. He was one of the reasons they were so stacked.

Ford is arguably the greatest World Series pitcher in history. He is the all-time World Series leader in many categories:

• Starts: 22 (Pettitte is second with 13)
• Wins: 10 (several tied for second with seven)
• Innings: 146 (Christy Mathewson is second with 101.2)
• Strikeouts: 94 (Bob Gibson is second with 92)

Ford started Game 1 eight times in those 11 World Series and he threw three consecutive World Series shutouts at one point (Game 3 and 6 vs. Pirates in 1960 and Game 1 vs. Reds in 1961), and his 32.2-inning scoreless streak is the longest in World Series history. Ford is fourth all-time among pitchers in Championship Probability Added.

Believer it or not, Ford was not a first ballot Hall of Famer. He had to wait a year and was voted in on his second ballot in 1974. The Yankees retired his No. 16 later that year. Ford should get a monument in Monument Park. There are six monuments in Monument Park and all six were dedicated posthumously:

• Miller Huggins: Died Sept. 1929, monument dedicated May 1932.
• Lou Gehrig: Died June 1941, monument dedicated July 1941.
• Babe Ruth: Died Aug. 1948, monument dedicated April 1949.
• Mickey Mantle: Died Aug. 1995, monument dedicated Aug. 1996.
• Joe DiMaggio: Died March 1999, monument dedicated April 1999.
• George Steinbrenner: Died July 2010, monument dedicated Sept. 2010.

Ford belongs in that pantheon of greats and should have a monument. Same with Yogi Berra, who passed away in 2015. The Yankees have historically been quick to dedicate monuments -- five of the six were dedicated within a year of the person's death -- but there has been no word of a Berra monument yet. Disappointing.

Yogi and Whitey were longtime teammates and great friends and it would be fitting to give them monuments together. Two new monuments and one giant ceremony, maybe at Old Timers' Day. Would be really neat. It's worth waiting until fans are allowed in the ballpark, though the Yankees could announce their intention to dedicate monuments for Berra and Ford now. There's no reason to wait on that.

With Berra and Ford gone, either Derek Jeter or Mariano Rivera is now the greatest living Yankee. I'd lean Jeter because he was an everyday player, though I certainly wouldn't argue with Rivera. I'm too young to have seen Ford pitch but I heard stories from my grandfather when I was a kid, I've read about him over the years, and I've seen him at Old Timers' Day. I felt like I grew up with him even though I never saw him play. Rest in peace, Whitey.

(What a horrible year for baseball deaths. Ford, Lou Brock, Bob Gibson, Al Kaline, Joe Morgan, and Tom Seaver have all passed away since April. Six all-time greats. So sad.)

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