September 8th, 2020: Rock Bottom, Sanchez, Schmidt, Voit

With 14 losses in their last 19 games, the Yankees are in the middle of their worst 19-game stretch since a 5-14 span in June 2017. Their lead over the Orioles for the No. 8 seed is down to 1.5 games and FanGraphs has their postseason odds at 88.8%. Those tend to drop quick, folks. They can go from 95% to 80% to under 50% in less than a week. The Yankees need to get their act together, he says stating the obvious. Let's get to today's thoughts.

1. Rock bottom? LOL no, last night was not rock bottom. I thought rock bottom was getting swept by the Rays at home, then I thought it was giving up a walk-off home run in Yankee Stadium, then I thought it was Jordan Montgomery no-showing against Tampa the day after the near brawl, then I thought it was blowing that game against the Mets at Citi Field, then I thought it was losing three of four in Baltimore. You think this is rock bottom? Baby, wait until J.A. Happ starts tonight.

You know, it's probably for the best the Yankees did nothing at the trade deadline. This team isn't worth it. When they hit, the bullpen blows it, and when the pitching puts up zeroes, the bats go to sleep. Maybe they should've traded DJ LeMahieu for prospects? (I kid.) There is so little fight in this team. The next time they respond to adversity in a positive way will be the first time this season. They can't take a punch and everyone's body language sucks. They walk up to the plate and out to the mound a defeated team. 

Who is meeting expectations this year? DJ LeMahieu, Masahiro Tanaka, Gio Urshela, and Luke Voit. That's it. And I guess Clint Frazier too, but he's only in the lineup because of injuries and not because the Yankees actually want him in the lineup, so forgive me for not giving them credit for playing him a year too late. Last night's loss falls squarely on the high-leverage relievers, the supposed strength of the roster, though it turns out building your roster around the most volatile position in the sport isn't the greatest idea.

Four years ago the Yankees had a fun and exciting homegrown core that looked poised to bring the team a championship, and the very first thing ownership did was use those cheap pre-arbitration years to get under the luxury tax threshold. Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, and Luis Severino break out in 2017? Reset the luxury tax in 2018! Resetting the luxury tax has had no tangible benefit either, unless you think it needed to happen for the Yankees to continue running payrolls at roughly the same level since 2005. It's unforgivable. It really is.

The best chance to win with a cheap homegrown core is always right away, not a year or two down the line. The Blue Jays (best team in New York!) seem to understand that given their offseason and trade deadline activity. The Yankees, meanwhile, keep kicking the can down the road. I understand you always have to keep the big picture in mind, but at some point the big picture took priority over the present, and the present is passing them by. The Yankees are in worse shape now than they were four years ago and if that doesn't terrify them, nothing will. That cheap homegrown core isn't so cheap anymore and free agency is looming. Their window was as open as it was going to get and now it's starting to close.

I don't know how you evaluate anything in this bastard 60-game season but missing the postseason or even sneaking in as the No. 8 seed is inexcusable and should lead to some sort of shakeup. Certainly with the roster -- please stop emailed me with questions about an Aaron Judge trade, his value is down and there's no way you do that and don't regret it -- but also with the coaching staff and front office. Fair or not, a collapse like this reflects terribly on the manager and his coaches, and the people who put them in charge.

This isn't a good team having three bad weeks. I've seen that plenty and know what it looks like, and it's not this. The Yankees are rotten to the core right now. It is embarrassing -- truly embarrassing for the organization -- the Yankees will spend the next 20 days scoreboard watching the Mariners, Orioles, and Tigers. You can blame the injuries, blame the unusual season -- the Yankees have had the most games postponed among teams that didn't have a COVID-19 outbreak -- blame whatever, but every team is dealing with it. They all have injuries and unusual schedules. It's not an excuse. 

Not replacing all the depth that walked out the door in the offseason and doing nothing at the trade deadline (for the second straight year!) reeks of complacency, and there is nothing worse a team can be than complacent. The Yankees seem to think they can just show up to the park and win, and a postseason spot is a birthright. I know I'm guilty of thinking the postseason was a given, especially once the expanded format was announced, but what I think doesn't matter. When the team starts believing it though? That's trouble, and the lack of urgency suggests that's how they viewed it.

Hopefully we can all look back at this in a few weeks and laugh. Straighten things out, get to the tournament, then take your chances with Gerrit Cole and October king Masahiro Tanaka in Games 1 and 2 of a best-of-three series. See? Not hard to be optimistic. Except it is right now. Real hard. No one is coming to save this team. If the Yankees are going to turn their season around, it'll be because the guys in the room turn it around. Based on what we've seen to date, I have little reason to believe this group has it in them.

2. Sanchez benched. Real big "we've tried nothing and we're all out of ideas" vibes from the Gary Sanchez benching, which is par for the course these days. The Yankees never gave Sanchez an extended run at DH to let him focus solely on his offense despite carrying three catchers for over a week now, never added another bat to reduce their reliance on him, never did anything like that. In the span of a week Gary went from being trusted to pinch-hit with the bases loaded in extra innings (and hitting a grand slam) to being benched.

"Deliberated on it a lot last night," Aaron Boone told Marly Rivera prior to Sunday's benching. "I just feel like this is the way I need to go right now with and hopefully a day off or two -- or however I decide to do it here -- can help get him going. It's on all of us to get around him and try and help him get to what we know he can be. Gary wants to play, and to his credit, behind the scenes he's working his tail off and wants to be in there. But in the end, I think this is the best thing right now."

The Yankees have no fewer than four players (Mike Ford, Brett Gardner, Mike Tauchman, Tyler Wade) who have no business getting regular playing time for a team that fancies itself a World Series contender, yet none of them have been benched. They haven't been as bad as Sanchez, but we're just arguing different degrees of awful, and none have Gary's track record or potential. The accountability is applied selectively, it seems.

"I hope our clubhouse always understands that ultimately the team and our success as a team comes first," Boone told Rivera. "We care about who they are and their careers. You're constantly trying to strike that balance. Along the way comes difficult decisions, decisions that players are certainly going to disagree with, and that's okay."

If the intent is to let the clubhouse know this level of play is unacceptable, it's pointless, because they already know that (and if they don't, there are much bigger problems in Yankeeland). Benching Sanchez says far more about the Yankees than it does him. This is an organizational failure. A failure to help a talented player through a tough stretch and a failure to improve the roster around him when the opportunity existed. Gary alone is not responsible for the offense being trash, not even close, but the Yankees have made him the symbol of their problems. They've made him the scapegoat, probably unintentionally, but that's my takeaway. 

"Without question, he’s struggling with the bat," Brian Cashman told Ken Davidoff last week. "We are going with Gary Sanchez. He is by far our best option on both sides of the ball and we look forward to him finding his groove sooner than later obviously because we need it, but I still have confidence in (him)." 

The way out of this skid is not playing the most talented players on the roster less. That's why I've harped on Clint Frazier being in the lineup since last year and harped on Miguel Andujar being in the lineup the last few weeks, and wanted Clarke Schmidt in the rotation since July. To snap out of this, the Yankees need to lean on their best and most talented players, not their lesser backups. Relying on the backups is something fans believe is the solution, not smart teams -- when your alternative is trying to catch lightning in a bottle with Kyle Higashioka and Erik Kratz, you don't have an alternative -- yet here we are. What an indictment of the organization.

(Of course Sanchez deserves blame for his terrible season. So do Ford, Gardner, Tauchman, Wade, and Gleyber Torres too. Every justification for benching Sanchez applies to those guys as well.)

3. Schmidt's debut. It's been a good couple weeks for prospect debuts. Estevan Florial got into a game last week and Deivi Garcia is in the rotation now. He's made two starts already and will start again tomorrow. Clarke Schmidt made his debut Friday night and it didn't go well (1.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K), but he was in an unfamiliar spot because the bullpen was short, so I'll give him a mulligan. (When the alternatives are Albert Abreu and Miguel Yajure, I would've gone with Schmidt too.)

"Yes, I was put in a tough spot, but from a competitor standpoint I got to do a better job of getting out of that," Schmidt told Kristie Ackert. "You know, it’s cool to make my debut and I’m very, very blessed and very, very thankful to be able to make my debut. But at the end of the day, I’m trying to do a job and that’s helped this team win games, and I didn’t do it tonight. So moving forward, I just got to do a better job of getting out of that inning."

Garcia's stuff is very good but Schmidt's is on another level. It has been livelier in his two appearances than I remember it in Spring Training and Summer Camp. He's shown two distinct fastballs in his four-seamer and two-seamer, both of which have averaged 95 mph and topped out at 97 mph. The four-seamer stays true (video) and the two-seamer runs all the over place (video link):

Schmidt supposedly throws both a slider and a curveball, but it looks like one breaking ball to me. Whatever it is, it's averaging 3,045 rpm and has maxed out at 3,317 rpm, which is insane spin. There are only six pitches in baseball that average north of 3,000 rpm, and while I'm sure Schmidt's average will drop as the sample grows, it's clearly a super high spin pitch. You can't teach that. Either you're born with it or you're not.

The Orioles didn't hit Schmidt that hard -- the three hits in the meltdown fifth inning had exit velocities of 75.4 mph, 93.7 mph, and 81.4 mph -- but he did miss his spot each time and the Yankees paid the price. Goes to show that no matter how good the stuff, big league hitters will hit it if you don't locate. Schmidt learned that lesson the hard way. He'll be better for it.

Schmidt in the bullpen and Garcia in the rotation may seem backwards -- Garcia has a more reliever-ish profile given his size and career-long fly ball tendencies -- but the Yankees will keep Deivi in the rotation and Schmidt in the bullpen for now. I'm fine with it. The important thing is they're on the roster. They're among the team's best 14 pitchers. My guess is the Yankees determined Schmidt is the better bet to make the quick adjustment to life in relief, hence him in the bullpen and Garcia in the rotation. 

"We’ll go careful there," Boone told Ackert. "Obviously he didn’t throw his normal workload of pitches (Friday night), but we’ll certainly probably have him down a couple days and then have him back in play, determine if it’s on that third day. Then just it’ll be depending on if he goes an outing where he goes 50-60 pitches, then it’s we’ll treat it more like a start. But we’ll be careful as he transitions to this kind of different role that he’s ever had."

The Yankees need help everywhere right now and Schmidt can definitely help a bullpen that has blown way too many leads the last few weeks. Hopefully Boone can find some softer landing spots for him -- but not as soft as down six in the eighth like last night -- rather than continue throwing him into the fire, but the stuff is excellent, and by all accounts Schmidt is poised and a dogged competitor. That should play in short relief. I don't think it'll take him long to slot in as one of their top relief options.

"We’re just trying to get him spots where obviously he can impact us," Boone told Ackert. "We feel like he can be impactful, obviously, in a multi-inning length or role right now. There could be a start out there at some point for him. But right now, it’s just kind of getting him acclimated and feel like he has a chance in that multi-inning role to really play a big, big role for us here down the stretch."

4. Remembering a random Yankee: Andrew Brackman. Our next random Yankee is one of most expensive draft busts in history, maybe the most expensive. We've already covered Juan Acevedo, Dean Anna, Erick Almonte, Oscar Azocar, Colter Bean, Mark Bellhorn, Jim Bruske, Billy Butler, Cesar Cabral, Brandon Claussen, Colin Curtis, Matt Daley, Jim Deshaies, Robert Eenhoorn, Kevin Elster, Sal Fasano, Greg Golson, Nick Green, Aaron Guiel, Glenallen Hill, Eric Hinske, Rick Honeycutt, Brandon Knight, Matt Lawton, Kenny Lofton, Matt Luke, Melky Mesa, Doug Mientkiewicz, Juan Miranda, Bob Ojeda, Donovan Osborne, Blake Parker, Chris Parmelee, Edwar Ramirez, Tim Redding, Mark Reynolds, Antoan Richardson, Henry Rodriguez, Humberto Sanchez, Zelous Wheeler, Enrique Wilson, DeWayne Wise, Kerry Wood, and Ed Yarnall.

Brackman grew up in Cincinnati and was a two-sport athlete at North Carolina State. As a freshman and sophomore he averaged 7.5 points and 3.5 rebounds in basketball, and had a 4.79 ERA with 75 strikeouts and 37 walks in 71.1 innings in baseball. A hip injury ended his sophomore baseball season early, but he dominated top competition in the wood bat Cape Cod League that summer, and gave up basketball to focus on baseball as a junior.

An up-and-down junior season (3.81 ERA with 74 strikeouts and 37 walks in 78 innings) and elbow concerns caused Brackman to fall out of the top 10 picks and to the Yankees with the No. 30 overall pick in the 2007 draft. "Well, we drafted him in the first round, so we feel he’s got an upside," Brian Cashman told the New York Times after the draft. Here is a snippet of Baseball America's pre-draft scouting report (subs. req'd):

Now a legitimate 6-foot-10, 240 pounds, his upside is considerable. His athleticism helps him repeat his delivery, but he struggles with his balance and release point, leading to erratic command, especially of his secondary stuff. He touched 99 mph in the Cape Cod League in 2006 and again during an early-season outing in Myrtle Beach, S.C., and he pitches at 94 with exceptional plane. His mid-80s spike-curveball is filthy. Brackman's changeup was the pitch that had improved the most this spring, and grades as a third potential plus offering. He's still unrefined, but even without the polish, Brackman shouldn't slide out of the top 10 picks. 

Although he was not a serious NBA prospect, basketball gave Brackman and agent Scott Boras some leverage, and they turned it into a guaranteed four-year Major League contract worth $4.5M. It included a $3.55M signing bonus -- because he was a two-sport guy, the Yankees were able to spread the bonus across five years -- plus options and escalators that could've pushed the total value to seven years and $13M.

Brackman underwent Tommy John surgery soon after the draft and he eventually made his pro debut in the now defunct Hawaii Winter Baseball league in 2008. A full season with Low-A Charleston followed in 2009 (5.91 ERA with 103 strikeouts and 76 walks in 106.2 innings), then Brackman split 2010 between High-A Tampa and Double-A Trenton (3.90 ERA with 126 strikeouts and 39 walks in 140.2 innings).

Baseball America (subs. req'd) ranked Brackman, then 25, as the 78th best prospect in the game heading into 2011, two spots ahead of Nolan Arenado. "For some scouts, Brackman's whole is less than the sum of his parts, earning comparisons to A.J. Burnett and Kyle Farnsworth," said their scouting report (subs. req'd). He had a 6.00 ERA with 75 strikeouts and 75 walks in 96 innings with Triple-A Scranton that summer.

Because his contract put him on the 40-man roster immediately -- MLB outlawed Major League contracts for drafted players a few years ago -- the Yankees gave Brackman a Sept. call-up in 2011 even though he didn't really earn it. He (and Dellin Betances!) made his MLB debut against the Rays on Sept. 22nd, 2011. Here's the video. Brackman appeared in three games that month, allowing one hit and three walks in 2.1 scoreless innings. He struck out zero.

And that was it. The Yankees declined their 2012 club option for Brackman, which would have paid him $1M at the big league level and $500,000 in the minors. Because he had less than one year of service time, the Yankees normally would have been able to retain him as a pre-arbitration-eligible player. Brackman's contract required the Yankees to release him if they decline any of his options, however, so release him they did.

All told, the Yankees paid Brackman about $11M from 2007-11, and in return he faced only 13 batters as a big leaguer. To date, 32 Yankees first round picks have reached the big leagues, and Brackman ranks 20th with +0.1 WAR (no WAR for Clarke Schmidt yet). He signed minor league contracts with the Reds in 2012 (6.71 ERA in 63 innings) and White Sox in 2013 (two runs in two innings) before calling it a career. His Sept. 2011 stint with the Yankees was his only MLB action.

Unconfirmed rumors said Brackman went overseas to play basketball after being cut loose by the White Sox but I can't find any record of that actually happening. As best I can tell, his professional sports career ended after his ChiSox stint. No idea what he's doing these days, though Brackman's Instagram tells us he's an avid outdoorsman.

5. Rapid fire thoughts. I'm pretty sure Luke Voit is playing through an injury. Aaron Boone said he's dealing with some "foot stuff" a week or two ago, and he recently was the DH four times in a five-game span and has been hobbling a bit on the bases. Maybe that's the cause of his recent slump -- Voit was going to cool down eventually, so I dunno -- though he hit a home run last night and scored from first on a double, so it can't be bothering him too much, but yeah, I'm pretty sure Voit is playing through something right now. He's not 100% ... Couple minor roster moves to note. First, the Yankees did indeed re-sign Luis Avilan to a minor league contract over the weekend, the team announced. I hope we don't have to see him again this year, but, if he's needed, he'll be in Scranton. And second, the Yankees released righty Adonis Rosa, which was the only way to get him off the 60-man player pool. Rosa, 25, got into a game with the Yankees last season and I know he has some fans in the organization. Not a big loss and the Yankees might even re-sign him, but these are the guys who are going to get squeezed out of baseball once the minor league contraction plan becomes a reality. The fringe prospect who is little more than an emergency call-up ... And finally, a general observation: players around the league look exhausted and not in the usual "baseball is a long season" way. The COVID-19 protocols and condensed schedule seem to be taking their toll. The Cardinals have played 28 games in the last 24 days -- they have 25 games in the next 20 days! -- and they looked completed fried when I watched them over the weekend. Like lab rats waiting for the next maze. Players are well-paid and I can't say I feel sorry for them, but they're human too, and this season can't be easy. It's a much different kind of grind. "It feels like two Augusts combined into one. Everyone we talk to, physically, emotionally, is just drained. It definitely doesn’t feel like we're 30 games in and fresh. It’s like it’s Game 230," Alex Cobb told Joe Trezza recently.

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