May 22nd, 2020: What Ifs, 2020 Draft, Colon, Mailbag

Whenever Spring Training 2.0 begins, teams will have the option of training at their spring complex or at their home ballpark, and Bob Klapisch hears the Yankees will train in Tampa rather than the Bronx. That's smart. There is way more room to spread out (multiple fields, multiple clubhouses, etc.) at the Tampa complex and that's important during the pandemic. Smart move. Now let's all hope MLB and the MLBPA can swing this and everyone gets paid fairly and stays safe. Here are today's thoughts.

1. Yankees what ifs. Earlier this week I wrote two posts at CBS breaking down each team's biggest "what if" scenarios since 2000. Here's the American League and here's the National League. They're all unanswerable questions, obviously, but they're fun to think about, and it's not like there's anything else going on right now. For the Yankees, I went with the failed Cliff Lee trade in 2010, which might've cost them a World Series title seeing how they faced (and lost to) Lee in the ALCS that year. Sigh. Stupid Mariners. Anyway, the Lee non-trade is the team's biggest "what if" of the 21st century, but it's hardly the only one. Here are a few I considered but decided against, listed chronologically. What if ...

... Mariano Rivera turned the 1-6-3 double play? I mentioned this in the CBS post too. In the ninth inning of Game 7 of the 2001 World Series, Damian Miller bunted the ball back to Rivera following Mark Grace's leadoff single. Rivera, typically an excellent defender, threw the ball into center field when he tried to start the 1-6-3 double play, and no outs were recorded. The inning snowballed from there. Here's the video. A good throw gets pinch-runner David Dellucci, and Miller was a catcher who ran like a catcher, so the double play was definitely turnable. Had Rivera made a good throw, the double play probably gets turned and the bases are empty with two outs, and the Yankees probably win their fourth consecutive World Series. Alas. "I did everything I could," Rivera told Buster Olney following the game.

... Joe Torre didn't use Jeff Weaver? Thanks to a Ruben Sierra two-run triple of all things (here's video), the Yankees tied Game 3 of the 2003 World Series with two outs in the ninth inning. Joe Torre did not go to Rivera in the ninth inning of a tied World Series game on the road. He saved him for the save situation that ultimately never came. Jose Contreras threw scoreless ninth and tenth innings, then Torre went to Jeff Weaver -- Jeff Weaver! -- in the 11th inning. Weaver had a 5.99 ERA during the regular season and had been demoted to the bullpen. It was also his first game action in 28 days. Weaver tossed a perfect 11th inning, then Alex Gonzalez, the first batter he faced in the 12th, hit a walk-off home run and the Marlins tied the series 2-2. The Yankees didn't win another game in the series. Maybe Rivera tosses a scoreless inning or two and Weaver blows it at a later point anyway, but damn yo, sure would've nice to find out! "I patted him on the back. He went out and battled his ass off. The guy hit a home run. I'd probably be more upset if he walked a guy ... He gave up a home run in the 12th inning to the No. 8 hitter. He happened to get out the 5-6-7 hitters the inning before. I could see the question would make more sense if one of those big knockers got him to begin with," Torre told Ken Davidoff after the game.

... the Yankees claimed Manny Ramirez? I completely forgot about this until former RABer Bobby Montano mentioned it the other day. Eight days after the Weaver debacle, the Red Sox placed Manny Ramirez on irrevocable waivers, meaning any team could have claimed him and he would have been theirs. Him and the five years and $104M remaining on his contract. "It's a weird thing, to be honest with you. I don't know what they're thinking, other than they want to get out from under that contract.," an executive told Jack Curry. No team claimed Ramirez and he remained with the Red Sox, and helped them win the World Series the very next season. The Yankees were in the market for a big outfield bat that offseason -- George Steinbrenner signed Gary Sheffield even though Brian Cashman pushed for Vlad Guerrero -- and Manny was still a monster at the time. He was still only 31 and he hit .324/.427/.587 with 37 home runs in 2013. He went on to hit .310/.408/.585 with 40 home runs per 162 games during the final five years of the contract too. Sure, Manny's defense stunk, but it's not like Sheffield (or, later on, Bobby Abreu) were saving runs out there. The ripple effects would've been fascinating. The Yankees would've taken an elite performer away from their biggest rival -- Manny always torched the Yankees -- and they probably don't sign Sheffield, and they might not have made the Alex Rodriguez trade either. Maybe they win the 2004 World Series! Or maybe we're sitting here talking about it being 20 years since the last time the Yankees won the World Series. Hmmm.

... Aaron Boone hadn't blown out his knee? My tepid take: Cashman makes the A-Rod trade anyway. Rodriguez was only 28 at the time, he was coming off four straight +8 WAR seasons and six straight 40-homer seasons, and he was the reigning AL MVP. He was the best player in baseball and the Rangers were willing to pay $71M of the $179M remaining on his contract. Even having to give up Alfonso Soriano, how do you say no to that? You don't, and that's why I think the Yankees would've traded for A-Rod even with a perfectly healthy Boone. They wouldn't have traded for Mike Lamb had Boone stayed healthy -- the Yankees acquired Lamb about a week before the A-Rod trade with the idea that he'd step in at third base for the time being -- but pass on A-Rod because Boone was healthy? Nah. It would've been A-Rod at third base and Boone working out at new positions in Spring Training 2004 (he'd played second and short previously in his career). I feel like not a whole lot would've changed had Boone not hurt his knee in that basketball game, to be honest.

... the Yankees signed Carlos Beltran? It was no secret Beltran wanted to be a Yankee. He didn't hide it. In fact, he even offered the Yankees a discount. Beltran was willing to take six years and $100M to wear pinstripes, reportedly. The Yankees said thanks but no thanks, they'd already traded for Randy Johnson earlier in the 2004-05 offseason and claimed to be tapped out, so Beltran went to the Mets on a six-year deal worth $119M instead. Beltran was an elite all-around player and only 28 at the time, and he went on to hit .281/.368/.505 while averaging 30 homers and +6.5 WAR per 162 games in the first five years of the contract. Injuries slowed him the final two years of the deal, but he played 151, 140, 144, and 161 games the first four years. The Yankees, meanwhile, used late career Bernie Williams and Bubba Crosby in center in 2005 before signing Johnny Damon in 2006. Damon was quite good as a Yankee, and he did contribute significantly to a World Series title, but he was no Beltran. To this day I dream about the Yankees having peak A-Rod and peak Beltran in the same lineup. "Honestly, they were (my first choice). They were there, but at the same time they  couldn’t do anything about it. The Yankees were going through a salary cap (issue) and they couldn’t commit to me for the years I was looking for. And the Mets came in, and they committed to me, and I felt like I made the right decision," Beltran said after signing with the Yankees in Dec. 2013.

... it didn't rain during the 2011 ALDS? I am convinced the Yankees lost the 2011 ALDS because of the weather. The pitching plan for the series was CC Sabathia in Game 1, Ivan Nova in Game 2, Freddy Garcia and pals in Game 3, Sabathia on short rest in Game 4, and Nova on normal rest in Game 5. Sabathia was still at his peak in 2011 and Nova emerged as the team's second best starter late that season -- he had a 3.09 ERA (3.37 FIP) in his final 12 starts and 78.2 innings -- and the plan was to start them in four of the five games. One and a half innings into Game 1, the skies above Yankee Stadium opened up, and the game had to be suspended due to rain. That cut Sabathia's start short and forced the Yankees to "start" Nova when the game resumed two days later (it rained the next night too). Instead of Sabathia in Game 1 and Nova in Game 2, they both pitched in Game 1. The Yankees won that game, but they lost Game 2 behind Sweaty Freddy, and they lost the Sabathia vs. Justin Verlander rematch in Game 4. Neither ace was particularly sharp, probably because they were working on a weird schedule after the suspended game three days earlier, and the Yankees came out on the short end. A.J. Burnett had to pitch Game 4 and the Yankees managed to win that game to stay alive. Nova then took the loss in Game 5. I can't help but feel getting only three starts from Sabathia and Nova, one of which was compromised because of the schedule weirdness, rather than four starts as planned, cost the Yankees that series. 

... the Yankees signed Yoan Moncada? For a few years there the Cuban player hype train got a little out of control (Rusney Castillo! Yasmany Tomas!), but Moncada was a legit, an 18-year-old switch-hitter with star caliber tools. The Yankees brought him in for private workouts and all that, and they made a competitive offer, but it was $6.5M short. They offered $25M and Moncada instead took a $31.5M bonus from the Red Sox in Feb. 2015 -- Boston had to pay basically double that because they exceeded their international bonus pool and were taxed 100% on the overage -- and the Yankees were left making excuses. One month after the Red Sox signed Moncada, the Yankees fired Felix Lopez, then their executive vice president and chief international offer (and George Steinbrenner's son-in-law), and pinned the botched Moncada negotiations on him. Bill Madden was first to spread that rumor, which seems even more ridiculous in hindsight than it did at the time. Whoever was to blame, the Yankees lost out on Moncada over a relative pittance. Even if he flamed out, the Yankees signing Moncada would've had huge ripple effects. The Red Sox couldn't have traded for Chris Sale, or at least the trade package would've looked very different (maybe Andrew Benintendi or Rafael Devers rather than Moncada?), and that would've had an huge impact on their franchise outlook. The Yankees could've traded Moncada for Sale themselves. Or they could've traded him for Gerrit Cole, or Sonny Gray, or Yu Darvish, or Jeremy Hellickson. Who knows? To make matters worse, MLB implemented an international hard cap soon thereafter, so Moncada was pretty much the last opportunity for the Yankees to really flex their financial muscles and blow every other team out of the water. Instead, they lost out because of a mere $6.5M.

... the Astros didn't cheat? I couldn't help myself. I don't think about the 2018 Red Sox too much -- the Yankees got demolished in Game 3 and Boone made some bad managerial decisions throughout the series, I guess is why -- but the 2017 Astros? Damn man. That ALCS went the full seven games and the Yankees lost two one-run games. One stolen sign could've been the difference in the series. It really could've. Similar to the rain in the 2011 ALDS, the Astros stealing signs was out of the Yankees' control. All they could do was deal with it -- we all watched those games, we know the Yankees were using multiple signs at all times to combat the sign-stealing, even with the bases empty -- and they came up short. It bugs me. This was not one player taking performance-enhancing drugs. It was an entire team, the front office and coaching staff included, systematically breaking the rules to gain an unfair advantage. Who knows whether this Yankees group will ever get another chance at the World Series? That might've been it. That might've been their best chance. “Is there frustration in what transpired and how it potentially denied us further play in the postseason? Of course there is ... They clearly benefited from (stealing signs). They’ve been disciplined for it now and as we move forward, we  just have to move forward and not look in the past because there’s nothing we can do about it," Cashman told Dan Martin last week.

Other notable "what if" scenarios include: What if the Rangers took Robinson Cano rather than Joaquin Arias as the player to be named later in the A-Rod trade (Cano was in the player pool Texas chose from)? What if Tony Clark's ground-rule double stay in play (video)? What if the Yankees signed Guerrero instead of Sheffield? What if the Yankees traded for Johan Santana? What if the Yankees convinced Gerrit Cole to sign in 2008? What if Roy Oswalt took the out at first on Chien-Ming Wang's bunt rather than the out at third (and Wang never runs the bases)? What if the Yankees signed Cliff Lee? What if Greg Bird could stay healthy? What if Shohei Ohtani would've heard the Yankees out? What if the Yankees signed Patrick Corbin, Bryce Harper, and/or Manny Machado? On and on we could go, though I'm pretty sure this covers the major unanswerable questions.

2. 2020 draft prospect: Ohio State C Dillon Dingler. The Yankees will have only three picks and a $3.7M maximum bonus pool during this year's five-round draft, and between now and the June 10th draft date, I'm going to break down potential Yankees targets. We've already covered RHP Clayton Beeter, RHP Nick Bitsko, RHP Tanner Burns, OF Pete Crow-Armstrong, LHP Jake Eder, RHP J.T. Ginn, OF Isaiah Greene, RHP Bryce Jarvis, LHP Luke Little, RHP Max Meyer, RHP Bobby Miller, RHP C.J. Van Eyk, and C Austin Wells. Dingler was not drafted out of his Ohio high school and he's gotten better each year with the Buckeyes. Last spring he hit .291/.392/.424 with more walks (27) than strikeouts (23) in 49 games even though he missed time early in the season with a broken hamate. Dingler hit .340/.404/.760 in 13 games before the shutdown this spring and his five homers were already a new career high. MLB.com ranks Dingler as the 24th best prospect in the draft class. Baseball America (subs. req'd) ranks him 37th. The Yankees hold the No. 28 pick. Here's a chunk of MLB's free scouting report (here's video):

(Dingler) does possess well above-average arm strength and his accuracy continues to get better as he gains experience. His receiving also continues to improve and he shows more athleticism and mobility than most backstops ... he controls the strike zone well and has plus raw power, so he should be able to hold his own as a right-handed hitter. He ran a sub-6.6-second 60-yard dash during the Buckeyes' scout day this fall, though he probably won't maintain plus speed as he stays behind the plate. In addition to his physical tools, he also offers strong makeup and was voted an Ohio State captain as a sophomore.

Both Jim Callis and Kiley McDaniel say they've heard the Yankees have interest in Dingler in recent weeks, which passes the sniff test. The Yankees value offense from the catcher position more than most teams, and good makeup has been their thing on draft day. They also lean on exit velocity as an evaluation tool, and while MLB's scouting report says Dingler has "plus raw power," my pal R.J. Anderson hears he's lacking in exit velocity. Not everyone needs to fit the organization's preferred profile -- Didi Gregorius and Mike Tauchman aren't exit velocity darlings but the Yankees traded for them anyway -- and Dingler's defense and leadership skills at a premium position may be enough to overlook the underwhelming measurables. Because of position scarcity, catchers are often drafted higher than the public rankings would lead you to expect, though this draft class is deep in backstops -- as many as five catchers could go in the first and supplemental first rounds this year, something that hasn't happened since 2012 -- so it's possible Dingler will still be there when the Yankees pick. I see him as someone who will more likely go in the middle of the first round though, especially if he's open to a below-slot bonus. The Yankees being in on a catcher with leadership skills is in no way surprising though. It's not the sexiest profile but it is up their alley.

3. Remembering a random Yankee: Melky Mesa. By request, our next random Yankee is Melky 2.0. This Melky is short for Melquisedec (the Melky in Melky Cabrera isn't short for anything). We've already covered Juan Acevedo, Erick Almonte, Oscar Azocar, Colter Bean, Billy Butler, Cesar Cabral, Brandon Claussen, Kevin Elster, Greg Golson, Nick Green, Aaron Guiel, Eric Hinske, Rick Honeycutt, Brandon Knight, Blake Parker, Chris Parmelee, Mark Reynolds, DeWayne Wise, and Kerry Wood. The Yankees signed Mesa as a 16-year-old amateur free agent out of the Dominican Republic in 2003, but it wasn't until 2006 that he made out of the Dominican Summer League, and it wasn't until 2009 that he got to a full season minor league. That 2009 season was his breakout year. Melky hit .225/.309/.423 (107 wRC+) with 20 home runs in 133 games with Low-A Charleston. Low batting average, lots of strikeouts (29.5%), lots of power, loud tools. He was a prospect you could dream on. Mesa improved with High-A Tampa in 2011 (.260/.338/.475 and 133 wRC+) and he more than held his own with Double-A Trenton and Triple-A Scranton in 2012 (.264/.325/.480 and 121 wRC+). Following the minor league postseason, the Yankees rewarded him with a Sept. call-up. Melky 2.0's first big league game was memorable. With the score tied in the 14th inning against the Athletics -- that was the game Raul Ibanez did this -- Eric Chavez hit a leadoff single, and Mesa pinch ran. Derek Jeter bunted him to second, Ichiro Suzuki was intentionally walked to set up the double play, and Alex Rodriguez shot a would-be walk-off single back up the middle. I say would-be because Mesa stumbled around third base and missed the bag, so he had to go back to tag up. Here's the video. Fortunately the miscue didn't cost the Yankees -- Eduardo Nunez won the game with a walk-off E3 a few batters later -- but lordy, I can't imagine that's what Mesa had in mind for his MLB debut. "I just missed third base. A mistake. I can do nothing to figure it out, just stay on the base and wait for my teammates to do something," he told Roger Rubin after the game. Melky's second MLB game went much better. He pinch-hit late in a blowout win a few days later and picked up his first big league hit and RBI with a single. Here's the video. Mesa went 1-for-2 with one baserunning blunder in 2012. The slew of Spring Training injuries gave Melky 2.0 a chance to win an Opening Day roster spot in 2013 -- he was slated to play in the World Baseball Classic that spring, but withdrew when Curtis Granderson got hit by a pitch and broke his arm -- but no dice. He started the season in Triple-A. The Yankees called Mesa up in July to replace Zoilo Almonte, who hurt his ankle, and he had a sneaky productive stint. He went 5-for-13 (.385) with two doubles in five games. Melky 2.0 went back to Triple-A a few days later when Granderson returned and that was it. He never appeared in MLB again. Mesa spent the rest of the season in Triple-A and he did not receive a Sept. call-up because he was hurt. Not only did he not receive a call-up, he was released to clear a 40-man roster spot for John Ryan Murphy in September. Melky went 6-for-15 (.400) with two doubles in eight career games with the Yankees. Among the 973 players to bat at least 15 times as a Yankee, Mesa has the second highest batting average in team history, plus the 11th highest on-base percentage (.438) and the 19th highest slugging percentage (.533). Not bad for two cups of coffee. Melky spent 2014 in Double-A and Triple-A with the Royals and Blue Jays, 2015 and 2016 in Double-A and Triple-A with Toronto, 2017 in the Mexican League, and 2018 and 2019 with the independent York Revolution. Hit .298/.326/.500 with 20 homers in 113 games at age 33 last year. If it weren't for the shutdown and the looming minor league contraction plan, I'd say numbers like that could land Mesa back in affiliated ball at some point. Instead, there is a very real chance his baseball playing days are over, and that is incredibly sad. Too many players unknowingly played their last game in Spring Training.

4. Rapid fire thoughts. Earlier this week Bartolo Colon, who turns 47 on Sunday, told Marly Rivera he hopes to pitch in 2020. "If I had the opportunity, I would play in any league, go anywhere. If any Major League team wants an old man, I'm available!" he said. Normally I would not think twice about this, but teams are expected to have a 50-man roster this year, and pitching depth will be at a premium. Colon had nice things to say about the Yankees -- "Signing with the Yankees was something special because they were the ones that brought me back, thanks to Tony Pena. They were the ones who gave me a chance," he said (Pena managed Colon in winter ball that offseason and recommended the Yankees sign him) -- and as the 50th man on a 50-man roster? Eh. Colon was very bad the last time he pitched in the big leagues (6.13 ERA in 289.1 innings from 2017-18) and the underlying numbers were just as terrible. His 2018 Statcast percentiles:

Yikes! The 50th man on my 50-man roster projection is probably Tony Zych, who's coming back from major shoulder injuries and pitched in a game this spring for the first time since 2017. That is the spot we're looking to upgrade. Colon's made over $100M in his career but he's never won a World Series ring. I assume a ring is his priority. Would he be willing to let the Yankees use him and abuse him as a long man type so they don't overwork $324M man Gerrit Cole and assorted young prospects during this weird season? That's about the only scenario in which I'd sign Colon, even with a 50-man roster ... J.J. Cooper has the latest on the minor league contraction plan. Long story short, MLB is expected to present Minor League Baseball with a term sheet the next time the two sides talk. It would include the 120 minor league teams that would remain full season affiliates next year -- roughly 40 minor league teams would be eliminated -- and which leagues they would play in. Also, Cooper says MLB teams are jockeying for affiliates, though not everyone will get their top choices. I have to think the Yankees are happy with Triple-A Scranton and Double-A Trenton given their locations, and High-A Tampa too. They've been affiliated with Low-A Charleston since 2005 and I suppose the Yankees could seek a new Low-A affiliate closer to New York or Tampa. Then again, Charleston is already the southernmost Low-A affiliate, and prying the Lakewood Blue Claws in New Jersey away from the Phillies may not be easy. There's talk some minor league teams could change classification as part of the realignment plan (High-A to Double-A, etc.), which could create a few more options. I dunno. We'll see. I wouldn't be surprised if the Yankees come out of all this with the same four full season affiliates though, or certainly at least three of the four (Scranton, Trenton, Tampa) ... Whenever baseball returns, I hope MLB will be flexible with the start times. Lots of people will still be stuck at home, at least initially, and there's no good reason not to make baseball available all day. Give me 1pm, 4pm, 7pm, and 10pm ET starts every single day. Fans won't be allowed in the stands, so scheduling games to maximize attendance will be a non-issue, and prime time games won't be quite as valuable when so many people are home. Days games will get more eyeballs than usual. You can't overdo it with the day games after night games, but there are so many teams that this is doable. I hope MLB makes sure there is baseball on all day, especially in the short-term, when baseball first returns and everyone is starved for sports. One or two afternoon games a day with everything else in prime time seems like a lost opportunity. People are home and they want to watch baseball, so give it to them.

Mailbag Questions of the Week

Paul asks: With a shortened season, wouldn't it be cool if someone hits. 400 over 82 games? Who is the most likely to do this? DJLM has to be in the mix, right?

It would be very cool to see someone hit .400 this season. It would not be recognized the same way historically as Ted Williams hitting .406 in 1941, but that's fine. It still would be cool, and the daily updates and watching the chase down the stretch would be a lot of fun.

For obvious reasons, it would be much easier to hit .400 in an 82-game season than a 162-game season, though hitting .400 in 82 games ain't easy. Assuming I ran the search correctly, only three players have hit .400 (with enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title) through their team's first 82 games the last 40 years:

1. Larry Walker, 1997: .408 in 351 plate appearances
2. John Olerud, 1993: .401 in 344 plate appearances
3. Rod Carew, 1983: .404 in 272 plate appearances

Tony Gwynn had a couple seasons in the .390s through 82 team games, and there are a few other scattered seasons in the .380s and .390s, but that's for .400 hitters. Paul O'Neill hit .381 in 313 plate appearances though 82 games in 1994. That's the closest a Yankee has come to hitting .400 through 82 games the last four decades.

DJ LeMahieu would be as good a pick as anyone to hit .400 through 82 games this year. He was hitting .332 through 82 games last year and .334 through 82 games in 2016, when he won the NL batting title with a .348 average. LeMahieu makes a ton of contact and he hits the ball hard, and that's as good a recipe for hitting for average as you'll find.

Aaron Judge would also be a good pick to do it. He was hitting .330 through 82 games in 2017, after all. Judge hits the ball harder than anyone in the sport, plus he draws so many walks that it'll keep his at-bat total down. The fewer the at-bats, the better your chances to hit .400. Judge strikes out a lot and that runs counter to the "hit .400" thing, but it's doable.

My pick would be Nolan Arenado. He's another guy who makes a lot of contact and has a tendency to hit the ball hard, plus he gets to play in Coors Field. Coors Field has the biggest outfield in baseball and that equals lots of room for hits to fall in. The Rockies have had 11 batting champs in their 27 years of existence. That's not a coincidence. Arenado's my pick.

Brad asks: Are there any teams that you can see be more affected financially from Covid 19 and being more likely to trade some of their more expensive players? Do guys like Josh Hader, Trevor Story, Lindor become more available?

I assume every team will look to cut payroll following the shutdown, with the smaller market teams perhaps being a little more desperate to actually do it. The Brewers and Indians were cutting payroll even before the shutdown. I was a matter of when Josh Hader and Francisco Lindor got traded before all this, not if. Now I think it's fait accompli.

The Rockies have run surprisingly high payrolls over the years and they have a lot of bad money coming off the books after this season (Wade Davis, Jake McGee, Daniel Murphy, Bryan Shaw), so I think they'll keep Trevor Story. Here are a few others who could become available for salary dump reasons following the shutdown:

• Carlos Carrasco, Indians: Owed $27M from 2021-22
• Matt Olson, Athletics: Arbitration-eligible from 2021-23
• Will Smith, Braves: Owed $27M from 2021-22
• Blake Snell, Rays: Owed $40.8M from 2021-23 (can't see a Yankees-Rays trade though)
• Eugenio Suarez, Reds: Owed $33.4M from 2021-23

The Padres have little hope of unloading Eric Hosmer (owed $79M from 2021-25) or Wil Myers ($46M from 2021-22) at this point. Other small market teams like the Marlins, Pirates, and Royals don't have any big contracts on the books beyond this season. To clear payroll, they'd have to trade away several players making smaller salaries.

Suarez could interest the Yankees -- the Reds could trade Suarez and plug Nick Senzel in at third base, his natural position -- though Olson's the one who really stands out. He'll be well-paid through arbitration because he socks dingers and has won two Gold Gloves, and his lefty power would fit beautifully in the Yankees lineup and in Yankee Stadium.

The Yankees had interest in Hader over the winter and they could rekindle talks once the Brewers get serious about clearing salary. I've written about Lindor (and a Carrasco-Lindor package deal) more times than I care to count. Getting him for pennies on the dollar in a salary dump trade is the dream scenario, even if it's only one year of him before free agency.

Of course, the Yankees will have their own cash flow problems after the shutdown, and we don't know what that means for payroll going forward. DJ LeMahieu, James Paxton, and Masahiro Tanaka (and Jacoby Ellsbury?) are coming off the books after this season but will have to be re-signed or replaced. Will the Yankees spend more on top of that? Hard to say at this point.

Brian asks: In terms of playoffs expansion, why isn't making ALDS best of 7 considered?

It might be and we just don't know it. Making the LDS a best-of-seven series would add at least four games and as many as 14 games to the postseason schedule, and more games equals more money. It's also not such a radical change that overworking players is a huge concern. Not compared to the seven-teams-per-league idea.

MLB is worried about a second COVID-19 wave in the fall and they don't want to have to shut down in the middle of the postseason. They want to play as many regular season games and a complete postseason as quickly as possible. A best-of-seven LDS would lengthen the postseason and put MLB at more risk of a shutdown, which I guess is why we aren't hearing more about it as a possibility.

My hunch is MLB prefers more rounds to longer rounds in the postseason. Adding another round, which the seven-teams-per-league idea essentially does, adds more total games and brings more teams into the postseason. Longer rounds creates only a few more games and nothing else. No added drama, no added teams, nothing. I think that's why we aren't hearing more about it. MLB wants bigger changes.

(Send your questions for Friday's mailbag to RABmailbag at gmail dot com.)