Previewing the Yankees' potential 2020 non-roster invitees to Spring Training

Spring's comin'. (Presswire)

In two weeks and five days Yankees pitchers and catchers will report to Tampa to open Spring Training. The marathon that is the 2020 baseball season starts in less than three weeks. Hooray for that. I'm ready for the offseason to be over.

At some point between now and then the Yankees will announce their non-roster invitees to Spring Training. Those are non-40-man roster players who get to hang in big league camp. All other non-40-man roster players have to report to minor league camp at the Himes complex across the street.

Non-roster invitees come in all shapes and sizes (top prospects, journeymen, etc.) and they represent organizational depth. The Yankees brought 21 non-roster players to camp last year and six wound up on the MLB roster at some point. Spring Training is a chance for these guys to make an impression on the coaching staff.

“We definitely feel like going to spring, we have a lot more guys that we know a lot more about,” Aaron Boone said earlier this month. “We know that they are capable of not just contributing at the big league level, but having an impact at the big league level. We feel like over the last couple years our depth has really developed, and hopefully that continues to serve us well moving forward.”

Each year around this time I put together a post at RAB previewing the Yankees' non-roster invitees (here's 2019). I started to piece this year's post together here, but it's far too long to include in a regular thoughts post, so here it is on its own. Plus I'm worried if I wait to post this, the Yankees will announce their non-roster invitees, and the post will go to waste.

Anyway, here is a position-by-position look at the non-40-man roster players the Yankees could bring to Spring Training this year. As a reminder, 40-man roster players will be in big league camp automatically.

Catchers

40-man roster players (2): Kyle Higashioka, Gary Sanchez

Every year each team invites a bunch of non-roster catchers to Spring Training simply because they need people to catch all those bullpen sessions. You don't want to overload your regular catchers by making them squat for hours and catch hundreds of pitches in February and March. That workload needs to be spread around.

Two catchers you won't see in big league camp this year are prospects Anthony Seigler and Josh Breaux. The club's first and second round picks in 2018, respectively, are early in their careers and both dealt with injuries last season. Big league camp is not an appropriate place for them at this point in their development. Maybe next year, but not now.

My prediction: Chris Iannetta, Erik Kratz, Ryan Lidge, Donny Sands, TBA. The Yankees signed Iannetta and Kratz to minor league deals with invites to Spring Training, so we know they'll be in camp. Lidge was the team's 20th round pick in 2017 and he has been the quintessential organizational catcher the last two years, going to whichever level needed a catcher at the time. That includes a Triple-A stint last year. I think he gets the spring invite.

The conversion from third base to catcher hasn't really worked for Sands, mostly because he hasn't hit. Last year he mustered a .593 OPS at High-A and was only slightly better in the Arizona Fall League (.621 OPS). Still, he's a catcher in a system lacking notable catching prospects at the upper levels, so I think Sands gets the invite to catch bullpens.

Last year the Yankees re-signed catcher Kellin Deglan and we didn't know about it until they announced their non-roster list and he was on it. I could see that happening again, hence the TBA spot. Maybe it's Deglan, maybe it's longtime organizational catcher Francisco Diaz, maybe it's someone else entirely. But I'd bet on at least five non-roster catchers. Maybe six. 

Infielders

40-man roster players (8): Miguel Andujar, Thairo Estrada, Mike Ford, DJ LeMahieu, Gleyber Torres, Gio Urshela, Luke Voit, Tyler Wade

Andujar's return from shoulder surgery, and to a lesser extend Voit's return from sports hernia surgery, are the key infield stories this spring. Last year there was the Troy Tulowitzki comeback and LeMahieu's transition into a utility role. There's nothing like that this spring. Just Andujar's (and Voit's) return from surgery, which is of course is a pretty big deal.

The Yankees are very thin on infield prospects at the moment. Estrada is on the 40-man roster and 2019 first round pick Anthony Volpe and third round pick Josh Smith are, well, 2019 draft picks, and they're not coming to big league camp. Only once in the last 12 years have the Yankees brought their most recent first round pick to big league camp (James Kaprielian in 2016). Volpe's a teenager. He won't do it this year.

Other notable infield prospects like Diego Castillo, Oswaldo Cabrera, and Dermis Garcia (if you can even call them prospects anymore) are too far down the ladder and not non-roster caliber players. Mandy Alvarez spent last season in Triple-A and was so so (91 wRC+), and the Yankees are more than covered at his positions (first and third). I don't see Alvarez or 2019 flop Brandon Wagner coming to big league camp.

My prediction: Kyle Holder, Caleb Kowart, Hoy Jun Park. Kowart signed a minor league deal recently and he has MLB time, so it's safe to assume he'll get a non-roster invite. Holder has been in big league camp the last two years and he had a pretty good season in Double-A last year (119 wRC+), so he'll be back. That dude can really play defense.

Park was in the "he's too young and big league camp isn't the right place for him" group the last few years. After putting up a 120 wRC+ while playing all around the infield in Double-A last season, I expect Park to be a non-roster invite this year. He might be among the first players reassigned to minor league camp, but I think he'll be there.

Outfielders

40-man roster players (7): Estevan Florial, Clint Frazier, Brett Gardner, Aaron Hicks, Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Mike Tauchman

How is Frazier still a Yankee? I guess the Yankees still have another few weeks to use him to dump J.A. Happ's contract, but I am definitely surprised he's still with the team in late January. Didn't see that coming. Hicks will be in rehab mode following Tommy John surgery, so it'll really be six active 40-man roster outfielders in big league camp.

The best outfield prospects in the farm system are so very young. Jasson Dominguez? Nope. Won't see him in big league camp. Kid is still 16. Everson Pereira is 18, Antonio Cabello and Ryder Greene are 19, and Canaan Smith is 20. You're not going to see those guys in Spring Training this year. Sorry to be a buzzkill. That's just the way it is.

My prediction: Trey Amburgey, Zack Granite, Rosell Herrera. Granite and Herrera signed minor league deals earlier this winter and have big league time, so they'll of course be in big league camp. Herrera is a utility guy who can play the infield, providing coverage there as well. Amburgey was in big league camp last year and he had a decent enough season with Triple-A Scranton (106 wRC+), so I think he comes back. The outfield is pretty straightforward.

Right-handers

40-man roster players (18): Albert Abreu, Luis Cessa, Gerrit Cole, Deivi Garcia, Luis Gil, Chad Green, Ben Heller, Jonathan Holder, Tommy Kahnle, Mike King, Brooks Kriske, Jonathan Loaisiga, Luis Medina, Nick Nelson, Adam Ottavino, Luis Severino, Masahiro Tanaka, Miguel Yajure

The Yankees really have 18 righties on the 40-man roster, huh? Geez that's a lot. Here's the thing though: Gil and Medina have a combined 13 innings above Low-A (all by Gil) and they won't be long for big league camp. They'll be among the first round of cuts and might not even appear in a Grapefruit League game. I hope they do, but it's hardly a guarantee. At least we'll get to see Deivi and Yajure. That's fun.

Similar to Gil and Medina, Roansy Contreras is a Single-A kid who doesn't really belong in big league camp. He turned only 20 in November. Garrett Whitlock is on the mend following Tommy John surgery and Trevor Stephan was so bad last year he had to be demoted from Double-A to High-A. I'd be surprised to see him in MLB camp. Brody Koerner is a nice Triple-A innings guy and nothing else. I don't see him getting a non-roster invite.

Enough about who won't be in camp. Who will be? Clarke Schmidt, obviously. He is all the way back following Tommy John surgery and was very good in his Double-A cameo late last year. The 2017 first rounder is ready for MLB camp. I look forward to getting eyes on him. The Yankees tend to bring a few random minor league relievers to Spring Training each year to cover innings and this year will be no different.

My prediction: Schmidt, Daniel Alvarez, Kaleb Ort, Nick Tropeano, Adam Warren, TBA. Tropeano's minor league deal includes a non-roster invite. Warren is rehabbing from Tommy John surgery but, as a big league veteran, I assume he'll get an invite to Spring Training. He won't pitch, but he'll get big league per diem and travel/lodging. It matters, believe me.

Alvarez was excellent with Double-A Trenton last season (2.31 ERA and 2.74 FIP with 31.4% strikeouts) and it's not out of the question that he could find himself in the show this year. He impressed (me at least) in limited Grapefruit League action as a minor league camp call-up last spring and I bet he gets the full invite this year.

Ort turns 28 next month and his Triple-A numbers weren't good last year (4.05 ERA and 3.68 FIP), but it's big time power stuff in relief, and I know he has fans in the organization. Alvarez and Ort are the random righty relievers I expect the Yankees to invite to big league camp this spring. Consider them the new Brady Lail. The "huh, that guy?" invitees.

As for the TBA spot, my guess is the Yankees have a minor league deal with a veteran righty reliever coming. No one great (David Hale Part III?), just someone to solidify the Triple-A bullpen early in the season and maybe battle for an MLB roster spot. To tell you the truth, four healthy non-roster righties doesn't feel like enough, so I added a TBA spot.

Left-handers

40-man roster players (5): Zack Britton, Aroldis Chapman, J.A. Happ, Jordan Montgomery, James Paxton

The Yankees are very right-handed right now. That applies to the lineup and the organization's pitching depth as well. Stephen Tarpley was recently traded, so unless Montgomery rides the Scranton Shuttle all season, there's no up-and-down lefty on the 40-man roster at the moment. I bet that changes at some point in 2020.

The dearth of lefty arms extends into the minors. There's a chance the Triple-A, Double-A, High-A, and Low-A rotations will all be entirely right-handed to begin 2020, though I'd bet on lefty T.J. Sikkema, last year's second rounder, getting a rotation spot somewhere. He'll likely be the only minor league lefty starter on Opening Day though, and he won't be in MLB camp as a recent draft pick.

In the bullpen, Trevor Lane and James Reeves are the best upper level lefties in the system, and they've been to big league camp at different times in recent years. Lane is apparently an analytics darling (good spin rate, spin efficiency, etc.) who's been good but not great in the minors. Reeves is a funky delivery lefty matchup guy. Look at his delivery. Yeah.

My prediction: Lane, Reeves, Luis Avilan, Tyler Lyons. Avilan and Lyons are on minor league deals and surely received Spring Training invitees. Lane and Reeves come to camp because the Yankees will need arms to pitch the late innings of Grapefruit League games, and they're the in-house lefties most likely to reach the show this year. That's really all there is to it.

* * * 

To recap all that, here's who I predict the Yankees will bring to big league camp as non-roster invitees this spring. Feel free to bookmark this post and come back to mock me for being wrong a bunch:

• Catchers (5): Iannetta, Kratz, Lidge, Sands, TBA
• Infielders (3): Holder, Kowart, Park
• Outfielders (3): Amburgey, Granite, Herrera
• Right-handers (6): Alvarez, Ort, Schmidt, Tropeano, Warren, TBA
• Left-handers (4): Avilan, Lane, Lyons, Reeves

That is 21 non-roster invitees overall, but it's really 20 since Warren will be in rehab mode. Last year the Yankees had 21 non-roster players in camp. The year before it was 20 and the year before that it was 23. If nothing else, my projected non-roster total is in the ballpark.

I know only true baseball nerds like me get excited about non-roster invitees, but these players are important depth pieces. Gio Urshela was a non-roster guy last year. So was Nestor Cortes and he was eighth -- eighth! -- on the 2019 Yankees in innings. These guys may be afterthoughts in camp. Just know you'll inevitably see a bunch in pinstripes during the regular season.