Yankees Hot Stove Talk with Foul Territory

Yankees Hot Stove Talk with Foul Territory

How’s it going everybody? Hope you’re getting ready for a great weekend. Hopefully we get some Yankees moves soon. I just got done making an appearance on the Foul Territory show where we discussed the Yankees off season and kind of the timidness or if you want to say strategic patience of Brian Kman so far. We talked about Hal Steinbrer and his comments last week that had Yankees fans in an uproar. We talked a little bit about Cody Bellinger, about Jason Dominguez. I’m surprised he didn’t ask me more about Kyle Tucker. He’s a name that’s been thrown around a lot in social media posts over the last few days. People saying that, you know, maybe he doesn’t have quite the love for the game that warrants a $400 million contract. First of all, I don’t know how you become one of the best players ever. Uh I mean, just by making the major leagues, you’re one of the best baseball players in history if you don’t love the game, right? Right? I mean, how do you not how do you make it that far if you’re somebody who doesn’t like baseball? I’ll never understand that. I’ll never understand players like Anthony Rendone who get paid and then want to sit the bench. But, I mean, Tucker’s obviously a dynamic bat. But, if you believe Cashman where he says he’s trying to get more right-handed bats and he’s trying to add some pitching, uh, then that doesn’t leave a lot of room for Tucker. But, maybe this is one of those stories that gets put out there to try and drive a guy’s price down or scare some of the other big fish away. wouldn’t shock me. That’s, you know, all’s fair and love in war and baseball offseasons. Enjoy this conversation. I’ll see you when news breaks. Well, Derek, I know you jump on as quickly as possible when the Yankees make a move. So, how’s life not having to scramble to the studio so far? It’s been kind of a low-key winter. I mean, I’d much rather have an active off season, but there’s sort of a little bit of fun in the tension, too. It’s kind of that, you know, will they, won’t they, in a lot of different areas. And it’s one of those off seasonasons where the path isn’t real clear. You know, when when they wanted to get Juan Sodto, right, that was all anybody was talking about. Will they go out and get Sodto? He’s the perfect fit. You know, last year it was a lot of, well, they get, you know, Cody Bellinger. The the the the plan usually is a lot more clear than it is this off season. But the fact that Trent Gisham has come back and accepted that qualifying offer, it complicates things, right? Because now if you sign Bellinger or if you sign Tucker, not only are you two left-handed, but you put a big boulder right in front of both Jason Dominguez and Spencer Jones, one of their top prospects. Uh I believe Brian Cman when he says he’s searching for pitching and a right-handed bat. A lot of times fans don’t think that Cashman is very forthcoming, but if you listen to him and the tea leaves he drops, a lot of times he will tell you exactly what the Yankees are looking for. And I think he wants to get more right-handed. And I think he knows that the only way you win in baseball is by having good starting pitching. Yankees are a little bit hamstrung in terms of their pitching to open the season. I could see him trying to reinforce the rotation, maybe get a bullpen arm or two, and maybe a couple of unexciting right-handed bats that will actually make the Yankees a more complete roster than they are right now. All right, I guess we’re done then, D. Like you’ve already you already went through everything and the Yankees haven’t done anything. So, what else can we talk about today? No, I I want to talk about that first. I want to talk about the right-handed options because I think that’s the most boring discussion for the Yankees. Unless it’s not unless it’s Did they just miss on the Pete Alonzo? Had it happened later on, would that have been the fit? last year’s right-handed options that they acquired. Paul Goldmid, Jose Cabayro, like is is the right-handed market too thin for the Yankees to go and get anybody that’s legitimately going to fit? And people will be like, “What about Alex Bregman?” You know, House Steinbrer doesn’t go after a Bregman and a and a Tucker and a Bellinger. Like, Cashman is at the position where he’s at. He’s missed one playoffs in his entire career as a GM because he doesn’t necessarily listen to all the rigomearo around you Yankees fans. So where’s that right-handed option if if the tea leaf that he dropped is true, they need to get a little bit more right-handed? Well, he’s missed more than one playoff in his career. So correct you there. Just a slight correction to the record there. But um I think there’s a couple of names that are kind of floating under the radar that people might want to think about. First of all, a Miguel Anduhar reunion could be interesting. I mean, he mashed against lefties last year. You’ve got a left fielder right now in Dominguez who cannot hit left-handed pitching. Just can’t do it. Uh, we’ll see how it works out. He’s playing winter ball. Uh, but, you know, maybe a platoon situation there. I could see him bringing back a Rosario. Um, I was thinking about Josh Young from the Rangers. You know, he could be a platoon option at third base with uh Ryan McMahon. not a lot of like bigname 20 million dollar guys, but if you read the tea leaves, it kind of sounds like they want to follow the Blue Jays model, which is, you know, not necessarily outspend everybody, but fill in the roster with, you know, practical ball players to supplement your stars. And I could see them just bringing in kind of these role player guys, platoon type guys, maybe getting a few pieces that don’t necessarily push the payroll too high and then spending the big dollars on pitching where I know he will spend it. You know, if you look at the major contracts he’s given out in the last few years, you know, it’s it’s Carlos Rodon, ex Max Freed, you know, Garrick Cole twice. It’s it’s it’s pitching that he wants to spend on. So, I think that he will try and supplement with role player types in terms of the right-handed bats. So, right-handed bats, boring. I need bigger names. I need bigger names. Tatis, give me Tatis. Tatis. There’s There’s your big name. He just They just came Per just came out and said he’s untouchable, so that’s not going to happen. And Miguel Andrew Harrar, you already ran him out of this city. He’s not coming back. There’s no way. Well, he didn’t he didn’t seem happy about his lack of playing time towards the end of his Yankees tenure, but I always liked him as a player. I know he’s a fan favorite. I call him Miggy two bags because he hits a lot of doubles. I just love those guys who just rake doubles, keeps action on the bases. He’s always smiling. Like I always felt like he was a good guy for the clubhouse. Now obviously I’m not in the clubhouse, I can’t tell, but he seemed like a good chemistry guy. Fact is Yankees need more damage against lefties and he is somebody that hits lefties and I think that for the right price and an opportunity to, you know, uh get some at bats on a winning team, uh he would consider coming back. Blue Jays took care of business last year as we know. You see the roster construction of what they’re doing and what the Yankees are doing. How is the Yankees going to get to be those dogs again on top of the AL East? Because this Blue Jay team doesn’t seem like they’re stopping. Blue Jays are good, Todd. Uh I there was a lot of Yankees fans that called in or watched my show right after the series and they were ticked at the Yankees and I was like, you know what, the Blue Jays, they just they just beat us, right? They they just they just completely kicked our butt. And it wasn’t one of those situations where the Yankees beat themselves like in the World Series last year. I still contend if the Yankees had played better, they had a chance to win that series. But I mean, the the Jays just dominated and it’s clear they’re not going away like you said. Will they bring back Bo Bashette? You know, could the Yankees maybe swoop in and and steal their best contact hitter? That’s something I would love to see. I’ve been a big Bo Bette fan. I know defensively he’s not the greatest, but he would give you a leadoff hitter, a contact guy, another right-handed bat, another infielder. You know, it’ll be interesting to see if Vulpi is actually able to come back from this injury at full strength. I know that he missed um well he wasn’t as strong last year as they had hoped and they said after the season that the injury was worse than they had thought which makes you wonder if like the surgery to repair it will hold him back more than was anticipated right so I think that um you know if you’re not able to guarantee that Vulpi is going to solidify that shorts stop spot and and do damage you got to look at other options and Bobette sitting out there for the taking. I I feel like that’s going to be a hard one though at at the end of the day getting him to come there. They got Cabrera, they got Cababayro. Again, not the sexiest of things that we want to hear, but they can play. My my next question to you is though, can you I mean, Dominguez, Spencer Jones, these are two really good prospects and Dominguez has been up there for Can you see a trade for any one of these guys? I mean, dare I say, Terrick Scubble with a couple other prospects to get him over to the Yankees? I could see it. I mean, I never say never with Brian Cashion because I remember one February day, Alex Rodriguez was having a press conference holding up the Yankees jersey with number 13 on it, and I never thought I would see that. And so, since that day, I don’t rule out anything, but you know, Scubble’s one of these guys who can put you over the top in terms of a rotation. And I mean, imagine the lefties you run out there win healthy. Max Freed, Tariq Scubble, Carlos Rodon, and then righties, Garrick Cole coming back. Hopefully he’ll be at full strength by the end of the season. I’m anticipating that he’ll be hitting mid-season form right around the time the Yankees are getting into the pennant race, you know. And then Cam Schlitler, I mean I mean you guys saw what Cam Schlitler did in the postseason. The sky is the limit for this guy. I think that’s five horses that win you the division. But I still think you you do need a right-handed bat or two to go with it and you need some bullpen help. But Scooble’s definitely somebody who would get Yankees fans excited. The the the issue there is that you got to resign him. You know, it’s the same issue that you had with uh Juan Sto. You make a trade, you you acquire an impact player and then he becomes a free agent and you lose the guys that you traded for him, right? I mean, Michael King, we lost him for a year, right? I there was some other pitching depth pieces that we could definitely have used uh and and they’re gone now. Uh be and and we only had Sodto for one year. So if you trade for Scooble, you’re definitely putting yourself in a tough spot in terms of depth. November 12th today. I’m sorry, December 12th. Only off by a month there. Only off by a month, but it’s almost Christmas. Are the Yankees the third best team in the American League East today where we sit with where the rest of the East has made their moves? I think so. And I think they were before the other moves were made. I mean, I’m counting on a healthy Red Sox team with Roman Anthony being better than the Yankee. I mean, they they would have beaten the Yankees, I think, in that series if they had Roman Anthony. Uh, and um, you know, they’ve added Sunonny Gray, who hates the Yankees and always seems to pitch well against the Yankees. So, you know, the the the the Blue Jays are going to be aggressive. We’ll see if they bring back Bette, but assuming they do, they’re going to be strong again. I I think Brian Kman knows right now that this team has a chance to get to the playoffs, but they’ve got to really sort of steer the ship in a in a little bit better direction if they want to win the division next year. Uh right now, right now, they’re a wild card team, you know, and and and you don’t want to be in that position again. So there, like he said, there’s still a lot of offseason left to make things happen, but we’re going to like to see a little bit more aggression here coming forward. Obviously, the Yankees will be the Yankees forever, but this is the Aaron Judge era. The Aaron Judge era has essentially five more seasons. Whether you think he’s going to age out, whatever, that’s not the discussion right now. Is this really a big make or break off seasonason for the sense that when you look at like Pete Alonzo’s contract is five years when you start looking at like Dylan CE pitcher position player his is seven years this off season you’re signing guys that are going to need to win with Aaron Judge and the way you’re talking right now you want to make the playoffs like you want to make the playoffs and I don’t think that’s the that’s the essence of having a Monument Park player on your team that you want to make the playoffs. No, you want to dominate and you want to create these next five years of dominance. And I think it it comes down it shouldn’t come down to a Cody Bellinger in this case. No, I agree with you 100%. As Yankees fans, we want to win every year and we think that if you don’t win the World Series, it feels like a failure because we’ve been trained to think that. But it’s clear that with Hal Stein Brener and Brian Kman in recent years, the plan seems to be get to the postseason, have a healthy pitching staff if you can, and try and win that way. Whether or not that’s going to work, I don’t know. Uh I agree with you 100%. You got to maximize the Aaron Judge years. And whether it’s 5 years, whether it’s six years, whether it’s three years of his prime, I I still think he’s got at least a few good years left in him of I mean, even if he drops off 10, 15% a year, he’s still elite for a few years. It’s just how long is he going to stay healthy, right? I mean, there’s questions, there’s always been questions about how that big body will age. Um, I think in a couple of years, John Carlos Stanton is off the payroll. judge can shift over to DH and kind of become that, you know, DH late into his 30s hopefully and continue to mash. But yeah, we want to see him riding down a, you know, a float on the, you know, Canyon of Heroes holding up the trophy. We want to see that. We need that. And right now, it feels like the Yankees are trying to give themselves a chance at that rather than let’s go out and make it happen, right? You don’t look at them like you used to and say, “Oh, best roster on paper. Easy.” Right? You know, they’ll have to get upset. That’s definitely not. It’s just, “Hey, they’re in the mix. They’re in the mix every year. They’re in the playoff mix.” Uh, I got two for you, but first off, who who’s the shortstop for the Yankees next year? I know you mentioned Vulpi, but he’s had two years that I don’t think are championship level, and now he’s coming off shoulder surgery. Cue the excuses when he’s struggling, and that’s not necessarily his fault, but guys coming off shoulder surgery, usually it doesn’t look good. Matt Mlan, actually, there’s an example. I don’t know if they were different shoulder surgeries that just came to me just now, but he was a shell of himself this past season for the Reds. I don’t think he has the leash to go through another season where he’s not good enough. Yeah. Yeah. So, he was already getting replaced in games by Cabayro late in the season. So, I think right now, if the season started tomorrow, Cabayro is your shortstop. Problem is, we’re one pulled hamstring away from having no shorts stop, right? If Cabayro goes down, I mean, who’s your backup? Oswaldo Cabrera is coming back from a broken ankle. Can he play shortstop? I don’t know. I don’t I mean, and we got a cat in the background making a uh appearance. Um it’s going to be really awkward if he if he takes a dump right there. Uh but I I I feel like I I feel like if when Vulpi comes back, the job is his and he’s going to have about six weeks, right? And if he comes back in May, by mid June, if he’s hitting 180, 190 and the power isn’t there, I think you got to look at, you know, making a deal or or, you know, uh, trade some kind of a big trade deadline acquisition. We have seen Cory Seager’s name kind of in the rumors, and we know that Texas is kind of breaking it down, but again, that doesn’t solve your left-handed, you know, being too left-handed problem. So, I don’t buy that necessarily unless there was some kind of a a deal in which they were also willing to give Josh Young maybe take back a you know Ryan McMahon that type of thing. Like one thing that Cashman will do is surprise you with some creative kind of blockbuster trades. They’re not always good. You know, Donaldson taking him on to get Isaiah Kiner Fo was not really the smartest move. They were banking on IKF being a great shortstop. That didn’t happen. uh you know, but you know, there was the uh Jesus Montero, the late Jesus Montero for for Jes uh for Michael Peneda one year that came out of nowhere. So, he will surprise you with some some random trades. So, don’t be shocked if he goes out there and gets a shortstop. One of the things that Cashman talked about at the winter meetings was the fact that they feel good about their bullpen with Bedar, the pickups that they made. you know, they kind of made their bullpen moves during the trade deadline and Camila Dval. Are they still short? Because they got they didn’t get they didn’t bring back Devin Williams. They didn’t bring back Luke Weaver yet. I think maybe there’s a possibility of a reunion there, but where is that bullpen? Obviously, we know where it’s at currently, but can they not dip into the deep market? Because now the market, the top guys are gone. Suarez, Devin Williams, and and Edwin Diaz. So, are they going to dip into the next level of deep market in there, or do they have their two pieces and they’re just going to fill in? Well, I I think that there’s some interest in Trevor McIll from the Brewers, a hard throwing righty. Uh, if you believe Ken Rosenthal and Will Salmon, which I do, the Yankees are also in on Freddy Peralta. This is another one of those areas where I could see kind of getting multiple birds with one stone kind of situation, trying to get Peralta and McGill and then maybe some of those pieces you mentioned earlier going back in a trade. Look, Milwaukee scouting is so good. I would expect any deal that we make with them for them to rake the Yankees over the coals in terms of prospects. But the Yankees also have some really good young arms that are, you know, uh, starting pitchers in the minor leagues, but that are power arms. you know, Elmer Cruz, uh, you know, Ben Hes, Bryce Cunningham. We have seen them use starting pitchers as relievers in the major leagues before, and they say there’s, um, you know, no such thing as a relief pitching prospect. A lot of times it’s failed starting pitchers. And these guys aren’t necessarily failed, but they’re they’re guys who could solve a problem cheaply with 98 mph fast balls and maybe one good off-speed pitch. So, I think there’s a chance the Yankees might try and build internally with their their bullpen. and they might look at guys who are castoffs. I don’t see them going out and spending big on a relief pitcher, but I could see them if they make a deal getting McIll. All right. If McIll is the guy and you’re talking about a team coming from a team that produces closers, that’s just what they do. From a hater to Devin Williams to McGill, they get value for him. It’s also a team that wants to win. I know he’s your guy, but do you give up Ben Rice for McGill straight up? No, I don’t think I would make that deal. I I think Ben Rice is your starting first baseman next year. The metrics are really good on him if he learns how to hit lefties a little bit better. I mean, this is an all-star. The Yankees kind of view him as a Kyle Schwarber type of hitter, like a guy who could eventually hit 40 plus home runs a year. And I agree with him. And I as a lefty in Yankee Stadium, he’s just too dangerous. I I think I would rather see them go with some kind of other creative move and and fill out the bullpen rather than having to to deal Ben Rice. I just don’t think that that’s a a move. And and when you’re talking about Miguel, this is a guy who has had a a flex strain, uh which a lot of times can indicate, you know, stress on the elbow, which maybe is a precursor to Tommy John. Anecdotally, I’d be worried about trading a reliable upand cominging power lefty bat for a guy who, you know, throws 102 but could get hurt at any point. All right. I set you up for that one because I knew you would say Ben Rice, no. Just like you would have said Jason Dominguez a few years ago. No, you can never touch my Jason. Yeah. Spencer Jones then all of a sudden he’s the one guy you hear he’s he’s untouchable. He’s running out of time in the minor leagues. Is it Spencer Jones straight up? Because that’s a big league player. It’s a big league hitter. The adjustments he’s made that the Milwaukee Brewers will say, “Here you go. Good luck. Here’s 600 big league at bats.” Yeah. Well, I had Josh Norris from Baseball America on my show about a week ago and and he was not very high on Spencer Jones and rated him at the bottom of the 2080 scale in terms of his hit tool. He rated him a 20. And so, you know, if you believe that, yeah, I would I would move Spencer Jones. I mean, you’re looking at like high30 strikeout rate in the minor leagues. You guys know as well as I do that strikeout rate doesn’t typically go down when you go from the m from the minors to the majors. I know he’s got power. I know he’s been compared to a left-handed Aaron Judge. I’ve always said that that’s unfair, but um you know, I I I would have no problem moving Spencer Jones if it meant improving the big league club. Dire class one and I know you touched on this on an episode a couple weeks ago but just for our audience to give them a taste of not only what you said but then also what you’ve heard from the Yankees community. What were the thoughts on how Stein Burner saying that the team was not that profitable? I’m sure that was a tough one to swallow. It’s one thing to talk each offseason about, you know, where you’re at with budgeting. I think everybody understands that. For me as a media member, I was personally offended when he’s trying to go over like what revenue versus profit is. Like most of us get it, including the person that asked the question. That’s not what they were asking. Right. So, there was a few a few things about me that bo about that that bothered me. Um he complained about the $100 tax bill or hund00 million tax bill of the city, which is kind of a sweetheart deal. You know what I mean? Like that’s the cost of doing business on the the the most expensive real estate in America, right? I mean, and I heard it’s not 100, by the way, Derek. I I heard it’s more like 80. Again, I know it’s a big bill, but I heard it’s like 80. And actually, if you listen to David Samson’s show, who’s who’s really good on this stuff and used to be in an ownership group at the Marlins, he essentially said it was just the way of them not showing the public that they were paying for things, right? Like because the Yanks were like, “Oh, we’re self-funded.” Like, it wasn’t self-unded. And Hal just said it himself. Yeah. I watch David Samson a lot, um, by the way, and I I love his stuff. and he has been saying for a while that the Yankees are not that profitable. So, I mean, maybe he’s right and maybe Howal is right, but I if if you’re not profitable as the ownership of the New York Yankees, you need to get the heck out of the baseball business and and and sell it to somebody who will. You know, I said basically um you know, I if you inherit a Ferrari, right, um and you’re just going to drive it 40 miles an hour back and forth to the grocery store, you probably got no business owning that Ferrari. sell it to somebody who’s going to get out there and take it on the track and and and and use it the way a Ferrari is meant to be driven. If if Howal is not making a profit and not able to compete with other teams like the Dodgers and like the Mets across town financially anymore, he should take that as a sign to, hey, let’s pass it on, right? I mean, I know it’s his father’s legacy, but his his father, I think, was under $100,000 in personal funds invested into the Yankees when he bought it, and you could easily sell that franchise for $10 billion right now. I mean, put everybody in the family on Easy Street for generations, right? And let a group like the Guggenheims, let a big Wall Street firm take over. just make sure that there’s somebody who wants to win in charge and uh and I’m good with it. As as I said on my show a couple weeks ago, we don’t care who pays the bills. We care who raises the trophy. If you enjoyed this content, please hit that like button and subscribe. Check out nydesigns.shop for some great merch. Support our sponsors. It helps keep the show going. And you can find us on all major audio platforms. So be sure to subscribe there, too. But most importantly, come back again soon. We’ll see you next time.

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