Good afternoon everyone, it’s time to dive back into the mailbag and answer some of your questions. Remember to send in your questions for our weekly call by e-mail to pinstripealleyblog [at] gmail [dot] com.
MSP Giant asks: Gil and Stroman are healthy. What’s the rotation?
Considering the current rotation boasts Max Fried, Carlos Rodon, Clarke Schmidt, Will Warren, and Allan Winans, I only see room for one addition once both of these starters are healthy (assuming the entire ensemble stays healthy alongside them). Ryan Yarbrough would also be back in the mix by the time that Gil is in the picture, but I think that both Winans and Yarbrough would eventually be forced to cede the spot to one of the arms originally meant to be in the rotation. For Winans, that probably means a demotion back to Triple-A where he can remain stretched out while Yarbrough can slide back into the bullpen.
That still only leaves one spot for two players, though. Marcus Stroman has had an entire saga this year over whether he was going to be in the rotation or bullpen, with some strong opinions later walked back about how he only sees himself as a starter. He got his wish by circumstance when Gerrit Cole went down for the year but didn’t impress in his three starts, and his three rehab starts in Scranton so far haven’t done anything to ease concerns. Frankly, even without seeing anything from Luis Gil so far the underlying expectation is that the team would rather slot back in the pitcher that just won AL Rookie of the Year and get him geared up for a potential starting role in the postseason, and that’ll be his to hold onto once he returns. Things can always change in a six-month season that’s about to approach the halfway mark, but if the Yankees have all their pieces available Gil gets the nod over the rest of the field, and the others will have to make due with relief appearances.
Michael G. asks: When they add a position player before the deadline who gets kicked off the bench? Barring injury of course. Escarra, then you have to trust Rice to catch regularly, Peraza then who’s backing up Volpe at SS? As much as they need a better option at 2B/3B how do they make it work?
There’s not a lot of wiggle room in the roster as it’s currently constructed, namely due to having a solid hitter in Rice who is still floating around without a position. Since he’s also unable to cover shortstop, he can’t be relied on to cover a jack of all trades role, but he ends up halfway there swiping some playing time from a few positions anyway. And until the team is comfortable enough with him behind the plate in the majors, Escarra isn’t going anywhere. That leaves one of two options — trade for a multi-purposeful upgrade in the infield that can handle shortstop to alleviate the need for Peraza, or bite the bullet and cut DJ LeMahieu, who has a similar issue defensively of not fitting well enough anywhere should the team get an upgrade and move him down to the bench. If push comes to shove, I expect the Yankees to go for the former option; they’re too committed to playing out LeMahieu’s contract right now, for better or for worse.
Jon D. asks: Austin Wells… Agustin Ramirez, Luis Torrens, Carlos Narváez, Jose Trevino, Kyle Higashioka. Did the Yankees make the right decision on their catcher for now and the next five years?
The Yankees have become Catcher’s University over the last few years, as a number of teams’ starting catchers have come out of their system or been in the organization quite recently. Many of these faces were sent out in trades to get more fitting pieces for the roster — Higashioka was a part of the Soto deal that also netted Trent Grisham, Ramirez was sent out for Jazz Chisholm Jr., Trevino got back Fernando Cruz, etc. Dealing from a place of surplus to add to the major league roster is always going to be a valuable tool when you simply don’t have the playing time to give to everyone, and the Yankees certainly had to deal at least a few of these names to round out their roster.
I don’t think they made a mistake in choosing Wells as the headliner of that group to keep. His defensive value alone makes him a standout for the position and his work with the pitching staff directly influences the incredible run overall that they’ve had. The offense hasn’t been there this season, but he’s shown the potential for great power and if he can tap into that in the second half we’ll look back on this season as an incredible step forward as the everyday catcher. Even if he gives more of the same, locking in a three fWAR catcher going forward is a big hit for the player development team to rest their cap on.
Ironically, the one trade they might regret was the one they made without putting the major league team immediately in mind. On its own the Carlos Narváez deal was worthwhile at the time — trading a backup catcher for a potential top pitching prospect has a good chance of paying off big time, and Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz is dealing in High-A already at just 21 years of age. However, the trade partner they had to work with was the hated Red Sox, and now their archrivals have a formidable catcher of their own posting a breakout season. Narváez doesn’t have as much pop as Wells does but he has much stronger on-base skills, leading to him being on pace to finish just under five fWAR this season. The future of the position is heavily dictated by how well Narváez sustains this run and whether Wells’ bat gets out of the bog, but with the wide field of catchers they could’ve leaned on the Yankees at worst settled for the 1B option, and that’s pretty optimal use of their depth.