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A reunion could benefit both Neil Walker and the Yankees as Spring Training approaches

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(Jim McIsaac/Getty)

Pitchers and catchers report to Tampa two weeks from tomorrow. Some clubs open camp a day or two earlier, others a day or two later. In about two weeks though, Spring Training begins, and a lot of free agents will still be looking for work. Manny Machado, Bryce Harper, Dallas Keuchel, and Craig Kimbrel will be fine. They’re going to get paid. The free agent middle class is feeling the squeeze the most.

Neil Walker felt that squeeze last winter. I thought he was looking at something like two years and $20M going into the offseason. The Jed Lowrie/DJ LeMahieu contract. Instead, Walker signed a one-year deal worth $4M with the Yankees on March 12th, two and a half weeks before Opening Day. That was coming off a season in which he hit .265/.362/.439 (114 wRC+) with 14 homers as a full-time player.

Walker, now 33, had to settle for a part-time role with the Yankees and hit .219/.309/.354 (81 wRC+) with eleven home runs last year. He was effective when pushed into an everyday role. As a true bench guy, he struggled. Walker is once again feeling the free agent squeeze, and now that he’s entering his mid-30s and coming off his worse full MLB season, I imagine he’s feeling that squeeze even more. Will he even get a Major League contract? I’m not sure.

With Spring Training on the horizon, the Yankees and Walker are in position to help each other out. A reunion could benefit both parties. I’m thinking a contract structure along these lines:

  • Minor league contract with a $3M salary at the MLB level, plus plate appearance incentives.
  • Opt-out clause at the end of Spring Training (say March 25th).
  • Walker can also opt out at any point before Opening Day if another team is willing to put him on their 40-man roster.
  • The Yankees can prevent Walker from opting out by adding him to their 40-man roster.

Walker made $4M last year and I can’t see him getting raise (or even making the same salary) after the year he had. He did well when pressed into action on an everyday basis. Overall though, he was below-average. That’s why I’m thinking a $3M salary instead of a $4M salary. It’s possible $3M is even a little generous at this point. Maybe $2M is more appropriate? Anyway, let’s talk through the other points.

What’s in it for the Yankees?

An insurance policy, basically. Should an infielder get hurt in Spring Training, Walker would be around to step right into the vacated roster spot. Heck, the Yankees still have an open bench spot. Even if everyone stays healthy in camp, the Yankees could still carry Walker on their bench. He could be the backup first baseman rather than LeMahieu as well as the emergency outfielder and emergency catcher (Walker caught in the minors), among other things.

Minor league contracts are zero risk and Walker, given his track record, is a nice little insurance policy to have lying around in Spring Training. And hey, if Walker’s willing to go to Triple-A for a bit during the regular season, great! If not, no big deal. The Yankees would be right back where they are right now. Nothing gained, but also nothing lost. They’d give Walker a look in camp and see whether he fits.

What’s in it for Walker?

A job, for starters. Those are hard to come by for second or third tier free agents these days. A minor league contract with the Yankees allows Walker to have a full and normal Spring Training with a team he knows. Last year he had to participate in the MLBPA’s free agent spring camp to get ready for the season. Signing with the Yankees would allow him to have a proper Spring Training and prepare for the season in a way he was unable to last year.

An end-of-spring opt-out clause is fairly standard for veterans on minor league deals. The twist is allowing him to opt out at any point in Spring Training if another team comes along and wants to put him on their MLB roster. Such a clause is uncommon but not unprecedented. In Walker’s case, any team that puts him on their 40-man roster is giving him an MLB job. He has enough service time to refuse an assignment to the minors once he’s on the 40-man. Any team that wants him will want him for their Opening Day roster.

Reporting to Spring Training allows Walker to prepare for the season and also showcase himself for other teams. He’s been in the league long enough now that he’s a known commodity. Still, playing in Spring Training beats sitting at home or working out in an MLBPA camp when you’re trying to land a job. Walker gets to work out and play, and do whatever he needs to do to prepare for the season, while still having the freedom to go to a team that wants him on their big league roster.

* * *

By all accounts Walker enjoyed his time with the Yankees last year and the Yankees enjoyed having him. I would not have blamed him at all for being upset about his free agency and contract status, and I’m sure that, deep down, he was. How he could he not be? Walker handled it like a pro though. He accepted his role and worked hard at it, though being a part-time player after playing everyday his entire career proved to be a difficult adjustment.

A minor league contract could benefit both sides. Walker would get to have a proper Spring Training with a team (and teammates) he knows while retaining the ability to leave should another team want him for their big league roster. The Yankees get to bring Walker to camp as insurance, and, if they want him to keep him around, they can block any opt-out by adding him to their big league roster. They’d have the right of first refusal, basically.

To me, this does not seem like an arrangement that would work for any player with any team. Could you imagine the Yankees doing this with, say, Derek Dietrich, a player they have no history with whatsoever? Nah. I’m also not sure this is something Walker would want to do right now. An agreement with the Yankees could scare away other teams. Position players are not due to report until February 19th. That gives Walker three weeks to explore other opportunities.

The Yankees and Walker have a history and each side knows what they would be getting into. If no other team comes calling before Spring Training begins, a minor league contract with the Yankees would allow Walker gets to prepare for the regular season and showcase himself for other clubs. The Yankees would get to keep him around as depth. It’s the best of a bad situation for Walker. Certainly preferable to sitting unsigned until mid-March again.

Update: Walker signed a one-year deal with the Marlins earlier this evening, the team announced. So much for that idea. Good for Neil though.

Hot Stove Rumors & News: Harper, Machado, Free Agents

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(Scott Taetsch/Getty)

Only 107 days until pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training, give or take. Doesn’t seem so bad, does it? No, it does. I miss baseball already. Anyway, here is the offseason calendar in case you missed it earlier, and here are the latest hot stove rumors and news tidbits.

Pursuing Harper is “not part of the plan”

Right on schedule. According to Andy Martino, pursuing free agent Bryce Harper this offseason is “not part of the plan” for the Yankees. The Yankees are going to prioritize pitching this winter and Harper doesn’t really fit. That’s silly, of course, because you can always make room for a player like Harper. When’s the last time a player like this — a star caliber producer in his mid-20s — hit the open market? It’s been a very long time.

Anyway, like I said, this report is right on schedule. Day One of the offseason and the Yankees are downplaying their interest in the best free agent to hit the market in years? Textbook posturing. And you know, even if this is true and the Yankees are not planning to pursue Harper, things can change. I don’t think anyone in the front office had Giancarlo Stanton in mind at this time last winter. This report means nothing to me. A team downplaying interest in a free agent is Hot Stove 101 stuff.

Yankees are “lukewarm” on Machado

In addition to totally not having interesting in Harper (wink wink), the Yankees are only “lukewarm” on Manny Machado, reports Martino. Martino says the Yankees were put off by Machado’s postseason antics, specifically his dirty as hell kick of Jesus Aguilar and his unabashed admission that he’s never going to hustle. Machado has had the “dirty player” label for a while, dating back to when he threw his bat at the Athletics, but things really came to a head this October.

To me, the Yankees being put off my Machado’s postseason display is far more believable than simply not having interest in Harper because he might not fit the roster. It’s going to take a lot of money and a lot of years to sign Machado. If he’s playing dirty now and he’s not hustling right before his big free agent payday, what happens when he’s got that huge guaranteed contract? Teams have overlooked far worse things, of course, and Machado is a great player in his mid-20s. Dude’s going to get paid. But I can understand not liking what you saw in the postseason.

145 players become free agents

Earlier this morning 145 players officially became free agents, the MLBPA announced. Here’s the full list. As expected, eight Yankees are now free agents:

New York Yankees (8): Zach Britton, J.A. Happ, Adeiny Hechavarría, Lance Lynn, Andrew McCutchen, David Robertson, CC Sabathia, Neil Walker

Several more players will become free agents later this week when their options are declined or they use their opt-outs. Brett Gardner could be among them. The Yankees have until Wednesday to exercise his $12.5M club option or buy him out for $2M. Honestly, neither outcome would surprise me.

The Free Agent Semi-Flop [2018 Season Review]

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(Jim McIsaac/Getty)

On July 31, 2017, the Yankees and Mets allegedly had a deal in-place for Neil Walker, but the Yankees backed out due to some disconcerting medicals. On December 13, 2017, I wrote about Walker as a potential target to fill either of the big club’s holes at second and third. A couple of months later, on February 27, 2018, it was reported that the Yankees were in talks with Walker prior to acquiring Brandon Drury. And just two weeks later, Walker was in pinstripes – and we were excited about it.

It’s not hard to see why Walker had been on the radar for such a long time, either. He’s a switch-hitting middle infielder with the better part of a decade’s worth of success, with (generally) above-average walk and strikeout rates, and a good amount of pop. Walker slashed .265/.362/.439 in 2017, which was right in-line with his career norm of .272/.341/.437, and had shown no real signs of slowing down.

And so, at the cost of around $4 MM for the 2018 season, it was a low-risk, high-reward proposition. It didn’t quite play out that way, though.

The Late Signing and Early Struggles

The Yankees officially signed Walker on March 12, over three weeks after position players reported to Spring Training, and more than half of the exhibition games already wrapped-up. He opened the season at a deficit that cannot really be accounted for, as it seems improbable that any amount of training can make up for missing that amount of work with the team. And it showed early on, as Walker limped out to a .165/.212/.190 slash line (3 wRC+) in 85 March/April plate appearances.

Now, to be completely fair, it was difficult to be too concerned about that level of production. After all, this was effectively his Spring Training, and it was also the first time in his career that he wasn’t the straight-up starter – he played in just 20 of the Yankees 28 games in this span, and started at two different positions (first and second) to boot. That sort of inconsistent usage pattern was not something that Walker was accustomed to, and it makes sense that combining that with a lack of Spring Training could lead to struggles. I’m sure that everyone’s noticing a theme here, and some might even call it a desperate search for an excuse for poor performance – but it’s difficult to not give some credence to such a drastic change for any player.

Signs of Life in May

Walker’s inconsistent playing time continued in May (he started just 13 of 25 team games), but his bat awakened in a big way. He slashed .294/.400/.490 (146 wRC+) in 60 PA, with nearly as many walks (8) as strikeouts (9). And, in his first big moment with the team, walked it off against the A’s on May 12:

It took a month of poor performance to get here, but it looked like the Walker that the Yankees thought they were getting had finally come forth. And the timing worked out well, too, as the Yankees had been struggling to get anything out of first base with Greg Bird on the shelf. His fate was a bit up in the air, though, with Gleyber Torres entrenched at second, Miguel Andujar at third, and Bird set to return at the end of May – but it was a good problem to have. Right?

An Embarrassing June

.063/.143/.063

That’s what Walker hit in June. It was only 35 plate appearances staggered around twelve games (only nine of which were starts) – but he was awful. He struck out in over a third of his PA, and put the ball on the ground 55% of the time. That’s not a good formula for success for any player, and it certainly wasn’t for Walker.

The question at this point became just how much of the blame for his performance could continue to be placed on Spring Training and/or the inconsistent playing time. Neither should be discounted, in my mind, but it’s tough to explain away a .185/.261/.259 slash line through three months (in only 180 PA); and that’s especially true when a player looks as bad as Walker did at times.

And, while he hadn’t shown signs of regression previously, he was still a 32-year-old player that had missed time with injuries in 2016 and 2017. Things change fast in baseball, so maybe this was the beginning of the end.

A Summer Turnaround

Just when we thought that Walker was toast, he started hitting again. He hit .345/.429/.466 in 70 July plate appearances, reaching base safely in 17 of his 18 starts. A .432 BABIP helped matters, but it wasn’t entirely fluky. Walker had a 44.4 hard-hit percentage in July, as well as a ridiculous 43.2% line drive rate. He looked just about as good in July as he did and June, and it was a welcome sight.

And then, for the first time this season, he didn’t completely reverse course the next month. Walker slashed .214/.309/.440 in August, which is a perfectly average 100 wRC+. It was a step down from July, to be sure – but it was progress. Walker hit 6 home runs in just 97 PA, including this epic pinch-hit, walk-off dinger against the White Sox:

Now is as good a time as any to point out Walker’s penchant for the dramatic this year. He hit .323/.385/.581 (144 wRC+) in high leverage situations, and .273/.385/.636 (172 wRC+) in 13 pinch hitting opportunities. And that’s why he finished fourth on the team in WPA despite placing 14th in wRC+.

Walker closed out the season by hitting .186/.314/.395 in September. That may not look good, but it was still a 95 wRC+, which isn’t all that bad.

All told, Walker hit .219/.309/.354 (81 wRC+) in 398 PA, in what amounted to his worst season across the board.

The Playoffs

Walker was basically a bystander in the playoffs. He amassed just 5 PA between the Wild Card game and the ALDS, going 1-for-4 with an RBI and a HBP. His only start came in Game 4 of the division series, where he was a part of the team’s failed rally in the ninth inning. So it goes.

What’s Next?

Prior to the Didi Gregorius news, I was certain that Walker was finished with the Yankees; or, maybe more accurately, the Yankees were finished with him. However, a return engagement seems possible given that the team’s middle infield depth took a staggering blow, and they’re at least familiar with Walker’s personality, routine, and general fit with the team. Whether he would accept another bench/utility role is up in the air, though.

Generally speaking, a 33-year-old with Walker’s track record would be looking to cash in on his last big(ish) contract. It’s difficult to see that happening now, though, given that he’s coming off of the worst year of his career. A one-year pillow contract seems the likeliest outcome, and I suspect that he’ll look for (and land) a starting gig somewhere.

The qualifying offer is reportedly set $17.9M this winter and it will have zero impact on the Yankees

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Two of these three are free agents. (Stephen Brashear/Getty)

No later than three weeks from yesterday, free agency will open and the 2018-19 offseason will really get underway. Well, at least in theory. MLB free agency tends to be slow-moving — that was especially true last winter — whereas other sports see a big rush of signings on Day One. Much like the MLB season, MLB free agency is a marathon, not a sprint.

According to both Joel Sherman and Buster Olney, the qualifying offer has been set at $17.9M for the upcoming offseason. That is up slightly from $17.4M last offseason. As a reminder, the qualifying offer is a one-year contract worth the average of the top 125 salaries in baseball. Teams must make a free agent the qualifying offer to receive draft pick compensation should he sign elsewhere.

The Yankees have a small army of players due to becoming free agents this winter — eight players on their ALCS roster will be free agents and a ninth has an option — and, despite that, the qualifying offer will be a non-factor for them. None of those eight (or nine) players will get a qualifying offer. We can drop them into one of three buckets.

Not Eligible For The Qualifying Offer

  • Zach Britton
  • J.A. Happ
  • Adeiny Hechavarria
  • Lance Lynn
  • Andrew McCutchen
  • David Robertson
  • Neil Walker

A player must spend the entire regular season with his team to be eligible for the qualifying offer. Britton, Happ, Hechavarria, Lynn, and McCutchen all came over in midseason trades and thus can not receive the qualifying offer. Britton, Happ, and McCutchen would’ve been qualifying offer candidates otherwise. Hechavarria and Lynn wouldn’t have received the qualifying offer even if eligible. Their production doesn’t warrant it.

Also, thanks to the latest Collective Bargaining Agreement, players can only receive the qualifying offer once in their careers. The Yankees made Robertson the qualifying offer during the 2014-15 offseason and the Mets made Walker the qualifying offer during the 2016-17 offseason. Robertson rejected the qualifying offer and the Yankees received a draft pick, which they used on Kyle Holder, when he signed with the White Sox. Walker accepted the qualifying offer and returned to the Mets. Anyway, because they received the qualifying offer previously, Robertson and Walker are not eligible to receive it this winter despite spending the entire year in pinstripes.

Not Getting The Qualifying Offer

  • CC Sabathia

Sabathia is indeed eligible for the qualifying offer. He spent the entirety of this past season with the Yankees and he’s never received the qualifying offer before. Back when Sabathia first signed with the Yankees, the old Elias Type-A/Type-B free agent compensation system ruled the land. CC is eligible for the qualifying offer this winter.

That said, the Yankees are not giving Sabathia the qualifying offer. They didn’t give him one last offseason and there’s no reason to give him one this offseason. Sabathia would take that one-year, $17.9M contract in a heartbeat. He made $10M this season and, regardless of whether he re-signs with the Yankees or heads elsewhere, he figures to sign a similar one-year contract worth $10M-ish this winter. Sabathia’s no longer worth $17.9M a year. He’d take the qualifying offer. No doubt about it.

The Option Decision

  • Brett Gardner

Gardner has never been a free agent in his career and he might get the opportunity this winter. The Yankees hold a $12.5M club option on Gardner for next season — the option includes a $2M buyout, so it is effectively a $10.5M decision — and, if they decline the option, they’re not going to make him the qualifying offer. They wouldn’t pass on bringing him back for $12.5M only to give him a $17.9M offer, you know? Gardner would take the qualifying offer. Looking for more guaranteed money as a free agent, even spread across two or three years, would be pushing it.

* * *

The Yankees won’t tender any of their free agents the qualifying offer, but, in all likelihood, they’re going to win up signing a qualifying free agent. Bryce Harper? Patrick Corbin? Adam Ottavino? I don’t know, but someone. (Manny Machado was traded at midseason and is ineligible for the qualifying offer.) Here are the compensation rules for teams that sign a qualified free agent:

  • Signing team receives revenue sharing money: Forfeits their third highest draft pick.
  • Signing team paid luxury tax during most recent season: Forfeits second and fifth highest draft picks, plus $1M in international bonus money.
  • All other teams: Forfeit second highest draft pick plus $500,000 in international bonus money.

The Yankees sure as heck don’t receive revenue sharing money — they pay more into revenue sharing than any other team — and they successfully avoided paying luxury tax in 2018, which means they fall into the “all other teams” bracket. They’ll give up their second highest draft pick plus $500,000 in bonus money for the 2019-20 international signing period for every qualified free agent. All first round picks are protected now.

The new free agent compensation rules are pretty lax these days — that is especially true now that the Yankees avoided paying luxury tax — and I can’t see how giving up your second highest draft pick and $500,000 in international bonus money would stop the Yankees from signing a qualifying free agent. Back in the day teams had to weigh giving up their first round pick to sign a mid-range guy. Now only the best of the best get the qualifying offer and you get to keep your first round pick. Free agent compensation is no real concern now.

Even with all those impending free agents, the Yankees do not have a qualifying offer candidate this offseason — only four of their nine possible free agents are even eligible for the qualifying offer — and the penalties to sign a qualified free agent are not harsh at all. If the Yankees don’t sign any of their final year arbitration-eligibles long-term this winter, they’ll have several qualifying offer candidates next season. This year though, nothing. The Yankees won’t gain any extra draft picks. They could lose some non-first rounders, however, and that is not a big deal.

Yankees and Red Sox announce 2018 ALDS rosters

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(Getty)

This morning was the deadline for the Yankees and Red Sox to submit their 25-man ALDS rosters to MLB, and, shortly thereafter, the two clubs announced them officially. Yesterday Aaron Boone more or less confirmed the entire roster and it is as expected. No surprises.

Here is each team’s 25-man active roster for the ALDS, which begins later tonight:

NEW YORK YANKEES

Pitchers (12)
RHP Dellin Betances
LHP Zach Britton
LHP Aroldis Chapman
RHP Chad Green
LHP J.A. Happ (Game 1 starter)
RHP Jonathan Holder
RHP Lance Lynn
RHP David Robertson
LHP CC Sabathia
RHP Luis Severino
RHP Masahiro Tanaka (Game 2 starter)
LHP Stephen Tarpley

Catchers (2)
Austin Romine
Gary Sanchez

Infielders (6)
Miguel Andujar
Didi Gregorius
Adeiny Hechavarria
Gleyber Torres
Luke Voit
Neil Walker

Outfielders (5)
Brett Gardner
Aaron Hicks
Aaron Judge
Andrew McCutchen
Giancarlo Stanton

BOSTON RED SOX

Pitchers (11)
RHP Matt Barnes
RHP Ryan Brasier
RHP Nathan Eovaldi (Game 4 starter)
RHP Joe Kelly
RHP Craig Kimbrel
RHP Rick Porcello (Game 3 starter)
LHP David Price (Game 2 starter)
LHP Eduardo Rodriguez
LHP Chris Sale (Game 1 starter)
RHP Brandon Workman
RHP Steven Wright

Catchers (3)
Sandy Leon
Blake Swihart (UTIL)
Christian Vazquez

Infielders (7)
Xander Bogaerts
Rafael Devers
Brock Holt (IF/OF)
Ian Kinsler
Mitch Moreland
Eduardo Nunez
Steve Pearce (1B/OF)

Outfielders (4)
Andrew Benintendi
Mookie Betts
Jackie Bradley Jr.
J.D. Martinez

The Yankees dropped Kyle Higashioka and Tyler Wade from their Wild Card Game roster and added Sabathia and Tarpley. They’re carrying four starters, eight relievers, and a four-man bench. Normally, eight relievers in a postseason series is overkill, especially since they’re not going to play more than two days in a row. Yanks vs. Sox games tend to get wild though. The extra reliever could come in handy.

The five-man bench: Gardner, Hechavarria, Romine, and Walker. It’s worth noting Gardner (left field), Hechavarria (third base), and Walker (first base) all came in for defense in the late innings of the Wild Card Game. I wonder if that will continue to be the case going forward. I guess it depends on the score. The Yankees might hold Gardner back for a pinch-running situation in a close game. We’ll see.

Middle relief has been a season-long problem for the Red Sox and they’re going to try to patch that up with Rodriguez this postseason. Also, Eovaldi was told to prepare to pitch in relief in Game One. Wright is a starter by trade as well. Red Sox manager Alex Cora was the Astros bench coach last year, when they expertly used starters like Lance McCullers, Brad Peacock, and Charlie Morton in relief in the postseason. I suspect he’ll look to do the same with the Red Sox this year.

ALDS Game One begins tonight at 7:30pm ET. As expected, the Yankees and Red Sox games drew the primetime slots. All five ALDS games will begin somewhere between 7:30pm ET and 8:10pm ET. The entire series will be broadcast on TBS.

Yankees, Athletics announce 2018 Wild Card Game rosters

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(Presswire)

Earlier this morning both the Yankees and Athletics announced their 25-man active rosters for tonight’s AL Wild Card Game. We were able to piece together the Yankees’ roster based on information from yesterday’s workout. The roster is as expected. No surprises.

Here are the two 25-man rosters for tonight’s winner-take-all game. Turns out I did a pretty good job projecting it last week:

NEW YORK YANKEES

Pitchers (10)
RHP Dellin Betances
LHP Zach Britton
LHP Aroldis Chapman
RHP Chad Green
LHP J.A. Happ
RHP Jonathan Holder
RHP Lance Lynn
RHP David Robertson
RHP Luis Severino
RHP Masahiro Tanaka

Catchers (3)
Kyle Higashioka
Austin Romine
Gary Sanchez

Infielders (7)
Miguel Andujar
Didi Gregorius
Adeiny Hechavarria
Gleyber Torres
Luke Voit
Tyler Wade
Neil Walker

Outfielders (5)
Brett Gardner
Aaron Hicks
Aaron Judge
Andrew McCutchen
Giancarlo Stanton

OAKLAND ATHLETICS

Pitchers (11)
LHP Ryan Buchter
RHP Jeurys Familia
RHP Liam Hendriks
RHP Edwin Jackson
RHP Shawn Kelley
RHP Emilio Pagan
RHP Yusmeiro Petit
RHP Fernando Rodney
RHP Blake Treinen
RHP Lou Trivino
RHP J.B. Wendelken

Catchers (2)
Jonathan Lucroy
Josh Phegley

Infielders (6)
Franklin Barreto
Matt Chapman
Jed Lowrie
Matt Olson
Chad Pinder (IF/OF)
Marcus Semien

Outfielders (6)
Mark Canha (1B/OF)
Khris Davis
Matt Joyce
Ramon Laureano
Nick Martini
Stephen Piscotty

Notably absent: Greg Bird, CC Sabathia, and Stephen Tarpley. Sabathia being excluded from the roster isn’t a surprise. At this point, he’s not one of the ten best pitchers on the staff, especially when you consider he’d have to pitch in an unfamiliar relief role. Tarpley was said to be in the mix for a bullpen spot. Ultimately, the A’s only have one hitter (Olson) who needs a left-on-left specialist, and he’d be pinch-hit for instantly by Canha, a lefty crusher. Tarpley didn’t have much of a purpose.

As for Bird, I am a bit surprised he’s not on the Wild Card Game roster only because the Yankees love him. That said, he hasn’t hit at all this season, and he offers no defensive versatility or baserunning value. His only role would be as a pinch-hitting option who could maybe park one in the short porch, and who’s getting lifted for a pinch-hitter? No one in the starting lineup. The Yankees opted for Wade (pinch-runner) and Hechavarria (Andujar’s defensive caddy) over Bird. Can’t blame them.

The Athletics are really going all in on the bullpen game, huh? Jackson is the only actual starting pitcher on the roster and I assume he is their emergency extra innings guy. Their bench is sneaky good. Canha crushes lefties and Joyce is a fine lefty platoon bat who could take aim at the right field porch. Pinder, a right-handed hitter, hit 13 homers with a 111 wRC+ as a part-timer this year, and he played every position other than pitcher and catcher. A’s manager Bob Melvin could get creative with his bench.

Severino and Hendriks (an opener) are starting the Wild Card Game tonight. The game is scheduled to begin a little after 8pm ET and it’ll be broadcast on TBS. Winner moves on to play the Red Sox in the ALDS. Loser goes home.

Yankeemetrics: Smackdown at Tropicana Field (Sept. 24-27)

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(AP)

Battle of the Bullpens
In an series-opening “bullpen game”, the Yankees gave the Rays a taste of their own medicine with a 4-1 win on Monday. They used eight pitchers to get 27 outs and the results were bueno: two hits, one run and 13 strikeouts.

Sonny Gray was the lone guy that went more than one inning, and he also was the only one that allowed a hit while surrendering the one run. So we had seven pitchers who didn’t give up a hit … sounds like a #FunFact! Yes, the seven “hitless” pitchers is a franchise record for a single game.

And when you add in the fact that each of those seven guys went at least one inning … the Yankees are just the second team in MLB history to have at least seven players allow no hits while each pitching at least one inning in a game. Unsurprisingly, the only other instance came this season — two weeks prior to Monday’s game — when the Angels did it against the Rangers on September 11.

The other important statistical note from this game came in the eighth when Dellin Betances tossed a perfect frame with two groundouts and popout. What, no strikeout? Slacker, Dellin. That snapped his 44-game streak with at least one punchout, the longest streak by a relief pitcher in AL history, and one game shy of the second-longest single-season streak in MLB history set last year by Brewers reliever Corey Knebel. During the streak he struck out 44 percent of the batters he faced and had more than three times as many strikeouts as hits allowed.

El Kracken is Awaken
Gary Sanchez’s bat woke up momentarily on Tuesday, fueling a 9-2 win that moved the Yankees to 37 games above .500, a season-high mark and their most games above the redline since the end of the 2009 regular season (44 games, 103-59).

Sanchez was on base three times, with a walk, home run and a single, and drove in a season-high-tying four runs. Prior to this game, he had just six RBI in 19 games since coming off the DL on September 1.

(AP)

There is no sugar-coating Sanchez’s awful season, but there is one glimmer of optimism if you squint really hard. On the rare occasion that he does get a hit, he makes it count. With his homer on Tuesday, an astounding 56.9 percent (33 of 58) of his hits have gone for extra-bases. That would be the third-highest rate of extra-base hits per hit among the more than 1,000 player-seasons in Yankees history with at least 300 plate appearances. The two ahead of him: Babe Ruth in 1920 (57.6%) and Babe Ruth in 1921 (58.3%).

Luis Severino had a good-but-not-great outing, but he did provide a nice record-breaking note for us Yankeemetricians: His seven strikeouts gave him 450 since the start of 2017, the most ever by a Yankee pitcher in a two-season span. The previous record was set by Ron Guidry, when he struck out 449 guys spanning the 1978-79 seasons.

(USA Today)

Seven is not enough
On the verge of inching closer to homefield advantage in the Wild Card Game next week, the Yankees delivered one of their patented “snatch defeat from the jaws of victory” games, losing 8-7 on Wednesday after blowing an early 3-0 lead.

Neil Walker put the Yankees on the board first, drilling a three-run homer in the top of the opening frame. After hitting three homers in his first 73 games (225 at-bats), he has eight homers in his last 38 games (116 at-bats). Each of his last five homers have given the Yankees a lead:

David Robertson put the game out of reach when he suffered a rare meltdown in the eighth inning, allowing five of the six batters he faced to reach base, with four of them coming around to score. It’s the first time in more than eight years that he allowed at least four runs while getting no more than one out in a game. That last time he did that was April 13, 2010 against the Angels; and the only other time he did it in his career was during his first month in the big leagues, on July 28, 2008 against the Orioles.

(AP)

Blowout wins are awesome
The Yankees capped off the series in Tampa with an ultra-satisfying 12-1 rout on Thursday, winning their first series at Tropicana Field in two years (September 20-22, 2016).

The bats exploded for 13 hits, including four #toomanyhomers, increasing their season total to 260 dingers. That’s tied with the 2005 Rangers for the second-most in a single season in MLB history and four shy of the record held by the 1997 Mariners. Now they get a chance to break the record this weekend … three games at Fenway … oh how sweet that would be.

They pounded the Rays early and often, racing out to an early 4-0 lead thanks to a #MiggyMantle three-run homer in the top of the first inning, his 27th of the season. It also gave him 90 RBI, and combined with his 43 doubles, he has put himself in some elite company. Andujar is one of seven rookies in MLB history to reach each of those totals — 90 RBI, 43 doubles and 27 homers — in a season:

  • Miguel Andujar (2018)
  • Albert Pujols (2001)
  • Nomar Garciaparra (1997)
  • Tony Oliva (1964)
  • Ted Williams (1939)
  • Joe DiMaggio (1936)
  • Hal Trosky (1934)

The Rookie of the Year award was first handed out in 1947; Pujols, Garciappara and Oliva — the other three besides Andujar to make this list since 1947 — each took home the ROY trophy in those years.

CC Sabathia delivered a masterful vintage performance in (probably) his final appearance of the regular season. He allowed one hit while striking out five over five scoreless innings, before getting ejected in the sixth following a revenge-plunking of Rays catcher Jesus Sucre. That lowered his ERA to 3.65 and upped his strikeout total to 140 this year. Only three other pitchers Yankee history have finished with that many strikeouts and that low an ERA in their age-37 season or older: Roger Clemens (2001), Mike Mussina (2006, 2008) and Hiroki Kuroda (2012, 2013).