January 12, 2025 • 30 mins
EJ and John talk about a ton of potential Yankee infielders: Kim, DeJong, Rodgers, Donovan, Bohm and more.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:14):
Hello, Welcome to episode four thirty six of the brox
Beed podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
I'm e J.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Fagan today joined by John Nielsen. John, how are you well?
Speaker 2 (00:22):
You J? Happy New Year.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Happy New Year to you too. It's nice to be back.
I'm back here in Chicago recording from the good microphone,
the good studio. So if there are any audio problems before,
I'm sorry, Hopefully those will be over. We're back in
episode four thirty six. Four thirty five was almost a
month ago. We had some emergency podcast But since those
emergency podcasts, frankly, not a lot has happened, and so
(00:45):
I've been I've been trying to kind of use the
off season as a break right now, but it seems
like the Yankees are still trying to make their last
move for the infield and and kind of shore up
the rest of this team. And we're going to talk
about some of those rumors also. So we have some rumors,
and we have some players that we'd like to talk
about that aren't yet rumored but would be would be
(01:08):
kind of interesting. And so let's start off with the
players that we actually have, you know, MLB trade rumors
post connecting them to and the first being Paul DeJong,
former Cardinals shortstop. I forget where he played last year,
didn't have a great year, didn't have a great year
last year, but has best year in a while, hit
twenty four home runs. If I told you Paul DeJong
is your second or third baseman, how do you feel
(01:29):
about that?
Speaker 2 (01:31):
I would be running for the exits. No, thank you
very much would be my general response to that.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Yeah, I agree, Like to me, like the quite the
ultimate question here we have to like frame this around
is is this better than in Oswaldo Oswaldo pro platoon?
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Right? Like, Yeah, I'm convinced it's not. E J. I
think Paul DeJong has primarily played shortstop. I think we
played some third base last year, but he's primarily been
a short stop. He's over thirty. I think he's thirty
one or thirty two this coming year. And I don't
think he's better than you know, the le Mayhews and
(02:08):
the careers and the piaz is already in front of you.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Yeah, I mean if you look at his stats, like
he hit twenty four home runs, but he he clearly
was just like closing his eyes and swing swing like
he he he has this you know, terrible strikeout right
and one of the worst square uprights in the majors.
Bad walk rate, big whiff rate, like it does not
feel sustainable to me. Like I think on the White
Sox you can do that because you're not really being
(02:32):
you know, followed very closely and so you know, teams
aren't really game planning against you. But when when your
strategy is basically swing at everything, I swing hard at everything, like,
I just don't. I don't. I don't see that as
as sustainable. And this is guy who basically only had
a couple of good years when the ball was used
and since then has been a pretty bad hitter. I
(02:54):
mean not just pretty bad, it's been an awful hitter.
He has six thirteen oh ps and twenty twenty three
five thirty one in two. The defense is fine, but
like Oswaldo, prosi complete defense and might be able to
hit better than that. And so yeah, I agree with you,
and I pass. The other guy I think is more interesting.
(03:14):
And we can talk a little bit more about Jorge Planco,
longtime twin. I was on the Mariners last year. He's
a free agent. Now. We do have a rumor connecting
the Yankees to planco. What do you think He's.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Been a genuine offensive force over his career? However, I
think he's been pretty prone to injury, and that is
a concern as well. He's on the north side of thirty.
I think he's this would be his age thirty one
season this coming year, and last year he had an
(03:48):
OPS of ninety three and OPS plus ninety three, So
he's going to give you a little below average offense.
It's a better solution than DeJong, but not much better
in my view. Again, and it competes with the options
they already have inside the organization.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
Yeah, you can see the upside right if you told
me he was going to be the hitter he was
from twenty one to twenty three, like sure, Like even
if the defense is really bad, which it is, like that,
that's a player who you can imagine hitting high in
the lineup and the Yankees are still kind of short
a guy to bat in front of judge.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Well, I'll ad this, Eju. He's primarily been a second
baseman throughout his career as well. I really think the
best defense the Yankees can put on the field has
Jazz Chisholm at second base. So I prefer a specialist
at third.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
I agree. And you know, even if you know you're
okay with Jazz at third, if you if you accept
that the second base is a better position for him,
you're not only getting a bad second basement in planco,
but you're taking a down grade at third base exactly.
And so like like to me, like I I get
real glabor tourist vibes from hist line, just like not
very good at at anything other than just kind of
(04:59):
putting bat in the ball. And you know, I think
that the Yankees can do better. And you're right that
he's got he's injury prone. You know, he's just he's
a true switch hitter. He hits both sides pretty well.
I think so that that's nice. And you know, if
you told me tomorrow the Yankees signed him, I think
I think I'd be like I convinced myself to be
excited just because he has a bat with with real potential.
(05:21):
But I also think, like at his age, as a
middle infielder without a ton of athleticism, like I think
he could just be like on the sharp side of
the agent curve.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
Yeah, I think he's on I think he's on the
back nine from my standpoint, and the injury issue has
been one that has been a concern for past Yankee teams.
It's important that you're available just as much as you
can actually play.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
Yeah, and you know, I'd rather spend his money elsewhere
if you're gonna spend you know, the Planco. Unlike some
of the other guys are talking, you know, DeJong and
the next guy wan't to talk about He's gonna cost
some money. Clabor tor has got fifteen million dollars. I
think Planco gets about that right. He's a little bit
older than Torres, but still a one year d And
so you know, you're basically sealing up the rest of
your budget even if you traded Marcus Stroman if you
(06:07):
sign Hori Planco. Correct.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
He made ten and a half million last year with
US Seattle.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Yeah, and like he's like some team is going to
be willing to pay him a little bit of money,
maybe not a ton of money. But this is a
guy who who up until last year can hit in
Seattle's a bad place to hit. So you understand kind
of kind of why he had a bad year, or
you could you could explain away why he had a
bad year. Maybe maybe there's no physical stuff behind that
that that's less curable. So, like I I I'm skeptical
(06:34):
that they're gonna go out and sign him because I
think it's it feels like they're they're searching for a
cheaper guy. We're talking about Paul DeJong, We're talking about
Brendan Rodgers, you know, some of the trade candidates. We're
talking about a small salary and and I don't think
Polanco is going to command something that cheap. I do
think that Brendan Rodgers could be pretty cheap. Yes, I agree.
(06:55):
I also think like it's weird he's the lowest ceiling
player of the three here, I think, like the worst
baseball player of the three, like career wise, But I
also think he makes the most sense. He's a he's
a shortstop, second baseman for Colorado. He used to be
a top prop. But he's one of those like fantasy
baseball guys years ago that that at least in my
(07:15):
diasty league. I think I picked up at one point
because why not. He's on Colorado and his stats are bad,
Like the stats are are like a little bit better
than Oswalda Cabrera at everything, but nothing, there's like nothing
in his profile. That's that's good. He's not a good defender,
he's not fast, he doesn't really hit for contact. But
the one thing he does really well is he hit lefties.
(07:37):
And I could imagine him basically being an upgrade over
Osweald Parrazza in a platoon with Cabrera, even if he's
less versatile. He's not as good defender, he's not as fast,
he doesn't play any positions. But I just feel like
he would be the one guy we're talking about here
that for a cheap price, I can imagine playing a
real role on the Yankees bench.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
He's a pretty good defender, not Gold Glove quality, but
I think passable enough that he would be a definite
improvement over Glabor Torus at second And he has some
legit experience at third base, I believe as well, although
I think it's mostly been second base, so you're back
(08:19):
in that dynamic of that's having Jazz play third. I
guess I'd be a little bit excited about Brendan Rodgers,
just from the standpoint that you'd have a quality a
defender at second base wouldn't.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
Be I mean, quality is stretching it a little bit.
I mean, he is a below average defender. He's just
not nearly as bad as Torres or Polanco. Okay, he
was I believe in minus three outs above average last year.
I think he's been better in the past. But he's
also played shortstop and which I think he's a not
great short stop, maybe a better second baseman. But like
(08:53):
I don't want to let you know, he is a
dead defensive downgrade from either Carbrera or Poraza. I think
just he can. He's a he has a proven bad
whereas like the theory behind Parazza is that he has
he has left these basically in the minors, he has
hit left these pretty well.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Yeah, Rogers, Rogers ops is down in that ninety range
career wise, He's he's a below average hitter and he's
been hitting at altitude for his whole career.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Yeah, that that's a weird one though, right, Like sometimes
Coors has a weird effect on hitters, Like if you
look at his his like home run waist splits, They're gigantic,
but also there's like the court hangover effect and all that.
So like I could imagine I can imagine Rogers is
being like a change of senior guy. But uh, those
(09:41):
are the three guys that they've actually been connected to.
Correct me if I'm wrong. I don't believe that any
any of the other guys that we're going to talk
about have actually had like a rumor where the Yankees
are interested. There's a there's a reporting that the Yankees
are interested in. There's just kind of speculation and and
kind of you know, taking a lay of the lane.
I'm trying to figure out who who the Yankees might
(10:02):
be able to trade trade for. I will say the
Luise a Ria's rumors, which were happening in between podcast episodes,
have had some serious cold water thrown on them. But
the Yankees were talking about Louise Arias in November and
not since, and so I don't I don't think that's
something kind of that's on the table.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
I think the only spot that Arise can actually not
be a huge defensive liability is first base, and you've
you've already filled that with the gold Schmidt shining. I
don't see where you go with the Rise. He's just
a terrible defender.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
And I mean, if Stanton didn't exist, I'd love him
as a DH.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
He's a great contact hitter and he would be an
on base presence, he'd give the Yankees a leadoff hitter.
That would be a little more obvious. But I don't
see he's got that. He's got a spot to play
on the field. There's there's not a DH spot open
with Stanton, and where else do you slot them?
Speaker 1 (10:52):
I mean, like, if you magically got him tomorrow, I
think he might. I think I might entertain the idea
of him dhing a lot and Stanton sitting. But that's
that's a that's not gonna happen. I don't I don't
think they're gonna sit standon and and uh, regardless, it
doesn't sound like that that a trade is in the cards.
(11:13):
So let's uh, let's talk about some of You gave
me a list of some other players that they might consider,
So let's go with the first free agent, uh, the
only free agent left or on on this list. And
we we talked about Bregman and you know, and uh
and Ernato and some of those guys. But but the
one guy, one guy we haven't talked about a lot
(11:33):
is High Song Kim. You might not know him. He's
a West Coast National leaguer. So he played with the
with the Padres had a shoulder injury that's gonna put
him out till I think may something like that. Tell
me about him, Tell me about about Kim Hasong.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Kim is a right handed hitter. He's not big. He's
like five eight five nine, about one hundred and sixty
five pounds. He's a primarily been a short stop, and
he's a plus short stop. He's also a plus second
basement and he's a plus third baseman. So he's got
some defensive versatility and he plays all those positions, not
just able to play them, play them at a high level.
(12:10):
So I like him with this idea of pitching and defense,
and he's a good enough hitter career ops in ninety
nine last year ninety six. He does have a shoulder injury,
so it would allow you to dabble with a Cabrera Pirazza,
Lemayhew combination of some kind for the first month or
two of the season. But if you could sign him
(12:32):
for two or three years at I'm just throwing on
a number ten million, nine million something like that, I
think he would be a very strong addition, and you
give you a lot of flexibility to move him around
the diamond and slot Jazz Chisholm ideally in my mind
at second base.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
Yeah, I don't hate it. Yeah, I think I think
that Kim is not a great hair. He is not
a terrible hitter. Like I think of him as kind
of a more contact oriented Anthony Volpi. So he's got
the defensive ability, he's you know, he had a three
to fifty one on base in twenty twenty three, so
(13:11):
like there's something there, but is mostly a guy who's
going to give you value through base running and defense
because he gets on bassist a little bit more than Volpi.
He has more stolen based opportunities. He had thirty eight
steals in twenty twenty three, and just has played really
good defense in a lot of places. Right, He's got
really he played really good defense in twenty two at shortstop,
(13:33):
played really good defense at second base in twenty three,
really good at third base, at shortstop. You know, like
he's a guy that that gives you a lot of
those options and adds like an element like he's essentially
actually he's the better version of Ozwal Parazza, right, Like
like that that's the player you want Paraza to evolve into.
(13:53):
And you know, I'm just gonna check his splits right now.
I'm actually curious if he has lefty right he splitz
to be not yeat he does. He does, so he's
better against lefties, which is something the Yankees might need,
is a right handed HITTERR. Yeah, you know, I can
imagine being your leadoff guy against lefties. I really, honestly,
I haven't thought about him until you mentioned him. I
kind of like it.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
He is a free agent, and all it costs is money.
He would not be top shelf free agent talent from
the standpoint you'd have to break the bank to get him.
I just think he's an intriguing option and probably has
a little bit of a down market because he's not
going to be able to play beginning in late March.
He'll be a month or two of the season before
he's ready to go.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
Yeah. That does have me a little nervous, right that
you end up you know, he gets a setback and
all of a sudden it's June. Yeah, like I could
imagine that being the case that see does he He's
been pretty healthy throughout his career, so at least there's that. Yeah,
you know, I'm intrigued. I like the idea. I think that.
I'm a little surprised he has to sign a contract
(14:54):
by at this point because.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
Of working off a Baseball reference twenty twenty three. You
know a year a year ago he was had a
five point eight war. Yeah at four point nine, those
those are really strong contributions. I'm thinking Scott brocious during
the really good years of Scott Brochies. That goes back.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
Away, and I'm really curious about what contract he's going
to command, right, I mean here, you're right, he's going
to start the season injured, but he's only gonna be
twenty nine years old. Hasn't slowed down like even last
year with you know, batting battling an injury, not having
a great offensive year, he was almost a three win player.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
So he runs circles around both Polanco and who is
the other guy we're talking about.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
He's a much better player than any of those guys, right,
like young or anything like that. Like the question for
the question is like one, does he want to sign
on like say, the East Coast, Right, Yeah, a lot
of Asian players they want to sign the West Coast
because the times on difference is a little bit better,
their family can watch games, and how much money is
he in the is there money room from in the budget?
(15:56):
Part of me is convinced the Yankees are kind of
waiting right now to see one if they can trade Stroman.
And we got another rumor from John Hayman. Basically, the
Yankees are willing to pay down some money of Stroman's contract.
I have no idea if they weren't willing to pay
down some money of his contract earlier. But they're trying
to find a taker for Stroman to free up some money.
And I think they might be waiting to see about
Rookie Sasaki because if Sasaki signs, then all of a sudden,
(16:18):
maybe you can trade a Schmidt or or a Gill
or a Heel or something like that to to to
to bring another to bring in another player. So and
maybe one of the other places we're gonna talk about
here is one of one of those potential guys. So yeah,
I'm I'm intrigued, right I. I I think Kim. I
would have said before I kind of thought hard about it,
(16:39):
that Kim wasn't really an option, And now I think
I could see Kim as a Yankee.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
What about and you live in Chicago, eg, if I'm
not mistaken. What about an old White Soak Moncada. Is
he an option?
Speaker 1 (16:52):
I mean I kind of put him in the same
bucket as the other guys we talked about, like he's
he is a bounce back candidate, and I think that
for I think that the place that he needs to
land is a non contending team and then maybe get
traded to the Yankees of the deadline. I don't think
the Yankees can risk seeing if he's healthy, right, He's
(17:15):
a guy who has not played much in the last
few years. When he's played on the field, he's been okay.
But I think that he's gonna end up on like
you know, the pick a team and uh yeah, Pittsburgh
and then be an option of the deadline.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
Yep, switch hitter, pretty good stick when healthy, but he's
had three years in a row where he's not been
able to sustain a season. I think he only got
forty or fifty at bats last year.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
And the White Sox have been so bad that, like
you can imagine them there being a story there that
where he gets better when he leaves. But again, like
I I think that he's got to end up out
a place that can guarantee him starting playing time and
just kind of roll him out there no matter what
to the go to the right and see what happened
to go to Toronto or something like that, and the Yankees,
(18:06):
I think then would maybe you know, he's a guy
that you can imagine them acquiring on a one year deal.
Let's move on to talk about Alec Boem Philly former
top top like top top prospect who's kind of had it,
had struggled a little bit with with the Phillies, had
a really strong first half, had a less good second half.
Right handed hitter, has been rumored to be available, though
(18:26):
we haven't heard any real concrete trade rumors. What's the
case for bom.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
Boom is a solid defender. He's actually even better defensively
at first base as I understand it, but a solid
third baseman, a lot of experience there. It would be
a fit you get Jazz Chisholm to second. He's still young,
He'll be twenty eight this coming season. He had an
ops plus of a one seventeen last year, very respectable,
(18:54):
suggesting fifteen to twenty percent above average bat. I would
think he would be very attractive. Does not have an
injury history. He's had over six hundred plate appearances each
of the last three years. I'd love me Smellick Bom.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
I agree. I think the question is is he available
at what cost? Like I don't really understand why the
Phillies want to trade him, Like he's he's just a
good he's a good third baseman. He's under team control
for two years. He's not that expensive. You know, He's
a guy who's had his talent and so when he
finally had a really good year last year, he kind
of understood it. And like, I guess they're selling high.
(19:35):
Like I really don't understand why he's available. But he
can hit for contact, right he has a little bit
of power. Sounds his swing doesn't look like it's great
in Yankee Stadium, but maybe, you know, the lost home
runs will turn into more doubles with the big with
the big left field. You know, even if he ends
up in his twenty twenty three form, which was you know,
(19:57):
not great, but that was mostly because of defense, he
gets hit and you know, maybe maybe the defensive progress
is realized. I don't really know enough, you know, to
explain why his defense suddenly got got pretty good. But yeah,
I'd be up for Alcbaulm. I I've heard. I forget
the rumor, but like the Phillies were asking for a
king's ransom form and so teams guy said, no, we're
(20:19):
not paying that much for Aloc Baulm. We don't think
he's that good and so maybe the Phillies were just
trying to sell high.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
Yeah, but it's a sell high strategy. We're not going
to go down that road. But if he could be had,
and again you can talk about different prospects that could
go the Phillies way, But if he could be had
for a couple of prospects, I might be willing to
make that trade and give give Bowman opportunity to what
a long term contract.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
Here's the fun one. We talked about this guy a
year ago as when the Aggies were desperate for left
handed hitting Brendan Donovan, who I guess is now playing
outweait he's listened as an outfielder on stackas what do
you played last year?
Speaker 2 (20:56):
He played all over but I think second, third.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Play and really really good numbers at second base last
year and kind of average numbers before that. Left handed hitter,
really good hitter. What's the case for Donovan?
Speaker 2 (21:10):
Uh? Again, in this case, a plus defender, Uh can
do either second or third. So you can look at
jazz and figure out where to slat jazz and where
where you play. Brendon Donovan left handed bat, which I
think could help. I think he's a potential patrol.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
He's a pull he's a pull hitter too, left handed bat.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
Yeah, so sharp porch and right helps. And I think
he could manage a leadoff spot. He's got a very
strong on base percentage profile historically.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
Yeah, I agree, if you could, you know, shake him
loose mccardinals, I think he makes a lot of sense.
I just don't know how you shake him loose mccardinals.
Like Gues, he's another guy I don't really see. I mean,
you mentioned that when we talked before the show that
maybe the Cardinals and him have some bad blood.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
Right now, the uh, what i'd read online was a
John Hayman article. Someone reputable had indicated that they'd been
unable to grant a long term contract and they were
headed to arbitration, potentially a opportunity for the Yankees to
jump in if that goes awry.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
Yeah, Look, the Carlos are rebuilding and so for the
same reason they want to trade er or not, or
maybe they want to write a guy they can't extend.
So yeah, you know, if he's available, we haven't seen
maybe rumors other than that kind of that speculation you
just mentioned, But yeah, I think he would be I
think he would be a leadoff hitter if you were
to trade for him, I think he would be, you know,
the one of the better hitters on the team pretty much.
(22:37):
I mean, this is a guy with a three sixty
four career on base. Put him in front of judges,
a lefty, and I think you're pretty happy.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
One sixteen ops plus last year, one twelve historically, so
definitely above average hitter. Most of that's focused on getting
on base.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
Yeah, he's twice seven years old, he's he's a good
contact hitter. Stackcast says he would have hit five more
home runs in Yankee Stadium last year, just like over
just like I just just like a really solid player
and a guy who'd be under control for a while.
You know, one thing about this roster is the Yankees
kind of have like a window. There's a lot they've again,
(23:11):
just like last year, like a lot of players whose
contracts are are are expiring. You're gonna have over the
next couple of years. You're gonna get chisholm uh leaving
the team. You're gonna get Bellinger leaving the team. You're
gonna get Paul gold Schmidt leaving the team. You're going to,
I mean lose some guys like you know, like LeMay
who which may be happy to lose, you know, but
(23:33):
Schmidt Stroman if he sticks around, Devin Williams right, like,
just a lot of guys that will will need to
be replaced. And Brendan Donovan is on a slightly longer
term deal. It's why he'll be more expensive like of
the guys we've talked about here, Like he's the guy
I think I can imagine them like giving a getting
a pretty good giving up a pretty good package for
(23:56):
I don't know, like Spencer Jones level deal, but like
something like that.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
I would I would give up Spencer Jones in a
heartbeat to get Brendan Donovan.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
He's I mean, you're going to talk about prospects in
about a month or so, once all the lists starts
stopped coming start coming out, and I think both of
us will be willing to give up Spencer Jones for
for less for not that much. But I think I
actually Brendan Donovan would be interesting if you ended up
getting a Roki Sasaki because I could imagine like Louis
(24:26):
Heel for Brendan Donovan something like that. That'd be a
fun trade.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
Uh that that would open some doors for sure, if
not Clark Schmidt or like you say, moving on with Stroman.
I think Stroman's contract is really the the hurdle right now.
It's it's going to require the Yankees to take on
some of that contract to move him.
Speaker 1 (24:45):
Yeah, And I mean their order of operations might mean
that they have to trade Stroman before doing other stuff.
And you never know, like with some of these rumors,
like who they're negotiating against, Like are they are they
leaking that they're interested in these guys because they're negotiating
with somebody else with with you know, the Cardinals over
Ernato or Bragman or whatever, right, Like you could imagine
a lot of guys that they're talking to.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
One other name I wanted to throw out we talked
about this pre podcast is David Fry from the Guardians.
He does offer an interesting profile. He's not a super defender,
but he's got experienced at third base and first base
and the corner outfield spots. But most intriguingly, he has
been a bona fide backup catcher for the Guardians, an
(25:29):
area that the Yankees have some need. It would be
interesting to see if they could add him to the
roster as well.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
I'm very skeptical that Alex Jackson is going to be
the first string backup catcher to start the season. I
can imagine Alex Jackson as the guy TRIPAA that you
call up. He was a non roster invitee that when
they trade for him, which is a little weird, but
you know, maybe the REGs need to clear a spot
or something. I don't know, but like, Alex Jackson is
(25:59):
a career one two right like like yeah, and he's
not a great defender and so like I, I I
do not think that he's going to be their backup catcher.
And maybe there's way to see how much money they have.
I think j c Ascara is an interesting but we'll
talk about when we talk about prospects. I think he's
a fascinating player. I have no idea how good he is.
(26:20):
I'm waiting on these off season scattergal ports to tell
me if he can catch, but he can hit, and
you know, he's a twenty nine year old you know
who's playing in the independent leagues and or Mexican League.
I think and and came up and and was you
know has been has basically immediately put himself in major
legue contention. So I I I agree the backup catcher
(26:43):
position is interesting right now. And I don't know what
the Yankees are planning on doing. I don't think it's
Alex Jackson. I can imagine the trading for somebody. I
have a hard time imagining that the Guardians trading David Fry.
Speaker 2 (26:56):
He'd be a valuable at it. He would definitely cost
you something to get him, but interesting combination of having
that skill set to play corner infield, corner outfield, and
a legit catcher.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
Yeah, and I think he'd probably be your third basement
if you traded for him. Yes, more than backup catcher,
because they have J. C. Scara at backup catcher. They
you know, third basis they're still trying to fill. But
I'm I'm gonna I'm just gonna go out and let
me and say I don't I don't think that's gonna happen.
All right, we talked about a lot of players. Let
me get your big picture thoughts before we end, So, like,
what what does it feel like? You know, we have
(27:30):
spring training in a you know, in a month, unless
than a month minus a day, the Yankees pictures and
catchers will be reporting for spring training. So we're getting
down to the wire because opening day is so early
this year. What how does it feel? How does this
last in field spot feel to you? Right now?
Speaker 2 (27:50):
It's a little unnerving to me right now. I think
the Yankees in a prior era, back to the days
of George Steinbrenner, would have already acted and we'd probably
be talking about a different player, whether by trade or
by free agency, probably Bregmant, but quite possibly maybe a
deal for Aeronato. Right now, I sense the Yankees are
(28:14):
using their budget cap basically to allow events to transpire
here and sort of help them make their choice. I
think they're looking for a bargain, and I would prefer
that they strike out a little harder. So big picture,
I would be willing to go give assets to really
(28:37):
solve the second base third base conundrum. You could go
either way. The beauty of jazz Chisholm is it gives
you that complete flexibility. You don't have to have a
second basement, you don't have to have a third baseman.
You got to pick one of them. And I think
the Yankees would be well served to think about winning
titles here and not just having a solution that fits
(28:58):
a budget.
Speaker 1 (28:59):
I mean agree, like there is a budget, right, like
there is a maximum amount of money that that that
you can spend it, and like the Yankees are going
to spend three hundred million dollars. I can't really argue
with that. I think they've spent it kind of smartly
this offseason. And if you get very Stroman, then that
frees up a little bit of money that you could
do something with. But I think that for example, like
asking them to go ahead and get a Bregman, I
(29:20):
get it, Like I think I might be a step
too far. I don't know how expensive he's actually gonna be,
But like I I don't I can't really fault the
Yankees for not not doing that. I it to me
it is clear they're looking for a five million dollar
option right now someone basically because they don't really trust
the oswaldo Oswald. Oswald put right.
Speaker 2 (29:43):
Right, right. I think that you're right, And I'm not
arguing that they should go sign Bregman. I'm more thinking
along the lines of go and get one of these
younger guys that could actually have a future with the team.
A Bomb, a Donovan, a Fry, someone like that is
worth investing some prospects in and they will not break
(30:05):
the bank. Every one of those guys will be under
probably eight.
Speaker 1 (30:07):
Or I just don't know if they have the prospects.
Like when we talk about about farm system stuff, like
the Yankees farm system is a wreck right now, and
I just don't know if they can, like even if
the Cardinals are interested in training Donovan, Like I don't
actually know if the Yankees will be anywhere near the
team that makes the best offer to the Cardinals, because
like they just don't have the guys and without that,
(30:30):
without the chips, you know, you can't make a deal.
All right, Well, we're at thirty minutes. I'm gonna go upstairs,
take care of my baby. John. Thank you so much
for joining me, Everybody, thank you for listening. I've mentioned
a month ago that eventually there's gonna be a change
to the podcast feed that has not happened yet, so
I will let you all know when that happens. For now,
(30:50):
we're still on this feed till I have a little
bit of time to kind of move everything over. Everybody,
thank you for listening. This has been your Bronx Beat
podcast
Hello, Welcome to episode four thirty six of the brox
Beed podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
I'm e J.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Fagan today joined by John Nielsen. John, how are you well?
Speaker 2 (00:22):
You J? Happy New Year.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Happy New Year to you too. It's nice to be back.
I'm back here in Chicago recording from the good microphone,
the good studio. So if there are any audio problems before,
I'm sorry, Hopefully those will be over. We're back in
episode four thirty six. Four thirty five was almost a
month ago. We had some emergency podcast But since those
emergency podcasts, frankly, not a lot has happened, and so
(00:45):
I've been I've been trying to kind of use the
off season as a break right now, but it seems
like the Yankees are still trying to make their last
move for the infield and and kind of shore up
the rest of this team. And we're going to talk
about some of those rumors also. So we have some rumors,
and we have some players that we'd like to talk
about that aren't yet rumored but would be would be
(01:08):
kind of interesting. And so let's start off with the
players that we actually have, you know, MLB trade rumors
post connecting them to and the first being Paul DeJong,
former Cardinals shortstop. I forget where he played last year,
didn't have a great year, didn't have a great year
last year, but has best year in a while, hit
twenty four home runs. If I told you Paul DeJong
is your second or third baseman, how do you feel
(01:29):
about that?
Speaker 2 (01:31):
I would be running for the exits. No, thank you
very much would be my general response to that.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Yeah, I agree, Like to me, like the quite the
ultimate question here we have to like frame this around
is is this better than in Oswaldo Oswaldo pro platoon?
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Right? Like, Yeah, I'm convinced it's not. E J. I
think Paul DeJong has primarily played shortstop. I think we
played some third base last year, but he's primarily been
a short stop. He's over thirty. I think he's thirty
one or thirty two this coming year. And I don't
think he's better than you know, the le Mayhews and
(02:08):
the careers and the piaz is already in front of you.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Yeah, I mean if you look at his stats, like
he hit twenty four home runs, but he he clearly
was just like closing his eyes and swing swing like
he he he has this you know, terrible strikeout right
and one of the worst square uprights in the majors.
Bad walk rate, big whiff rate, like it does not
feel sustainable to me. Like I think on the White
Sox you can do that because you're not really being
(02:32):
you know, followed very closely and so you know, teams
aren't really game planning against you. But when when your
strategy is basically swing at everything, I swing hard at everything, like,
I just don't. I don't. I don't see that as
as sustainable. And this is guy who basically only had
a couple of good years when the ball was used
and since then has been a pretty bad hitter. I
(02:54):
mean not just pretty bad, it's been an awful hitter.
He has six thirteen oh ps and twenty twenty three
five thirty one in two. The defense is fine, but
like Oswaldo, prosi complete defense and might be able to
hit better than that. And so yeah, I agree with you,
and I pass. The other guy I think is more interesting.
(03:14):
And we can talk a little bit more about Jorge Planco,
longtime twin. I was on the Mariners last year. He's
a free agent. Now. We do have a rumor connecting
the Yankees to planco. What do you think He's.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Been a genuine offensive force over his career? However, I
think he's been pretty prone to injury, and that is
a concern as well. He's on the north side of thirty.
I think he's this would be his age thirty one
season this coming year, and last year he had an
(03:48):
OPS of ninety three and OPS plus ninety three, So
he's going to give you a little below average offense.
It's a better solution than DeJong, but not much better
in my view. Again, and it competes with the options
they already have inside the organization.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
Yeah, you can see the upside right if you told
me he was going to be the hitter he was
from twenty one to twenty three, like sure, Like even
if the defense is really bad, which it is, like that,
that's a player who you can imagine hitting high in
the lineup and the Yankees are still kind of short
a guy to bat in front of judge.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Well, I'll ad this, Eju. He's primarily been a second
baseman throughout his career as well. I really think the
best defense the Yankees can put on the field has
Jazz Chisholm at second base. So I prefer a specialist
at third.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
I agree. And you know, even if you know you're
okay with Jazz at third, if you if you accept
that the second base is a better position for him,
you're not only getting a bad second basement in planco,
but you're taking a down grade at third base exactly.
And so like like to me, like I I get
real glabor tourist vibes from hist line, just like not
very good at at anything other than just kind of
(04:59):
putting bat in the ball. And you know, I think
that the Yankees can do better. And you're right that
he's got he's injury prone. You know, he's just he's
a true switch hitter. He hits both sides pretty well.
I think so that that's nice. And you know, if
you told me tomorrow the Yankees signed him, I think
I think I'd be like I convinced myself to be
excited just because he has a bat with with real potential.
(05:21):
But I also think, like at his age, as a
middle infielder without a ton of athleticism, like I think
he could just be like on the sharp side of
the agent curve.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
Yeah, I think he's on I think he's on the
back nine from my standpoint, and the injury issue has
been one that has been a concern for past Yankee teams.
It's important that you're available just as much as you
can actually play.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
Yeah, and you know, I'd rather spend his money elsewhere
if you're gonna spend you know, the Planco. Unlike some
of the other guys are talking, you know, DeJong and
the next guy wan't to talk about He's gonna cost
some money. Clabor tor has got fifteen million dollars. I
think Planco gets about that right. He's a little bit
older than Torres, but still a one year d And
so you know, you're basically sealing up the rest of
your budget even if you traded Marcus Stroman if you
(06:07):
sign Hori Planco. Correct.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
He made ten and a half million last year with
US Seattle.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Yeah, and like he's like some team is going to
be willing to pay him a little bit of money,
maybe not a ton of money. But this is a
guy who who up until last year can hit in
Seattle's a bad place to hit. So you understand kind
of kind of why he had a bad year, or
you could you could explain away why he had a
bad year. Maybe maybe there's no physical stuff behind that
that that's less curable. So, like I I I'm skeptical
(06:34):
that they're gonna go out and sign him because I
think it's it feels like they're they're searching for a
cheaper guy. We're talking about Paul DeJong, We're talking about
Brendan Rodgers, you know, some of the trade candidates. We're
talking about a small salary and and I don't think
Polanco is going to command something that cheap. I do
think that Brendan Rodgers could be pretty cheap. Yes, I agree.
(06:55):
I also think like it's weird he's the lowest ceiling
player of the three here, I think, like the worst
baseball player of the three, like career wise, But I
also think he makes the most sense. He's a he's
a shortstop, second baseman for Colorado. He used to be
a top prop. But he's one of those like fantasy
baseball guys years ago that that at least in my
(07:15):
diasty league. I think I picked up at one point
because why not. He's on Colorado and his stats are bad,
Like the stats are are like a little bit better
than Oswalda Cabrera at everything, but nothing, there's like nothing
in his profile. That's that's good. He's not a good defender,
he's not fast, he doesn't really hit for contact. But
the one thing he does really well is he hit lefties.
(07:37):
And I could imagine him basically being an upgrade over
Osweald Parrazza in a platoon with Cabrera, even if he's
less versatile. He's not as good defender, he's not as fast,
he doesn't play any positions. But I just feel like
he would be the one guy we're talking about here
that for a cheap price, I can imagine playing a
real role on the Yankees bench.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
He's a pretty good defender, not Gold Glove quality, but
I think passable enough that he would be a definite
improvement over Glabor Torus at second And he has some
legit experience at third base, I believe as well, although
I think it's mostly been second base, so you're back
(08:19):
in that dynamic of that's having Jazz play third. I
guess I'd be a little bit excited about Brendan Rodgers,
just from the standpoint that you'd have a quality a
defender at second base wouldn't.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
Be I mean, quality is stretching it a little bit.
I mean, he is a below average defender. He's just
not nearly as bad as Torres or Polanco. Okay, he
was I believe in minus three outs above average last year.
I think he's been better in the past. But he's
also played shortstop and which I think he's a not
great short stop, maybe a better second baseman. But like
(08:53):
I don't want to let you know, he is a
dead defensive downgrade from either Carbrera or Poraza. I think
just he can. He's a he has a proven bad
whereas like the theory behind Parazza is that he has
he has left these basically in the minors, he has
hit left these pretty well.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Yeah, Rogers, Rogers ops is down in that ninety range
career wise, He's he's a below average hitter and he's
been hitting at altitude for his whole career.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Yeah, that that's a weird one though, right, Like sometimes
Coors has a weird effect on hitters, Like if you
look at his his like home run waist splits, They're gigantic,
but also there's like the court hangover effect and all that.
So like I could imagine I can imagine Rogers is
being like a change of senior guy. But uh, those
(09:41):
are the three guys that they've actually been connected to.
Correct me if I'm wrong. I don't believe that any
any of the other guys that we're going to talk
about have actually had like a rumor where the Yankees
are interested. There's a there's a reporting that the Yankees
are interested in. There's just kind of speculation and and
kind of you know, taking a lay of the lane.
I'm trying to figure out who who the Yankees might
(10:02):
be able to trade trade for. I will say the
Luise a Ria's rumors, which were happening in between podcast episodes,
have had some serious cold water thrown on them. But
the Yankees were talking about Louise Arias in November and
not since, and so I don't I don't think that's
something kind of that's on the table.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
I think the only spot that Arise can actually not
be a huge defensive liability is first base, and you've
you've already filled that with the gold Schmidt shining. I
don't see where you go with the Rise. He's just
a terrible defender.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
And I mean, if Stanton didn't exist, I'd love him
as a DH.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
He's a great contact hitter and he would be an
on base presence, he'd give the Yankees a leadoff hitter.
That would be a little more obvious. But I don't
see he's got that. He's got a spot to play
on the field. There's there's not a DH spot open
with Stanton, and where else do you slot them?
Speaker 1 (10:52):
I mean, like, if you magically got him tomorrow, I
think he might. I think I might entertain the idea
of him dhing a lot and Stanton sitting. But that's
that's a that's not gonna happen. I don't I don't
think they're gonna sit standon and and uh, regardless, it
doesn't sound like that that a trade is in the cards.
(11:13):
So let's uh, let's talk about some of You gave
me a list of some other players that they might consider,
So let's go with the first free agent, uh, the
only free agent left or on on this list. And
we we talked about Bregman and you know, and uh
and Ernato and some of those guys. But but the
one guy, one guy we haven't talked about a lot
(11:33):
is High Song Kim. You might not know him. He's
a West Coast National leaguer. So he played with the
with the Padres had a shoulder injury that's gonna put
him out till I think may something like that. Tell
me about him, Tell me about about Kim Hasong.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Kim is a right handed hitter. He's not big. He's
like five eight five nine, about one hundred and sixty
five pounds. He's a primarily been a short stop, and
he's a plus short stop. He's also a plus second
basement and he's a plus third baseman. So he's got
some defensive versatility and he plays all those positions, not
just able to play them, play them at a high level.
(12:10):
So I like him with this idea of pitching and defense,
and he's a good enough hitter career ops in ninety
nine last year ninety six. He does have a shoulder injury,
so it would allow you to dabble with a Cabrera Pirazza,
Lemayhew combination of some kind for the first month or
two of the season. But if you could sign him
(12:32):
for two or three years at I'm just throwing on
a number ten million, nine million something like that, I
think he would be a very strong addition, and you
give you a lot of flexibility to move him around
the diamond and slot Jazz Chisholm ideally in my mind
at second base.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
Yeah, I don't hate it. Yeah, I think I think
that Kim is not a great hair. He is not
a terrible hitter. Like I think of him as kind
of a more contact oriented Anthony Volpi. So he's got
the defensive ability, he's you know, he had a three
to fifty one on base in twenty twenty three, so
(13:11):
like there's something there, but is mostly a guy who's
going to give you value through base running and defense
because he gets on bassist a little bit more than Volpi.
He has more stolen based opportunities. He had thirty eight
steals in twenty twenty three, and just has played really
good defense in a lot of places. Right, He's got
really he played really good defense in twenty two at shortstop,
(13:33):
played really good defense at second base in twenty three,
really good at third base, at shortstop. You know, like
he's a guy that that gives you a lot of
those options and adds like an element like he's essentially
actually he's the better version of Ozwal Parazza, right, Like
like that that's the player you want Paraza to evolve into.
(13:53):
And you know, I'm just gonna check his splits right now.
I'm actually curious if he has lefty right he splitz
to be not yeat he does. He does, so he's
better against lefties, which is something the Yankees might need,
is a right handed HITTERR. Yeah, you know, I can
imagine being your leadoff guy against lefties. I really, honestly,
I haven't thought about him until you mentioned him. I
kind of like it.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
He is a free agent, and all it costs is money.
He would not be top shelf free agent talent from
the standpoint you'd have to break the bank to get him.
I just think he's an intriguing option and probably has
a little bit of a down market because he's not
going to be able to play beginning in late March.
He'll be a month or two of the season before
he's ready to go.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
Yeah. That does have me a little nervous, right that
you end up you know, he gets a setback and
all of a sudden it's June. Yeah, like I could
imagine that being the case that see does he He's
been pretty healthy throughout his career, so at least there's that. Yeah,
you know, I'm intrigued. I like the idea. I think that.
I'm a little surprised he has to sign a contract
(14:54):
by at this point because.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
Of working off a Baseball reference twenty twenty three. You
know a year a year ago he was had a
five point eight war. Yeah at four point nine, those
those are really strong contributions. I'm thinking Scott brocious during
the really good years of Scott Brochies. That goes back.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
Away, and I'm really curious about what contract he's going
to command, right, I mean here, you're right, he's going
to start the season injured, but he's only gonna be
twenty nine years old. Hasn't slowed down like even last
year with you know, batting battling an injury, not having
a great offensive year, he was almost a three win player.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
So he runs circles around both Polanco and who is
the other guy we're talking about.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
He's a much better player than any of those guys, right,
like young or anything like that. Like the question for
the question is like one, does he want to sign
on like say, the East Coast, Right, Yeah, a lot
of Asian players they want to sign the West Coast
because the times on difference is a little bit better,
their family can watch games, and how much money is
he in the is there money room from in the budget?
(15:56):
Part of me is convinced the Yankees are kind of
waiting right now to see one if they can trade Stroman.
And we got another rumor from John Hayman. Basically, the
Yankees are willing to pay down some money of Stroman's contract.
I have no idea if they weren't willing to pay
down some money of his contract earlier. But they're trying
to find a taker for Stroman to free up some money.
And I think they might be waiting to see about
Rookie Sasaki because if Sasaki signs, then all of a sudden,
(16:18):
maybe you can trade a Schmidt or or a Gill
or a Heel or something like that to to to
to bring another to bring in another player. So and
maybe one of the other places we're gonna talk about
here is one of one of those potential guys. So yeah,
I'm I'm intrigued, right I. I I think Kim. I
would have said before I kind of thought hard about it,
(16:39):
that Kim wasn't really an option, And now I think
I could see Kim as a Yankee.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
What about and you live in Chicago, eg, if I'm
not mistaken. What about an old White Soak Moncada. Is
he an option?
Speaker 1 (16:52):
I mean I kind of put him in the same
bucket as the other guys we talked about, like he's
he is a bounce back candidate, and I think that
for I think that the place that he needs to
land is a non contending team and then maybe get
traded to the Yankees of the deadline. I don't think
the Yankees can risk seeing if he's healthy, right, He's
(17:15):
a guy who has not played much in the last
few years. When he's played on the field, he's been okay.
But I think that he's gonna end up on like
you know, the pick a team and uh yeah, Pittsburgh
and then be an option of the deadline.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
Yep, switch hitter, pretty good stick when healthy, but he's
had three years in a row where he's not been
able to sustain a season. I think he only got
forty or fifty at bats last year.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
And the White Sox have been so bad that, like
you can imagine them there being a story there that
where he gets better when he leaves. But again, like
I I think that he's got to end up out
a place that can guarantee him starting playing time and
just kind of roll him out there no matter what
to the go to the right and see what happened
to go to Toronto or something like that, and the Yankees,
(18:06):
I think then would maybe you know, he's a guy
that you can imagine them acquiring on a one year deal.
Let's move on to talk about Alec Boem Philly former
top top like top top prospect who's kind of had it,
had struggled a little bit with with the Phillies, had
a really strong first half, had a less good second half.
Right handed hitter, has been rumored to be available, though
(18:26):
we haven't heard any real concrete trade rumors. What's the
case for bom.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
Boom is a solid defender. He's actually even better defensively
at first base as I understand it, but a solid
third baseman, a lot of experience there. It would be
a fit you get Jazz Chisholm to second. He's still young,
He'll be twenty eight this coming season. He had an
ops plus of a one seventeen last year, very respectable,
(18:54):
suggesting fifteen to twenty percent above average bat. I would
think he would be very attractive. Does not have an
injury history. He's had over six hundred plate appearances each
of the last three years. I'd love me Smellick Bom.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
I agree. I think the question is is he available
at what cost? Like I don't really understand why the
Phillies want to trade him, Like he's he's just a
good he's a good third baseman. He's under team control
for two years. He's not that expensive. You know, He's
a guy who's had his talent and so when he
finally had a really good year last year, he kind
of understood it. And like, I guess they're selling high.
(19:35):
Like I really don't understand why he's available. But he
can hit for contact, right he has a little bit
of power. Sounds his swing doesn't look like it's great
in Yankee Stadium, but maybe, you know, the lost home
runs will turn into more doubles with the big with
the big left field. You know, even if he ends
up in his twenty twenty three form, which was you know,
(19:57):
not great, but that was mostly because of defense, he
gets hit and you know, maybe maybe the defensive progress
is realized. I don't really know enough, you know, to
explain why his defense suddenly got got pretty good. But yeah,
I'd be up for Alcbaulm. I I've heard. I forget
the rumor, but like the Phillies were asking for a
king's ransom form and so teams guy said, no, we're
(20:19):
not paying that much for Aloc Baulm. We don't think
he's that good and so maybe the Phillies were just
trying to sell high.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
Yeah, but it's a sell high strategy. We're not going
to go down that road. But if he could be had,
and again you can talk about different prospects that could
go the Phillies way, But if he could be had
for a couple of prospects, I might be willing to
make that trade and give give Bowman opportunity to what
a long term contract.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
Here's the fun one. We talked about this guy a
year ago as when the Aggies were desperate for left
handed hitting Brendan Donovan, who I guess is now playing
outweait he's listened as an outfielder on stackas what do
you played last year?
Speaker 2 (20:56):
He played all over but I think second, third.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Play and really really good numbers at second base last
year and kind of average numbers before that. Left handed hitter,
really good hitter. What's the case for Donovan?
Speaker 2 (21:10):
Uh? Again, in this case, a plus defender, Uh can
do either second or third. So you can look at
jazz and figure out where to slat jazz and where
where you play. Brendon Donovan left handed bat, which I
think could help. I think he's a potential patrol.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
He's a pull he's a pull hitter too, left handed bat.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
Yeah, so sharp porch and right helps. And I think
he could manage a leadoff spot. He's got a very
strong on base percentage profile historically.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
Yeah, I agree, if you could, you know, shake him
loose mccardinals, I think he makes a lot of sense.
I just don't know how you shake him loose mccardinals.
Like Gues, he's another guy I don't really see. I mean,
you mentioned that when we talked before the show that
maybe the Cardinals and him have some bad blood.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
Right now, the uh, what i'd read online was a
John Hayman article. Someone reputable had indicated that they'd been
unable to grant a long term contract and they were
headed to arbitration, potentially a opportunity for the Yankees to
jump in if that goes awry.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
Yeah, Look, the Carlos are rebuilding and so for the
same reason they want to trade er or not, or
maybe they want to write a guy they can't extend.
So yeah, you know, if he's available, we haven't seen
maybe rumors other than that kind of that speculation you
just mentioned, But yeah, I think he would be I
think he would be a leadoff hitter if you were
to trade for him, I think he would be, you know,
the one of the better hitters on the team pretty much.
(22:37):
I mean, this is a guy with a three sixty
four career on base. Put him in front of judges,
a lefty, and I think you're pretty happy.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
One sixteen ops plus last year, one twelve historically, so
definitely above average hitter. Most of that's focused on getting
on base.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
Yeah, he's twice seven years old, he's he's a good
contact hitter. Stackcast says he would have hit five more
home runs in Yankee Stadium last year, just like over
just like I just just like a really solid player
and a guy who'd be under control for a while.
You know, one thing about this roster is the Yankees
kind of have like a window. There's a lot they've again,
(23:11):
just like last year, like a lot of players whose
contracts are are are expiring. You're gonna have over the
next couple of years. You're gonna get chisholm uh leaving
the team. You're gonna get Bellinger leaving the team. You're
gonna get Paul gold Schmidt leaving the team. You're going to,
I mean lose some guys like you know, like LeMay
who which may be happy to lose, you know, but
(23:33):
Schmidt Stroman if he sticks around, Devin Williams right, like,
just a lot of guys that will will need to
be replaced. And Brendan Donovan is on a slightly longer
term deal. It's why he'll be more expensive like of
the guys we've talked about here, Like he's the guy
I think I can imagine them like giving a getting
a pretty good giving up a pretty good package for
(23:56):
I don't know, like Spencer Jones level deal, but like
something like that.
Speaker 2 (23:59):
I would I would give up Spencer Jones in a
heartbeat to get Brendan Donovan.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
He's I mean, you're going to talk about prospects in
about a month or so, once all the lists starts
stopped coming start coming out, and I think both of
us will be willing to give up Spencer Jones for
for less for not that much. But I think I
actually Brendan Donovan would be interesting if you ended up
getting a Roki Sasaki because I could imagine like Louis
(24:26):
Heel for Brendan Donovan something like that. That'd be a
fun trade.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
Uh that that would open some doors for sure, if
not Clark Schmidt or like you say, moving on with Stroman.
I think Stroman's contract is really the the hurdle right now.
It's it's going to require the Yankees to take on
some of that contract to move him.
Speaker 1 (24:45):
Yeah, And I mean their order of operations might mean
that they have to trade Stroman before doing other stuff.
And you never know, like with some of these rumors,
like who they're negotiating against, Like are they are they
leaking that they're interested in these guys because they're negotiating
with somebody else with with you know, the Cardinals over
Ernato or Bragman or whatever, right, Like you could imagine
a lot of guys that they're talking to.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
One other name I wanted to throw out we talked
about this pre podcast is David Fry from the Guardians.
He does offer an interesting profile. He's not a super defender,
but he's got experienced at third base and first base
and the corner outfield spots. But most intriguingly, he has
been a bona fide backup catcher for the Guardians, an
(25:29):
area that the Yankees have some need. It would be
interesting to see if they could add him to the
roster as well.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
I'm very skeptical that Alex Jackson is going to be
the first string backup catcher to start the season. I
can imagine Alex Jackson as the guy TRIPAA that you
call up. He was a non roster invitee that when
they trade for him, which is a little weird, but
you know, maybe the REGs need to clear a spot
or something. I don't know, but like, Alex Jackson is
(25:59):
a career one two right like like yeah, and he's
not a great defender and so like I, I I
do not think that he's going to be their backup catcher.
And maybe there's way to see how much money they have.
I think j c Ascara is an interesting but we'll
talk about when we talk about prospects. I think he's
a fascinating player. I have no idea how good he is.
(26:20):
I'm waiting on these off season scattergal ports to tell
me if he can catch, but he can hit, and
you know, he's a twenty nine year old you know
who's playing in the independent leagues and or Mexican League.
I think and and came up and and was you
know has been has basically immediately put himself in major
legue contention. So I I I agree the backup catcher
(26:43):
position is interesting right now. And I don't know what
the Yankees are planning on doing. I don't think it's
Alex Jackson. I can imagine the trading for somebody. I
have a hard time imagining that the Guardians trading David Fry.
Speaker 2 (26:56):
He'd be a valuable at it. He would definitely cost
you something to get him, but interesting combination of having
that skill set to play corner infield, corner outfield, and
a legit catcher.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
Yeah, and I think he'd probably be your third basement
if you traded for him. Yes, more than backup catcher,
because they have J. C. Scara at backup catcher. They
you know, third basis they're still trying to fill. But
I'm I'm gonna I'm just gonna go out and let
me and say I don't I don't think that's gonna happen.
All right, we talked about a lot of players. Let
me get your big picture thoughts before we end, So, like,
what what does it feel like? You know, we have
(27:30):
spring training in a you know, in a month, unless
than a month minus a day, the Yankees pictures and
catchers will be reporting for spring training. So we're getting
down to the wire because opening day is so early
this year. What how does it feel? How does this
last in field spot feel to you? Right now?
Speaker 2 (27:50):
It's a little unnerving to me right now. I think
the Yankees in a prior era, back to the days
of George Steinbrenner, would have already acted and we'd probably
be talking about a different player, whether by trade or
by free agency, probably Bregmant, but quite possibly maybe a
deal for Aeronato. Right now, I sense the Yankees are
(28:14):
using their budget cap basically to allow events to transpire
here and sort of help them make their choice. I
think they're looking for a bargain, and I would prefer
that they strike out a little harder. So big picture,
I would be willing to go give assets to really
(28:37):
solve the second base third base conundrum. You could go
either way. The beauty of jazz Chisholm is it gives
you that complete flexibility. You don't have to have a
second basement, you don't have to have a third baseman.
You got to pick one of them. And I think
the Yankees would be well served to think about winning
titles here and not just having a solution that fits
(28:58):
a budget.
Speaker 1 (28:59):
I mean agree, like there is a budget, right, like
there is a maximum amount of money that that that
you can spend it, and like the Yankees are going
to spend three hundred million dollars. I can't really argue
with that. I think they've spent it kind of smartly
this offseason. And if you get very Stroman, then that
frees up a little bit of money that you could
do something with. But I think that for example, like
asking them to go ahead and get a Bregman, I
(29:20):
get it, Like I think I might be a step
too far. I don't know how expensive he's actually gonna be,
But like I I don't I can't really fault the
Yankees for not not doing that. I it to me
it is clear they're looking for a five million dollar
option right now someone basically because they don't really trust
the oswaldo Oswald. Oswald put right.
Speaker 2 (29:43):
Right, right. I think that you're right, And I'm not
arguing that they should go sign Bregman. I'm more thinking
along the lines of go and get one of these
younger guys that could actually have a future with the team.
A Bomb, a Donovan, a Fry, someone like that is
worth investing some prospects in and they will not break
(30:05):
the bank. Every one of those guys will be under
probably eight.
Speaker 1 (30:07):
Or I just don't know if they have the prospects.
Like when we talk about about farm system stuff, like
the Yankees farm system is a wreck right now, and
I just don't know if they can, like even if
the Cardinals are interested in training Donovan, Like I don't
actually know if the Yankees will be anywhere near the
team that makes the best offer to the Cardinals, because
like they just don't have the guys and without that,
(30:30):
without the chips, you know, you can't make a deal.
All right, Well, we're at thirty minutes. I'm gonna go upstairs,
take care of my baby. John. Thank you so much
for joining me, Everybody, thank you for listening. I've mentioned
a month ago that eventually there's gonna be a change
to the podcast feed that has not happened yet, so
I will let you all know when that happens. For now,
(30:50):
we're still on this feed till I have a little
bit of time to kind of move everything over. Everybody,
thank you for listening. This has been your Bronx Beat
podcast
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