February 9, 2025 • 42 mins
EJ and Pat discuss the Tim Hill signing, the backup catcher spot and Brian Cashman's recent comments about Gleyber Torres.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:15):
Thirty nine of the Bronx Beat podcast. I am E. J.
Fagan Tonight, joined by Pat Gun Pat, How are you good?
Speaker 2 (00:20):
How are you doing? J?
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Yeah, I'm doing pretty good. And we have pictures and
catchers reporting it's weird in four days Wednesday, it uh,
you know, it's not quite like Happy New Year for
baseball yet, but it's getting close.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Yeah, it's getting the feeling of baseball being back after.
It feels like this winner went somewhow faster. Well.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
I mean the World Series helps, right, and yeah, it
does well. And also I mean it's an early start
to the season. I think I think their first game
is like on like the March twenty seventh or something
like that, just like yeah, really really early. Yeah, which
means that we get spring training games in like three weeks.
It it's gonna be fun. I'm excited. I miss baseball.
I don't know about you. Like I usually go through
(01:01):
a phase, you know, in the off season where I'm okay, like, okay,
I don't need any more baseball for a little bit.
I'm gonna watch some hockey, I'm gonna do some nonsports stuff,
but I need my baseball. I'm ready.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Let's do here.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Yeah, I feel that I got at the baby at home.
I want I want to sit down every night baby
goes to sleep, watch some baseball. That's the goal. Yeah,
and and uh, we got some stuff to talk about,
mostly odds and ends. Right, the Yankees are haven't made
into big moves, but we're starting to see, uh, you know,
some of the final roster take shape. And then Brian
Cashman did a press conference and talked about some stuff
(01:32):
that we're gonna talk about. So let's just go. Let's
go right here. Tim Hill, Yankees sign him. It's a
it's a one year deal with a with a club
option under three million dollars. You know, one, what do
you think about Tim Hill? But also just is this
now the bullpen? Do we know what the bullpen's gonna
look like?
Speaker 2 (01:49):
I think I'm happy that he's back. Overall, I mean,
it would have been nice for the Yankees to go
out and get someone like a Tanner Scott or some
other big names. But at the same time, the Yankees
made the big splash trading for Devin Williams, and they
gave a pretty hefty price for him, so I understand
them starting to go a little smaller. Elsewhere. It would
have been nice for them to more of a reshaped bullpen,
but at the same time, they kind of are because
(02:11):
they've they relied a lot on Clay Holmes and Tonny
Canley last year, and now both of them are gone,
They're gonna rely more on Devin Williams this year. Obviously,
Luke Weaver having such a great end of the season
makes sense that he's back, and they took a couple
of big swings, and it's nice. Tim Hills one of
the probably one of the better lefty specialists they've had
in the league, and he did a great job in
the postseason. If you wanted the Eighties to get more strikeouts,
(02:32):
then I don't think Tim Hill is the guy for
that because he just doesn't strike people out. But in
terms of whether or not I think the bullpen is done,
it would be nice for them to go get some
other moves, But at the same time, this is probably
it for what they're gonna do.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
They're also they're full right like right now, you have
basically the bullpen that ended the season last year, minus Kainley,
minus what Tim Masa, Clay Holmes, Clay Holmes, and you've
added Fernando Cruz, Devin Williams, JT V.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Baker actually have something from Jonathan Lowiasaca.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
You know, I actually I want to talk about Lewiska.
In a second, I will say, like, one of the
things I'm watching this spring training is Clayton Peter, who
I think has, like, especially reading some of the offseason
scouting reports on him, like has the stuff to potentially
be like a really really good reliever, and he hasn't
(03:29):
really had a chance to prove that he could do that,
but because it wasn't really healthy last year. But once
he got healthy, he came back, his stuff was incredible
and the results were incredible. And so I I that's
that's one thing I'm watching. But I got I though
about Jonathan Lewiska. I want you, I want you to
tell me if I'm crazy. They gave him five million dollars.
In fact, they gave him, I believe, a two year deal. Right,
(03:50):
they gave him like a deal it didn't have to
give him. Jonathan Lewiska has not really been an effective
player since I think twenty two one was this big year.
He's basically had one incredible season but one effective season
and has had kind of mixed success in another season
and then has been injured. I don't think you give
(04:12):
him that much money if you're not confident in him.
They let guys go all the time, right and Lowise guy.
I think if they had let Lowisaca go to some
other team and like the Pirates signed him, I don't
think anyone would have been like, no one would be
yelling at Brian Cashman for letting that happen. You know,
we're talking about a guy who strikeout right, just plummeted
(04:32):
over the last couple of years, maybe related to the injury,
but when he was striking out, just like a decent
number of guys, he was essentially the softest contact pitcher
in the majors. I think there's like real potential that
Lewaiska is your number three, you know, high high, high
end bullpen guy, beside the Weaver and Williams.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
Yeah, to correct, just a slight modification. He was a
one year deal for five million with the club with
a team option for twenty six. Like kind of what
Luke Weaver pitch as well, they can pick it back up,
but yes, it could be two years, ten minutes.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
And like Tim Hill, yeah, yeah, same deal. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
I like in terms of the strikeout right, I don't
know if he is gonna be that like twenty four
to twenty five percent strikeout guy percent of batters. But
like I also in twenty twenty three when he was hurt,
he struck out less than nine percent of batters. I
don't know if that's him either. It's probably somewhere in
the between, and he's probably not gonna be his dominant self,
but like he can be like a decent like soft
(05:27):
contact multiening got potential guy. I that thinker is still
really really good.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
I'll say it was. It was the lowest strucker in
the majors in twenty twenty three, but he still had
an XCRA under three.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Yeah. No, he's still very talented. So I'm fine with
it if they think he's healthy. I'm not against the gamble.
It would have been nice to the only other guy
I'd say is maybe I would have liked is he
canley come back? But I also get that he's very
the extreme change up mostly pitch is a little bit tough,
especially with all the walks, and he's getting older and
Lewisaka's a little younger, and I think I will say this,
(06:01):
in the bullpen, they've took a lot of interesting there
are some interesting swings here. I know Mark Later Junior
didn't pitch well in the regular season, but he had
his moments in the playoffs where I didn't think he
pitched at all, and he actually had some big moments
for them. I thought that Jake Cousins obviously was great
last year. He's gonna be back again. And I thought
they got a good picture from in that deal with
the Reds. I think that with the split with his splitter,
(06:23):
I think could be I think that I think that
they could be there's something there for with with Fernando.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
You know, Baseball Perspectives ran a fun article kind of
about the Yankees just just telling their relievers to throw
one pitch, like throw your best pitch, even if it's
not a fastball, which is what Cainley did. It's what
they basically did with Tim Hill and Cruz has the
has the splitter. I wonder if you were going to
see him throw like, yeah splitter, oh yeah, right right yeah,
(06:52):
But like it's basically a change up, right, It's not
that different from what Cainley was doing. Sure, and it
looks nasty. Has a great pitch. Also, like the Devin
Williams is like the underrated piece that we never talked about.
Like the Yankees also have the best closer in baseball,
right or the second.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Pick that much last year either because of an injury
and he's probably.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
But when he pitched he was better than that.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Oh absolutely right.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
So like I to me, like Williams is such a
game changer in the back end of the bullpen that
you know, yeah, you can say Camley's gone, you can
you know, like they've.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Improved, No, they have, and you're also not we haven't
also mentioned Ian Hamilton could be just better the next
year and Scott f ros.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
Could you know, Hamilton Mark Lighter like all those guys
Jake Cousins like it, only you only need like really
one of them to be good, and you're gonna have
another crop of Matt Blake projects. Yeah to me, Like
the problem last year was that you had too many
lottery tickets and no certain players.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
So like like Luke Weaver, for instance, was a Matt
Blake project, right, And Luke Weaver went from being a
failed Major League starter to being a closer on the
World Series team, and they got a couple of those guys,
Tim Hill, but was cut by the White Sox, uh
and and then was a really good reliever in the
playoffs for the Yankees. Devin Williams, you don't you don't
(08:11):
need Matt Blake to do anything, right, So you have
a guarantee you have a rock and Devin Williams, I'm
really confident Luke Weaver, right, So you have you have
a Luke Weaver, and then you know, of all the
other guys, you just have to hope that you know,
you know, two or three of them can pop out,
and then maybe Blake finds another guy or Clayton Beeter
or something like that, just out of nowhere. Yeah, and
(08:33):
then all of a sudden you have, I think are
potentially really good bullpen. The Yankees bullpen last year was
very average, and if you could, if you could make
it a good bullpen, especially some of these guys you
don't strike out a lot, but have a lot of
ground balls, right, if you could, you know, if Tim
Hill or Jonathan the Wise Guy or someone can get
out there with a good infield defense behind them, I'm
kind of confident, like I think that the bullpen is
(08:54):
sneaky going to be really improved and really like a
real veadge for the Yankees this year. You got some
strikeouts that you didn't have, right, you have hopefully you know,
a healthy Hamilton. You have you You you don't need
to go find Tim Hill to Luke Weaver. You have them.
You're hoping that Mark Leider. You know, it is kind
(09:15):
of back to normal. Like there's just a lot of
really good raw material there. And and I'm I'm just.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
They were last year. Absolutely, they were very reliant on
Clay Holmes last year, and Clay Holmes just he just
wasn't reliable. And even though he even though he out
pitched his numbers.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
Not by that much though. Honestly, I can't believe.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
That Patters said three over three hundred on his sinker.
That just that just makes that doesn't compute well.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
I mean like there was defensive problems with thongs, but
if you look at a stackass page, it's just like
not that impressive.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Yeah, it wasn't. It was he was. He was definitely
better than his e r.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
You know, he had a great ground ball, right and
so you know, like like no doubt that. And we're
gonna talk about a piece of this in the second.
Like the Yankees, infield defense was a problem for for
guys like Clay Holmes, interestingly not for Tim Hill. Right,
it was the the groundball crazy person. Sometimes it was
in the playoffs. But but like I not as much
like but like like that, it's the playoffs whatever, right,
(10:08):
But like the Clay Holmes just like a lot of
those games just just melted down. And at the end
of the day he was still a three point twenty
nine XCRA hitter, which is good but not great. And
I and Devin Williams is the best in the business, right,
So it's just it's a massive upgrade. I then the
Yeggies win three or four more games if they if
they have Devin Williams last year, just because Holmes really
(10:29):
did blow some games, and because Holmes is a strikeout guy,
you don't even need to rely on the defense, right
Holmes Williams Williams is one of the greatest strike eye
pitchers in the majors. So I'm I'm just I I
I'm excited for the bullpen. And you know, obviously things
people can get hurt, you know people, you know, Luke
Weaver's only done it for one year. Like there's all
sorts of like question marks, but having the Rock of
(10:51):
Williams really just makes a lot of those question marks
easier because even if like one or two guys doesn't perform,
you still have basically a guarantee and he's unless he's
injured at the back end of the bullpen. And plus,
the airbender is a fun pitch.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
As an avatar fan, I'm very happy the Airbenders.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
I mean there, I appreciate a good sports nickname, yes,
and I think, as I mentioned on this show, Thor's
Hammer is still my favorite nickname for a pitch. But
the airbender is pretty close. It's pretty good. Yeah, you know,
I love you and Hamilton, but the you know, the
the the slambio, you know, Okay, it's all right, it's
it's it's fine. We combined two words together and one
(11:30):
words is in Spanish. That's kind of fun. But but
the airbender, that's a that's that's a nice one, and
I'm excited to watch it happened. Also check let's see
how often the Yankees have them throw the airbender, because
that's what they do. I think the Yankees have I
believe four of like the most dominant pitches in their
class like the most dominant change up, the most dominant splitter,
the most the most dominant slider in their bullpen, which
(11:54):
is kind of fun. Okay, A question we haven't talked
about yet this offseason, but I think it's like strangely important.
Is the backup catcher? The Yankees backup catcher is going
to get a lot of play, A preaches because he's
a backup catcher. You rest your catchers. I think Austin Wells,
even though he's young, he's you know, he needs to rest.
(12:15):
We saw it with Adlee Rushman last year. You really
it's you're really playing with fire if you play your
catcher too much. And so, who is going to be
the backup catcher is a is a really tough question.
Jose Travino was it last year. It was pretty good, right,
especially on defense, but you know, as far as backup
catchers go, he was one of the better ones in
(12:36):
the league. And I want to ask you right now,
because I don't know the answer, who is the Yankees
backup catcher.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
Right now? It's probably either Alex Chance, Alex Jackson or
j c Escara. Jackson is the player they got in
that trade, and they don't really need to go to him.
I mean, and probably the most notable thing is that
he had a three run homer off Dester Cortes the
stadium over the summer last year in a random game
with the Rays. But he's kind of just a career
backup catcher type player, decent deep defender, not much of
(13:06):
a bat so.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
That an awful bat right, like a bat that makes
Hojoji Dravino.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Look like a slug Yeah, oh yeah, he's a way
He's weaker than that. And the other option right now
is J. C. At Scara, who is twenty nine years
old and has not made the majors yet but did
have some pretty good success of the plate Last year
at Triple A. He hit three hundred or a four
hundred on base and a five hundred slugging in fifty
two games. Is that sustainable? I don't know. He's a
twenty nine year old who hasn't reached the majors yet,
(13:32):
but he could be someone that gives it. The only
issue is that we're talking about a platoon. He also
hits lefty, which is the same as Austin wells Uh,
and the Yankees might want to have some kind of
two option there, but otherwise he he could be an option,
or it could be someone that we're not even talking
about yet that isn't on the Yankees. Forty man.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
Yeah, and I would be shocked if they make a trade.
But I am I think it's a scar. I think
Alex Jackson is a triple A guy, like he's just
like he is the guy that you call it if
someone gets injured and you just need someone a triple
A who's a veteran. I was curious about a Scar
for a couple of reasons. So the background him, he
was like a former I think, a kind of decent prospect,
(14:13):
but not not top top prospect for Baltimore basically flames out,
goes to the independent leagues, does something to fix himself there,
and the Yankee signed him before last season. He was
okay at Double A and then it just was incredible
at Triple A as a hitter. And my question was
always like how real is that? Like this is this?
(14:34):
Can this guy play defense? And I didn't know, and
I kept I kept looking for scattering reports and that
could find nothing on the internet. And then Fangrafts just
published their top Yankees prospect ranking and they had a
scouting report on his SCARA, and they gave him sixty
fielding and fifty five through, meaning that he can play
really really good defense. And given that he's a Yankee prospect,
(14:55):
my guess is he can also frame, probably, and so
you might be talking about a pretty good defensive player,
maybe really good defensive player. And then you know, the
question is like how real are his is his hitting
in the minors, and it doesn't have to be that
real in order for him to be a solid backup,
So I think it. I mean, I think they probably
would prefer to keep metriple a as like to give
(15:17):
him some more time there and or make him a yeah,
a call up, some make its injured. But I think
he's actually like basically, I think he's the clear favorite
without a.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Trade probably, And I think a lot of the things
this season is how much will Austin Wells can improve,
which doesn't really answer much as a backup catcher, but like,
if Wells can be like solid against enough against lefties
and can play most of the season, that puts a
lot less weight on a backup catcher situation, because like
if Wells just doesn't have the poor start in the
poor finish this season, his numbers look a lot different
(15:51):
because like, from like June to August, he was one
of the best offensive catchers in the league. So I
don't want him to play Like, no, he probably should
probably pay more like twenty one hundred and thirty games,
but like still like like sal Perez can play that
many games, but there's really not that many catchers who.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
Play, you know, all but twenty games.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
Oh yeah, no, yeah, that's fair. It's a lot on
your It's a lot, especially if you want to make
a long postseason run in there. That's a lot out
of one person. The fact that Wells is I think
a lot. Remember when we were talking about him as
a prospect, we were all like, as well as good
enough defensively to stay at catcher, and he ends up
just being a really good one of the better defensive.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
And not just like a good framer right like framan
can feel like magic sometimes, like his stack cast numbers
are really good for blocking and average for throwing. Throwing
was always the question, like could he throw, like can
he recontrol the running game? Average isn't great, but it's average, yeah,
And then he can block and it's just like and
frankly it seems like he's good the soft stuff that
you can't measure too. So yeah, I mean I think
(16:48):
Austin Wells. If Austin Wells becomes your like long term
like catcher who can also hit in the middle of
the order, I mean, that's that's incredible change. That's a
frame with ba Is.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
I think the powers where he's gonna need more of
because he's good at getting on base and he can
get work pictures.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
But I think he needs to pull the ball mark right,
like he he hits her power in the in the gaps,
and he doesn't have enough power to really consistently get
over the fence there, right. But I feel like Yankee Stadium,
if he could just kind of get a little closer
to the foul pole, like like just just tweak his
swing a little bit, I wonder if he could be
that good. But also I don't mind him being like
a fifteen home run, you know, with lots of gap
(17:27):
doubles power and average right like to I'm cool with
that too, And it's.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
Just it's just for this season. Outside of Aaron Judge
and Stanton and Bellinger, the power is I think real,
even maybe not even Bellinger, the power chism chism, yeah,
gold Schmidt gold Schmith's okay. I think that there's some
there's some pop questions, especially we're gonna talk about the infield,
the SEC. If they go with what we think, they're
probably gonna do a third base right now, given the options,
(17:52):
they're gonna need some They're gonna need some pop. So
it would be nice if Wells can start any more
than that. But we'll see.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
Yeah. I think, like my more bigger concern is like,
is it was it? Was it actually health in September?
Like I just assume his numbers went were just off
a cliff, that it was health related and he just
never said anything publicly about it. But maybe maybe there
was also, like you know, the book, the Major League
Book figured out Wells maybe a little bit of both.
(18:21):
And I really do want to see him. I expect
to see him kind of come out of the gate
pretty quickly this year and and be like a full
fledged version of himself, you know, even if he's only
an average hitter, Like it's great, he was a three
plus win player last year, but I just I feel
like he's got another gear and I want to see
it right away.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
Yeah, I wonder how much. I wonder if I hope
it wasn't any fatigue either because he's played because he
played it. He did, you're talking about it because of
the injuries. He played a ton in the middle of
the season.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
And then deep into the postseason. He played every postseason game,
or almost every All right, let's I want to move
on to talk about some current events. Brian Cashman gave
an interview and he said two really interesting things, and
I want to get your reaction to it. So about
Glaber Torres. Uh, we heard that the plan when the
(19:10):
Yankees traded for Chisholm was to immediately move Torres to
third base, and I have Chisholm play third, I play second.
But Torres refused to move, and so Chisholm ended up
having to go to third instead. What are your thoughts
on this revelation.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
It's a I mean revelation, is just him kind of
saying it out loud, because Glaber even said it himself,
I'm I'm a second baseman. I play second base right
after around.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
The time, I mean, Glaber's refusal was quite Yeah, and
even I think there were reports and I don't think
this is completely verified, but the reports that in the Nationals.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
He could have signed a contract with the Nationals, but
didn't because he didn't want to play third base, like
Labor has made it clear. And in fairness with Labor,
the Yankees did play around his position a bunch with
him at shortstop versus the second base and if he
feels more comfortable at second base, I.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
Get but but in fairness to the Yankees, he is
one of the worst second basement of the league.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
He's not a great second basement. I'm not. We're not
acting like he's uh, we're not.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
He's awful, right Like, he's been seventeenth percentile two years
in a row on defense, and frankly, like I think
that underrates just because on top of like not having range,
he has like the boneheaded moves problem.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
Yeah, he's not on dress and menace out there for sure.
It's is is kind of given interesting. What if if
Labor was willing to go to third base, would he
be still a Yankee and would the Yankees in because
he probably be a better third base option even than
a lot of the internal options Yankees have right now.
I mean defensively, we don't know how he would have
played at third base.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
And Jazz is a second his best position is second base, right,
and so so you have like a double yeah, like
like a double improvement, or at least do you have
an improvement at at second and you know, maybe maybe
they both struggle a little bit of third, like like
they right there.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
Yeah, It's just it's just kind of a fascinating move
there that maybe did the Yankees ask Joras before they
made the Chishm trade or it's just what whatever that
it's it stinks and it would have been nice because
Labor Labor's I hope Labor has a breakout season in Detroit,
but also because it feels like there's a lot of
weird randomness about Labor. He where he is kind of
(21:14):
an inconsistent player, and I think he is very maddening.
I'm not the I'm not mad that the Yankees are
moving on from him, But at the same time, I
do think the Yankees are gonna miss him a bit
when they're seeing some of the offensive numbers. Because even
Chisholm has a talented player, it is can be also
fairly inconsistent. And the Yankees option is at third base
or Oswallow, Caperra Oswald, Parassa.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
DJ Lemayhew, you know, I I get where you're coming from.
But let me just read you his waited wait waited
on base percentage over the last four years, right, three
oh seven, three twenty eight, three forty six, three thirteen. Like,
like I get that Clabortors has a gear that he
can get into and becoming a very good player right
like August, like August fifteenth through the end of the year.
(21:56):
That was him. We saw a little bit in the
early playoffs, kind of fell apart later in the playoffs.
But like I also can count on and maybe this
is Yank He's coaching, right, Maybe maybe this isn't completely
his fault, but like I can count on clabor Torres
to go into an awful stretch at some point every season, sure,
and like that that that is like it nets out
(22:18):
to a slightly above average hitter. Sure, But I feel
like because kind of like how Stanton hits the ball
one hundred and twenty miles an hour, everyone once in a
while we think he's better than he is. I think
that labor Torres going on like a really hot two
months every year makes us feel like he's a more
talented player than he is. And again, maybe this is
(22:38):
just a coaching thing that other teams can fix. Like,
I think that had you resigned him, he would be
about a three twenty five OHPA Globle player at max right.
I mean he was three thirteen over a full season
last year, including that really great month and a half.
I just I am, I am. I increasingly think that
that's just part of his his game and one reason
(23:00):
he's not a Yankee anymore.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
The way you described it kind of just makes him
sound like the perfect Aaron Boone Yankee in a way
because of just the flashes, but also just these months
where you can't You're just like, what are they doing?
What is he doing?
Speaker 1 (23:13):
Look, he's a twenty eight year old who got a
one year deal, right, Yeah, like baseball does not.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
It's very clear that the Yankees were not alone and
not being enthusiastic with Torres like the rest of the league.
There weren't probably a ton of many offers for him,
and he didn't And he had a bad walk here.
He had a bad walk here, no no question about it.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
He had a bad walk here. I think Detroit's a
good park for him. It's so big, like the big
outfield I think is great for Torres.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
It could be helped for his doubles, and we'll see
how he does. I think that's gonna be. It'll be
good for him to play with a different coaching staff.
I mean, I think frankly, Ag Hinch is probably a
better manager than Aaron Boone. You think probably, so I
think having someone, hopefully maybe someone different. I just think
about how Gary Sanchez had two of his best years
of his career playing with Joe Girardi and then with Boone.
(23:56):
It just kind of felt like Sanchez never quite hit
that same level. Again, I don't know if it was
Girardi that got the best out of Santez because Girardi
clearly didn't work as a manager in Philadelphia, but.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
Like Sanchez has been pretty pedestrians.
Speaker 2 (24:08):
And yeah he's now a backup catcher in Baltimore, So
I get, I get sometimes it just happened, but like,
I don't know, it just got. Glabor has kind of
just feels like a similar type artist Sanchez of his
first two years where he's amazing, you think he's the
future star, and then some mediocre discs. But then in fairness,
I think Glabor has twenty twenty two and twenty three
were better stretches than most of what we got from
(24:32):
Gary Post his first two seasons.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
But yeah, Sanchez's lows were lower than Glaber's. Yeah, his
highs were higher too. I mean that he almost won
Rookie of the Year and like, oh absolutely six weeks right, Yeah, yeah,
so yeah, I look, I wish glab were the best.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
I think we now know exactly why they get did
not give him the time of day in free agency.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
Yeah, it probably wouldn't help.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
I mean, remember Jazz Chisen was like whatever it takes
to help the team.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Yeah, and he did a pretty good job at third
base all things considered.
Speaker 1 (24:58):
Yeah, and he clearly was on inferable there and you know,
was learning a position. And you know, I just I
feel like, I mean, I love Jastitisham and I just
feel like I feel like that trade is going to
go down very positively, but could have gotten down even
better had he been playing second last year.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
I feel like he's going to be probably makes it
more clear that he's more than likely to play second
base this year, or at least start.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
All Right, the other quote we got out of Cashman there,
he was asked about basically he's gonna trade Marcus Stroman,
and you know, Cashman is not going to say yes
to that, right, Like he can't, you know, like these
things are not negotiating public. And he also really just
can't be like, yeah, I'm trying to trade him, because
if he don't, then you have a problem. But what
he basically said was like, you know, maybe we'll see,
(25:43):
but also, you know, we'd like to have him on
the team, and we think we let him down a
little bit last year, implying that essentially that ground ball
pitcher Marcus Stroman terrible Yankees defense. A lot of stroman
struggles last year can be attributed to the defense, not
to Stroman. I'm curious, Pat, what do you think about
that that frame.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
I don't agree with it entirely, because if he had
pitched better, I would agree with it. But I think
the way we talked, I think you were right during
the season is that Stroman kind of overperformed beginning in
the year and then things kind of started to fall
apart from him. I mean, this is a guy who
struck out fewer than seventeen percent of batters. His walk
rate took it was about almost nine percent, way too
(26:25):
high for a picture of his quality. He gave a
hard contact he is expected. Slugging percentage was four thirty
for a ground ball pitcher. You can't be giving up
that much pop pop, and he was. And it's just
like so much of the season, it was just kind
of hard to watch him pitch because he's at his
best when he's able to work quickly and get hitter
bang bang bank, keep throwing pitches, get hitters out, and
like he just wasn't really able to do that. He
(26:47):
just couldn't he kiss wasn't really throwing strikes. I mean
that I think probably the most notable starts. That's one
of the starts that I remember is his Boston start
at Fenway. He's won the game and I think in
extra innings, but like the I think scored three runs
in the first inning after a couple of homers, and
then Stroman gives it right back and isn't even able
to finish three innings. I think in that game. And
(27:08):
then against Baltimore the last week of the season, right
after Cortez got hurt, Stroman gets an opportunity to back
in the rotation and he just was horrible and he
and I think it is noteworthy that the Yankees probably
could have used pitching help in the postseason with especially
in Hamilton getting hurt and he didn't throw a single
inning or single pitch in the entire World Series run.
The Yankees went to Tim Masa out of the bullpen
(27:30):
before they went to Mark Marcus Stroman. Now, I do
think there's a possibility of Stroman improving next year, but
also he has an eighteen million dollar contract this year.
Of course, teams aren't gonna want to pick that up
after the season he had last year at his age
thirty three season for a ground ball pitcher who can't
strike pitchers out, who's also walking more batters than he
(27:51):
has been during his career and is also getting hit hard.
Like he just wasn't very good last year. Aches might
get and the Yankees might just be stuck with him
at the back and back and did the rotation unless
they sell him with something of valuable prospect or something.
So yeah, it just kind of reads as I get.
I respect Cashman for defending Stroman. I think that there
(28:12):
is something left in him, but yeah, he wasn't very
good last year and he's definitely six.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
He was trying to trade him too. So he's not
gonna trash him. You know, look, he lost two miles
an houris fastball. He's old. He had a hip injury
late in twenty twenty three, which is one reason why
he was available. I will say he has a history
of significantly out of perform his XCRA. And you know,
(28:37):
so he had a really awful XCRA in twenty twenty four.
It was twelve percentile of four point nine four. That
tells you that it's not just defense, right, that's an
average defense is what you would expect him his RA
to be. He actually did better than that. Right, he
had a four point three to one RA with a
bad defense behind him, and just I remember a lot
of plays where he kind of got let down by
(28:59):
the Yankees defense. But I think that Stroman, I think
that Stroman has a little bit more in him than
what we saw last year. But he's an innings eater.
Now that's just the way to think about it. Like
this is I mean, by modern baseball standards, he's just
a guy who's you know, you have on your roster
(29:22):
to throw one hundred and fifty you know, you know,
he would have hit about one hundred and seventy innings.
I think he had he made thirty four starts, you know,
because he was kind of pulled towards the end of
the season. You know that that's and and you know,
blow average production, and there's value in that. I think
I still think some team is going to pick him
up eventually. I think the Yankees are just kind of
(29:42):
going to go into spring training, see if any of
their guys get injured, see if any other teams guys
get injured, and see if Stroman's velocity ticks back up,
and try to trade him. And you know, and right now,
I'm sure, I'm sure if they wanted to trade him today,
they could. They just have to eat a lot of money.
And it's really just a matter of like trying to
get the number down a little bit for whatever they
would have to eat. I was hoping they trade him
(30:03):
earlier so they could sign someone.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
You know, I will say this, using Stroman's contract is
a crutch to not sign someone, is I think, And
and maybe this has a bit harsh, but I think
it's kind of loser behavior by the Yankees front end.
I agree, like the Yankees can afford to pay people
and also keep Stroman on.
Speaker 1 (30:19):
The roster they can afford to take the risk that
maybe they can't find someone right, Like, like, I get,
I get that there's a budget, and I respect that
there's a budget, but like it's okay just to be like, look,
we're probably going to trade him, but hey, you know,
but how can we'll.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
Fill your team first? And like the Dodgers have the
dog you're talking about the Dodgers only having good contracts.
They still have Chris Taylor on the team and he's
not He was pretty bad.
Speaker 1 (30:42):
Last year and they just resigned Hernandez. It was also bad, right,
So I mean the Dodgers I think, are a bit like, Look,
the Dodgers are a bit of an outlier. They're spending
way more than anybody.
Speaker 2 (30:53):
Sure, but like they're not they're not afraid to keep
adding on even when they're good. They're not afraid to
keep adding Oh I agree.
Speaker 1 (30:59):
I I mean, I just I think, like I accept
that there's a budget. You know, I look at a
team like say the Phillies, who didn't you know, add
a lot of guys. To me, it's just like the
penny pinching, Like the marginal difference here is low, right,
because you're if if Cashman said, look, I'm gonna try
to trade Marcus Stroman. I don't know what's gonna happen.
It might be a spring training thing, it might happen
in May. I'm gonna try to get rid of this contract,
(31:22):
and I want to sign a decent bench player the
Yankees are basically, I mean, either a backup catcher or
just like a player short somewhere on this roster. It
could be third base. Like right now, you are relying
on dj le Mayhew to be either half of a platoon,
the short half of a platoon, or your only real
(31:44):
bench bat, both of which are bad options. And I
think that if you know, if you were to just
accept fate that dj le Mayhew has done and signed
a halfway decent right handed bat some kind I don't
know who that is, but just anybody like jo Mancatta
just signed with the Angels. You just signed him instead
(32:08):
with you know, here's a five million dollar contact with
the Angels. I just think this roster would be so
much better. And like you know, we're talking about a
bench right you know, right now it's a deeper roster
than it was last year or the year before. It's
healthier it's younger. It's like there's a lot of things
that's less vulnerable that make it less vulnerable. But it
(32:29):
really is like one bat short.
Speaker 2 (32:31):
Yeah, the lineup, especially with losing Sodo, Like the lineup
just isn't quite there right now. Like I worry about
this team after Judge Stanton Bellinger even I'm not even
sure about what they're gonna get from Goldsmith this year.
They need a bat. They need a bat in the
worst way possible.
Speaker 1 (32:51):
I see, I disagree a little bit, Like I I
think I'm looking at the Fangrass roster resource page and
I'm looking at their twenty twenty five projections, So what
do they think that a player is how they're gonna do?
And everybody except for Oswaldo Cabrera is projected to have
an OPS over seven hundred, which is a massive improvement
(33:13):
from last year, right, like like just just having like
the Cody Bellinger with a seven sixty one ops, Paul
Goldchman with a seven sixty two ops, Jash Chisholm with
a seven sixty something ops. Like, to me, that is
it's it's replacing a lot of massive black holes with
above average hitters, and it's look it's not gonna be Sodo.
(33:35):
You know, the Yankees aren't gonna be as good offensively
without Sodo. But they really I think I've done about
as good of a job as I could hope for.
Speaker 2 (33:43):
Oh yeah, this is a solid like BB plus offseason.
I find it hard to give them an a when
Soda when you don't bring back Sodo. But Max Freed
is a really good picture. Devin Williams is a really
good picture. They brought back Tim Hill and Lowaiaca. They
have an interesting bullpen, like.
Speaker 1 (33:59):
They have healthy garricle right, they have a Luise Hill
coming off of an actual full season of the pitching.
Speaker 2 (34:06):
There's like the sad thing is the Yankees are probably
still the one of the favorites in the American League
in the America in a pretty weak American league overall,
I think it's them Houston.
Speaker 1 (34:17):
Yeah, So let me get the Pakoda standings up, which
are always kind of fun. Okay, so Pakota gay it
has the Yankees and eighty nine wins in Baltimore. Eighty
eight point five. Okay, that's a Pakota because of the
way it's structured. Will always underrate Aaron Judge because it'll
give Aaron judge like on like a seven win projection
or something, and just the extreme outliers get get kind
(34:39):
of compressed in kind of the way, which is one
of the ways that that Pokoda is successful. So I
think the Yankees are pretty clear favorites at this point. Texas,
not Houston. Texas has it. It's actually the best in
the American League with eighty nine point eight. I don't
believe that for a second. Yeah, not a second.
Speaker 2 (34:56):
It is interesting though that almost every National League leader
is above the Yankees by a pretty decent margin.
Speaker 1 (35:02):
Oh, the AL is clearly the little brother this. Yeah,
I know, I get that, but you know, to me,
like that's like that's like immaterial. It's like what, who
knows who makes the World Series? You know, the Dodgers
just won the World Series with their worst team in
the last like ten years. Yeah, So like I I
to me, like I that that is is is less
kind of persuasive to me then, like, like I feel
(35:25):
like the Yankees stack up so well against other teams
if I look at even like Texas, unless Jacob de
Grom suddenly can can can hold up for a full
season for the first time in forever, Like that's just
a rotation that none of those guys would crack the
Yankees' rotation right now.
Speaker 2 (35:40):
Right, Yeah, the Texas is relying on a lot of
other players and.
Speaker 1 (35:44):
A thirty four year old Marcus Samon right, a thirty
one year old Corey Seeker.
Speaker 2 (35:48):
Cory still pretty good, but yeah, like Dolas Garcia is
coming off a down year and.
Speaker 1 (35:54):
Was never that good to begin with. Like I know
why at Langford is was a good rookie, Like I
think you.
Speaker 2 (35:59):
Might be good Carter for a full season this year.
Speaker 1 (36:03):
I just I look at their team and I'm not
I'm not press.
Speaker 2 (36:06):
Houston. I feel like is more imposing, and even Seattle
at least they have they can't get a lineup, but
at least they have that rotation.
Speaker 1 (36:13):
But these are these are a lot of imposing teams,
meaning that like they're gonna be fighting for their eighty
seventh win in order to win a week division or
I will say I.
Speaker 2 (36:20):
Think that Houston if they get if Houston finds a
way to get Pregnant back, that's probably gonna.
Speaker 1 (36:24):
I agree, I agree with that. Right, if Bragman goes
back to Houston, then like Houston's a powerhouse, Like yeah,
that's because I mean, they lost Kyle Tucker, but they
gained some other guys I.
Speaker 2 (36:31):
Don't but like, yeah, they have. But Christian Javier is
a guy the Yankee should have signed. He's great, He's
a great option. Parady's in that ballpark is uh really
is just gonna hit a ton of home runs in
the Crawford boxes.
Speaker 1 (36:43):
I mean maybe, I mean he didn't know the the
Cubs is a really feel was.
Speaker 2 (36:48):
A bad ballpark for him. I will say, jose Al
Tuvay and left field, I don't know how I feel
about that yet, but for second yeah too. Yeah, but
I mean Houston, I think Houston has done itting about
as good as it can to bring.
Speaker 1 (37:04):
Yeah. Again, like, I think we're looking at a lot
of flawed teams. To me, the Yankees have by far
the fewest flaws.
Speaker 2 (37:11):
I think of the American League right now. Yes, and
they've actually did make him. They did make significant improvement
that in Houston, I think made the most significant improvements.
Speaker 1 (37:18):
And you know, and the third base. Third base is
a little weak, but in my mind, like if the
Yankees can get a seven herd ops at a third
base between a platoon, I'm okay with that. And I'm
like reasonably confident in Peraza to do that. My concern
is that they give a lot of playing time to Linehu.
Speaker 2 (37:33):
Yeah, I think he's he seems like a guy that's
gonna get the most. So.
Speaker 1 (37:38):
By the way, fun fact that the Yankees are going
to have a majority opening day lineup at this point
drafted by the Yankees or signed by the Yankees first
time in a long time.
Speaker 2 (37:47):
Pretty well.
Speaker 1 (37:48):
Yeah, And uh, I was gonna say completely homegrown, largely
home homegrown rotation kind of you get to Hill was
was originally in Minnesota signing and like I think it
was like the Justin Wilson trade or something that they
that they got him, got him and then Clerk Schmid.
So you have a you have a fairly homegrown team
(38:09):
in a way that we haven't seen in a while,
and also much younger team that we've seen in a while.
Right twenty four, twenty seven, thirty three, thirty seven, thirty
thirty five, twenty six, twenty two, twenty six, you know,
pretty pretty young team. So I'm feeling good hanging into
spring training. Pictures and catchers are coming up next week.
We're gonna be recording an episode based upon all the
pictures and catcher's news we get, which is usually not
(38:30):
that much. A week from today, probably gonna talk a
lot about the farm system. A week from today. I mean, actually, Pat,
what are you gonna be watching? Is there like a
storyline in spring like in early spring training, right, so
guys are gonna come in the best shape of their life,
you know, whatever is there? Is there something you're gonna
pay attention to when we start getting like Brian hook
you know, you know stories right at camp right ups
(38:51):
next week?
Speaker 2 (38:53):
I think what are they gonna say about the third
base spot? Dj lom Mayhew is something that I'm very
interesting How they're going to talk about him. I do
wonder one person that I have we haven't seen in
a while. They mentioned ever since Pereira being an option
in the outfield at some point, and they said that
he's healthy and looking good. I know that the strikeout
rate is concerning, but there he still have the decent
(39:14):
power and he hit well in the minor league. So
I'm wondering.
Speaker 1 (39:16):
I think I think they need they need a lefty masher,
and Pereira is as good a bet as anybody yeah
to be who to at least hold his own against lefties,
and he's like a surprisingly good defender. I think it
could be better than Grisham as a backup.
Speaker 2 (39:30):
He might, and Grisham is still that's right, Grisham's still here.
I keep forgetting that he's stay probably.
Speaker 1 (39:34):
And he's gonna be on the team. Right, He's gotta
pay a decent amount of money.
Speaker 2 (39:38):
I'm not a him over for dou Gooh.
Speaker 1 (39:42):
I think Pereira, as far as players, you stash a
triple A like guys you would call up if somebody
were to get injured. I think Pereira is like a
not a bad stash. Yeah, I don't think he's he's
a great prospect, Frankly, like I I think he's probably
gonna hit like two fifteen in the majors or something.
But like you know, usually ustash a kind of a
(40:02):
washed up triple A veteran or uh, you know, what's
his name from two years ago? The lefty who also
played first.
Speaker 2 (40:08):
Base played first base?
Speaker 1 (40:11):
Yeah, oh my god, I can't remember his name? Is
he played way too much with the Yankees twenty three
Yark Yankees. Well, actually there were two lefties that year
that were playing outfield for them that they well, I
forgot about McKinny.
Speaker 2 (40:26):
But Jake Bowers, he actually hit well for Milwaukee last year.
Speaker 1 (40:31):
I think I don't think that he had a good
start to the season, but he was the think and
Willie Calhan right like like those I like Pereerra better
than that type of guy because at least Perearra has
some ceiling, like you can imagine you can imagine Pereira
like taking over of a Bellinger after next year, right,
like he's he's got real potential and his you know
(40:53):
it has some of the best power in the minor leagues.
So yeah, I like that. I'd love to see if
Pereira you know, had some you know, some swing changes
while he was injured. He missed uh the season with
a with Tommy John. I think, uh last year most
of that season. To me, I want to come in.
I want to see you, said Dijit on Mayhew, which
(41:15):
I think, which I think is a is a good one.
I want to see if Chisholm made any adjustments. Chisholm
is so talented, but he's like he's like that super
talented player who's just a little bit raw and was
kind of swinging and everything and I would love it if,
like we hear that he like went to you know,
whatever the hit or quote from the drive line is
(41:36):
and like worked on. Like I I want to see
something there because when he when he's hitting, he's got
real power and stole forty bases and played good defense. Like, like,
there's so much potential in Chisholm quietly had a four
win season last year, and he's been at a pretty
high pace in other seasons when he's before he's gotten injured.
So I Chisholm is is one that I I I'm
(41:59):
very curious to kind of see what the like, what
the vibe is on Chisholm going into camp, other other things. Volpie,
I'm curious of Vope if we hear any swing changes
from Volpi here about anything anything that went on.
Speaker 2 (42:12):
You know, another guy, I'm curious about an approach, What
is his approach, what's it? What does he want to
be as a hitter. I just don't know if we've
gotten that quite yet. I hope we get to see
something like that from him.
Speaker 1 (42:21):
I agree, But uh, I think that's about all of
the stories for today. We've gone forty two minutes. Somehow
we'll be back next week with some spring training, do
some prospect stuff and uh uh and it's almost time
for kind of baseball. We'll get to see some people
playing catch in the backfields and I'm excited. Pat, thank
you for joining me, everybody, thank you for listening. This
has been your Bronx Beat podcast
Thirty nine of the Bronx Beat podcast. I am E. J.
Fagan Tonight, joined by Pat Gun Pat, How are you good?
Speaker 2 (00:20):
How are you doing? J?
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Yeah, I'm doing pretty good. And we have pictures and
catchers reporting it's weird in four days Wednesday, it uh,
you know, it's not quite like Happy New Year for
baseball yet, but it's getting close.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Yeah, it's getting the feeling of baseball being back after.
It feels like this winner went somewhow faster. Well.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
I mean the World Series helps, right, and yeah, it
does well. And also I mean it's an early start
to the season. I think I think their first game
is like on like the March twenty seventh or something
like that, just like yeah, really really early. Yeah, which
means that we get spring training games in like three weeks.
It it's gonna be fun. I'm excited. I miss baseball.
I don't know about you. Like I usually go through
(01:01):
a phase, you know, in the off season where I'm okay, like, okay,
I don't need any more baseball for a little bit.
I'm gonna watch some hockey, I'm gonna do some nonsports stuff,
but I need my baseball. I'm ready.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Let's do here.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Yeah, I feel that I got at the baby at home.
I want I want to sit down every night baby
goes to sleep, watch some baseball. That's the goal. Yeah,
and and uh, we got some stuff to talk about,
mostly odds and ends. Right, the Yankees are haven't made
into big moves, but we're starting to see, uh, you know,
some of the final roster take shape. And then Brian
Cashman did a press conference and talked about some stuff
(01:32):
that we're gonna talk about. So let's just go. Let's
go right here. Tim Hill, Yankees sign him. It's a
it's a one year deal with a with a club
option under three million dollars. You know, one, what do
you think about Tim Hill? But also just is this
now the bullpen? Do we know what the bullpen's gonna
look like?
Speaker 2 (01:49):
I think I'm happy that he's back. Overall, I mean,
it would have been nice for the Yankees to go
out and get someone like a Tanner Scott or some
other big names. But at the same time, the Yankees
made the big splash trading for Devin Williams, and they
gave a pretty hefty price for him, so I understand
them starting to go a little smaller. Elsewhere. It would
have been nice for them to more of a reshaped bullpen,
but at the same time, they kind of are because
(02:11):
they've they relied a lot on Clay Holmes and Tonny
Canley last year, and now both of them are gone,
They're gonna rely more on Devin Williams this year. Obviously,
Luke Weaver having such a great end of the season
makes sense that he's back, and they took a couple
of big swings, and it's nice. Tim Hills one of
the probably one of the better lefty specialists they've had
in the league, and he did a great job in
the postseason. If you wanted the Eighties to get more strikeouts,
(02:32):
then I don't think Tim Hill is the guy for
that because he just doesn't strike people out. But in
terms of whether or not I think the bullpen is done,
it would be nice for them to go get some
other moves, But at the same time, this is probably
it for what they're gonna do.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
They're also they're full right like right now, you have
basically the bullpen that ended the season last year, minus Kainley,
minus what Tim Masa, Clay Holmes, Clay Holmes, and you've
added Fernando Cruz, Devin Williams, JT V.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Baker actually have something from Jonathan Lowiasaca.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
You know, I actually I want to talk about Lewiska.
In a second, I will say, like, one of the
things I'm watching this spring training is Clayton Peter, who
I think has, like, especially reading some of the offseason
scouting reports on him, like has the stuff to potentially
be like a really really good reliever, and he hasn't
(03:29):
really had a chance to prove that he could do that,
but because it wasn't really healthy last year. But once
he got healthy, he came back, his stuff was incredible
and the results were incredible. And so I I that's
that's one thing I'm watching. But I got I though
about Jonathan Lewiska. I want you, I want you to
tell me if I'm crazy. They gave him five million dollars.
In fact, they gave him, I believe, a two year deal. Right,
(03:50):
they gave him like a deal it didn't have to
give him. Jonathan Lewiska has not really been an effective
player since I think twenty two one was this big year.
He's basically had one incredible season but one effective season
and has had kind of mixed success in another season
and then has been injured. I don't think you give
(04:12):
him that much money if you're not confident in him.
They let guys go all the time, right and Lowise guy.
I think if they had let Lowisaca go to some
other team and like the Pirates signed him, I don't
think anyone would have been like, no one would be
yelling at Brian Cashman for letting that happen. You know,
we're talking about a guy who strikeout right, just plummeted
(04:32):
over the last couple of years, maybe related to the injury,
but when he was striking out, just like a decent
number of guys, he was essentially the softest contact pitcher
in the majors. I think there's like real potential that
Lewaiska is your number three, you know, high high, high
end bullpen guy, beside the Weaver and Williams.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
Yeah, to correct, just a slight modification. He was a
one year deal for five million with the club with
a team option for twenty six. Like kind of what
Luke Weaver pitch as well, they can pick it back up,
but yes, it could be two years, ten minutes.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
And like Tim Hill, yeah, yeah, same deal. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
I like in terms of the strikeout right, I don't
know if he is gonna be that like twenty four
to twenty five percent strikeout guy percent of batters. But
like I also in twenty twenty three when he was hurt,
he struck out less than nine percent of batters. I
don't know if that's him either. It's probably somewhere in
the between, and he's probably not gonna be his dominant self,
but like he can be like a decent like soft
(05:27):
contact multiening got potential guy. I that thinker is still
really really good.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
I'll say it was. It was the lowest strucker in
the majors in twenty twenty three, but he still had
an XCRA under three.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Yeah. No, he's still very talented. So I'm fine with
it if they think he's healthy. I'm not against the gamble.
It would have been nice to the only other guy
I'd say is maybe I would have liked is he
canley come back? But I also get that he's very
the extreme change up mostly pitch is a little bit tough,
especially with all the walks, and he's getting older and
Lewisaka's a little younger, and I think I will say this,
(06:01):
in the bullpen, they've took a lot of interesting there
are some interesting swings here. I know Mark Later Junior
didn't pitch well in the regular season, but he had
his moments in the playoffs where I didn't think he
pitched at all, and he actually had some big moments
for them. I thought that Jake Cousins obviously was great
last year. He's gonna be back again. And I thought
they got a good picture from in that deal with
the Reds. I think that with the split with his splitter,
(06:23):
I think could be I think that I think that
they could be there's something there for with with Fernando.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
You know, Baseball Perspectives ran a fun article kind of
about the Yankees just just telling their relievers to throw
one pitch, like throw your best pitch, even if it's
not a fastball, which is what Cainley did. It's what
they basically did with Tim Hill and Cruz has the
has the splitter. I wonder if you were going to
see him throw like, yeah splitter, oh yeah, right right yeah,
(06:52):
But like it's basically a change up, right, It's not
that different from what Cainley was doing. Sure, and it
looks nasty. Has a great pitch. Also, like the Devin
Williams is like the underrated piece that we never talked about.
Like the Yankees also have the best closer in baseball,
right or the second.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Pick that much last year either because of an injury
and he's probably.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
But when he pitched he was better than that.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Oh absolutely right.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
So like I to me, like Williams is such a
game changer in the back end of the bullpen that
you know, yeah, you can say Camley's gone, you can
you know, like they've.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Improved, No, they have, and you're also not we haven't
also mentioned Ian Hamilton could be just better the next
year and Scott f ros.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
Could you know, Hamilton Mark Lighter like all those guys
Jake Cousins like it, only you only need like really
one of them to be good, and you're gonna have
another crop of Matt Blake projects. Yeah to me, Like
the problem last year was that you had too many
lottery tickets and no certain players.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
So like like Luke Weaver, for instance, was a Matt
Blake project, right, And Luke Weaver went from being a
failed Major League starter to being a closer on the
World Series team, and they got a couple of those guys,
Tim Hill, but was cut by the White Sox, uh
and and then was a really good reliever in the
playoffs for the Yankees. Devin Williams, you don't you don't
(08:11):
need Matt Blake to do anything, right, So you have
a guarantee you have a rock and Devin Williams, I'm
really confident Luke Weaver, right, So you have you have
a Luke Weaver, and then you know, of all the
other guys, you just have to hope that you know,
you know, two or three of them can pop out,
and then maybe Blake finds another guy or Clayton Beeter
or something like that, just out of nowhere. Yeah, and
(08:33):
then all of a sudden you have, I think are
potentially really good bullpen. The Yankees bullpen last year was
very average, and if you could, if you could make
it a good bullpen, especially some of these guys you
don't strike out a lot, but have a lot of
ground balls, right, if you could, you know, if Tim
Hill or Jonathan the Wise Guy or someone can get
out there with a good infield defense behind them, I'm
kind of confident, like I think that the bullpen is
(08:54):
sneaky going to be really improved and really like a
real veadge for the Yankees this year. You got some
strikeouts that you didn't have, right, you have hopefully you know,
a healthy Hamilton. You have you You you don't need
to go find Tim Hill to Luke Weaver. You have them.
You're hoping that Mark Leider. You know, it is kind
(09:15):
of back to normal. Like there's just a lot of
really good raw material there. And and I'm I'm just.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
They were last year. Absolutely, they were very reliant on
Clay Holmes last year, and Clay Holmes just he just
wasn't reliable. And even though he even though he out
pitched his numbers.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
Not by that much though. Honestly, I can't believe.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
That Patters said three over three hundred on his sinker.
That just that just makes that doesn't compute well.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
I mean like there was defensive problems with thongs, but
if you look at a stackass page, it's just like
not that impressive.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Yeah, it wasn't. It was he was. He was definitely
better than his e r.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
You know, he had a great ground ball, right and
so you know, like like no doubt that. And we're
gonna talk about a piece of this in the second.
Like the Yankees, infield defense was a problem for for
guys like Clay Holmes, interestingly not for Tim Hill. Right,
it was the the groundball crazy person. Sometimes it was
in the playoffs. But but like I not as much
like but like like that, it's the playoffs whatever, right,
(10:08):
But like the Clay Holmes just like a lot of
those games just just melted down. And at the end
of the day he was still a three point twenty
nine XCRA hitter, which is good but not great. And
I and Devin Williams is the best in the business, right,
So it's just it's a massive upgrade. I then the
Yeggies win three or four more games if they if
they have Devin Williams last year, just because Holmes really
(10:29):
did blow some games, and because Holmes is a strikeout guy,
you don't even need to rely on the defense, right
Holmes Williams Williams is one of the greatest strike eye
pitchers in the majors. So I'm I'm just I I
I'm excited for the bullpen. And you know, obviously things
people can get hurt, you know people, you know, Luke
Weaver's only done it for one year. Like there's all
sorts of like question marks, but having the Rock of
(10:51):
Williams really just makes a lot of those question marks
easier because even if like one or two guys doesn't perform,
you still have basically a guarantee and he's unless he's
injured at the back end of the bullpen. And plus,
the airbender is a fun pitch.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
As an avatar fan, I'm very happy the Airbenders.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
I mean there, I appreciate a good sports nickname, yes,
and I think, as I mentioned on this show, Thor's
Hammer is still my favorite nickname for a pitch. But
the airbender is pretty close. It's pretty good. Yeah, you know,
I love you and Hamilton, but the you know, the
the the slambio, you know, Okay, it's all right, it's
it's it's fine. We combined two words together and one
(11:30):
words is in Spanish. That's kind of fun. But but
the airbender, that's a that's that's a nice one, and
I'm excited to watch it happened. Also check let's see
how often the Yankees have them throw the airbender, because
that's what they do. I think the Yankees have I
believe four of like the most dominant pitches in their
class like the most dominant change up, the most dominant splitter,
the most the most dominant slider in their bullpen, which
(11:54):
is kind of fun. Okay, A question we haven't talked
about yet this offseason, but I think it's like strangely important.
Is the backup catcher? The Yankees backup catcher is going
to get a lot of play, A preaches because he's
a backup catcher. You rest your catchers. I think Austin Wells,
even though he's young, he's you know, he needs to rest.
(12:15):
We saw it with Adlee Rushman last year. You really
it's you're really playing with fire if you play your
catcher too much. And so, who is going to be
the backup catcher is a is a really tough question.
Jose Travino was it last year. It was pretty good, right,
especially on defense, but you know, as far as backup
catchers go, he was one of the better ones in
(12:36):
the league. And I want to ask you right now,
because I don't know the answer, who is the Yankees
backup catcher.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
Right now? It's probably either Alex Chance, Alex Jackson or
j c Escara. Jackson is the player they got in
that trade, and they don't really need to go to him.
I mean, and probably the most notable thing is that
he had a three run homer off Dester Cortes the
stadium over the summer last year in a random game
with the Rays. But he's kind of just a career
backup catcher type player, decent deep defender, not much of
(13:06):
a bat so.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
That an awful bat right, like a bat that makes
Hojoji Dravino.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Look like a slug Yeah, oh yeah, he's a way
He's weaker than that. And the other option right now
is J. C. At Scara, who is twenty nine years
old and has not made the majors yet but did
have some pretty good success of the plate Last year
at Triple A. He hit three hundred or a four
hundred on base and a five hundred slugging in fifty
two games. Is that sustainable? I don't know. He's a
twenty nine year old who hasn't reached the majors yet,
(13:32):
but he could be someone that gives it. The only
issue is that we're talking about a platoon. He also
hits lefty, which is the same as Austin wells Uh,
and the Yankees might want to have some kind of
two option there, but otherwise he he could be an option,
or it could be someone that we're not even talking
about yet that isn't on the Yankees. Forty man.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
Yeah, and I would be shocked if they make a trade.
But I am I think it's a scar. I think
Alex Jackson is a triple A guy, like he's just
like he is the guy that you call it if
someone gets injured and you just need someone a triple
A who's a veteran. I was curious about a Scar
for a couple of reasons. So the background him, he
was like a former I think, a kind of decent prospect,
(14:13):
but not not top top prospect for Baltimore basically flames out,
goes to the independent leagues, does something to fix himself there,
and the Yankee signed him before last season. He was
okay at Double A and then it just was incredible
at Triple A as a hitter. And my question was
always like how real is that? Like this is this?
(14:34):
Can this guy play defense? And I didn't know, and
I kept I kept looking for scattering reports and that
could find nothing on the internet. And then Fangrafts just
published their top Yankees prospect ranking and they had a
scouting report on his SCARA, and they gave him sixty
fielding and fifty five through, meaning that he can play
really really good defense. And given that he's a Yankee prospect,
(14:55):
my guess is he can also frame, probably, and so
you might be talking about a pretty good defensive player,
maybe really good defensive player. And then you know, the
question is like how real are his is his hitting
in the minors, and it doesn't have to be that
real in order for him to be a solid backup,
So I think it. I mean, I think they probably
would prefer to keep metriple a as like to give
(15:17):
him some more time there and or make him a yeah,
a call up, some make its injured. But I think
he's actually like basically, I think he's the clear favorite
without a.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Trade probably, And I think a lot of the things
this season is how much will Austin Wells can improve,
which doesn't really answer much as a backup catcher, but like,
if Wells can be like solid against enough against lefties
and can play most of the season, that puts a
lot less weight on a backup catcher situation, because like
if Wells just doesn't have the poor start in the
poor finish this season, his numbers look a lot different
(15:51):
because like, from like June to August, he was one
of the best offensive catchers in the league. So I
don't want him to play Like, no, he probably should
probably pay more like twenty one hundred and thirty games,
but like still like like sal Perez can play that
many games, but there's really not that many catchers who.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
Play, you know, all but twenty games.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
Oh yeah, no, yeah, that's fair. It's a lot on
your It's a lot, especially if you want to make
a long postseason run in there. That's a lot out
of one person. The fact that Wells is I think
a lot. Remember when we were talking about him as
a prospect, we were all like, as well as good
enough defensively to stay at catcher, and he ends up
just being a really good one of the better defensive.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
And not just like a good framer right like framan
can feel like magic sometimes, like his stack cast numbers
are really good for blocking and average for throwing. Throwing
was always the question, like could he throw, like can
he recontrol the running game? Average isn't great, but it's average, yeah,
And then he can block and it's just like and
frankly it seems like he's good the soft stuff that
you can't measure too. So yeah, I mean I think
(16:48):
Austin Wells. If Austin Wells becomes your like long term
like catcher who can also hit in the middle of
the order, I mean, that's that's incredible change. That's a
frame with ba Is.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
I think the powers where he's gonna need more of
because he's good at getting on base and he can
get work pictures.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
But I think he needs to pull the ball mark right,
like he he hits her power in the in the gaps,
and he doesn't have enough power to really consistently get
over the fence there, right. But I feel like Yankee Stadium,
if he could just kind of get a little closer
to the foul pole, like like just just tweak his
swing a little bit, I wonder if he could be
that good. But also I don't mind him being like
a fifteen home run, you know, with lots of gap
(17:27):
doubles power and average right like to I'm cool with
that too, And it's.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
Just it's just for this season. Outside of Aaron Judge
and Stanton and Bellinger, the power is I think real,
even maybe not even Bellinger, the power chism chism, yeah,
gold Schmidt gold Schmith's okay. I think that there's some
there's some pop questions, especially we're gonna talk about the infield,
the SEC. If they go with what we think, they're
probably gonna do a third base right now, given the options,
(17:52):
they're gonna need some They're gonna need some pop. So
it would be nice if Wells can start any more
than that. But we'll see.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
Yeah. I think, like my more bigger concern is like,
is it was it? Was it actually health in September?
Like I just assume his numbers went were just off
a cliff, that it was health related and he just
never said anything publicly about it. But maybe maybe there
was also, like you know, the book, the Major League
Book figured out Wells maybe a little bit of both.
(18:21):
And I really do want to see him. I expect
to see him kind of come out of the gate
pretty quickly this year and and be like a full
fledged version of himself, you know, even if he's only
an average hitter, Like it's great, he was a three
plus win player last year, but I just I feel
like he's got another gear and I want to see
it right away.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
Yeah, I wonder how much. I wonder if I hope
it wasn't any fatigue either because he's played because he
played it. He did, you're talking about it because of
the injuries. He played a ton in the middle of
the season.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
And then deep into the postseason. He played every postseason game,
or almost every All right, let's I want to move
on to talk about some current events. Brian Cashman gave
an interview and he said two really interesting things, and
I want to get your reaction to it. So about
Glaber Torres. Uh, we heard that the plan when the
(19:10):
Yankees traded for Chisholm was to immediately move Torres to
third base, and I have Chisholm play third, I play second.
But Torres refused to move, and so Chisholm ended up
having to go to third instead. What are your thoughts
on this revelation.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
It's a I mean revelation, is just him kind of
saying it out loud, because Glaber even said it himself,
I'm I'm a second baseman. I play second base right
after around.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
The time, I mean, Glaber's refusal was quite Yeah, and
even I think there were reports and I don't think
this is completely verified, but the reports that in the Nationals.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
He could have signed a contract with the Nationals, but
didn't because he didn't want to play third base, like
Labor has made it clear. And in fairness with Labor,
the Yankees did play around his position a bunch with
him at shortstop versus the second base and if he
feels more comfortable at second base, I.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
Get but but in fairness to the Yankees, he is
one of the worst second basement of the league.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
He's not a great second basement. I'm not. We're not
acting like he's uh, we're not.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
He's awful, right Like, he's been seventeenth percentile two years
in a row on defense, and frankly, like I think
that underrates just because on top of like not having range,
he has like the boneheaded moves problem.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
Yeah, he's not on dress and menace out there for sure.
It's is is kind of given interesting. What if if
Labor was willing to go to third base, would he
be still a Yankee and would the Yankees in because
he probably be a better third base option even than
a lot of the internal options Yankees have right now.
I mean defensively, we don't know how he would have
played at third base.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
And Jazz is a second his best position is second base, right,
and so so you have like a double yeah, like
like a double improvement, or at least do you have
an improvement at at second and you know, maybe maybe
they both struggle a little bit of third, like like
they right there.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
Yeah, It's just it's just kind of a fascinating move
there that maybe did the Yankees ask Joras before they
made the Chishm trade or it's just what whatever that
it's it stinks and it would have been nice because
Labor Labor's I hope Labor has a breakout season in Detroit,
but also because it feels like there's a lot of
weird randomness about Labor. He where he is kind of
(21:14):
an inconsistent player, and I think he is very maddening.
I'm not the I'm not mad that the Yankees are
moving on from him, But at the same time, I
do think the Yankees are gonna miss him a bit
when they're seeing some of the offensive numbers. Because even
Chisholm has a talented player, it is can be also
fairly inconsistent. And the Yankees option is at third base
or Oswallow, Caperra Oswald, Parassa.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
DJ Lemayhew, you know, I I get where you're coming from.
But let me just read you his waited wait waited
on base percentage over the last four years, right, three
oh seven, three twenty eight, three forty six, three thirteen. Like,
like I get that Clabortors has a gear that he
can get into and becoming a very good player right
like August, like August fifteenth through the end of the year.
(21:56):
That was him. We saw a little bit in the
early playoffs, kind of fell apart later in the playoffs.
But like I also can count on and maybe this
is Yank He's coaching, right, Maybe maybe this isn't completely
his fault, but like I can count on clabor Torres
to go into an awful stretch at some point every season, sure,
and like that that that is like it nets out
(22:18):
to a slightly above average hitter. Sure, But I feel
like because kind of like how Stanton hits the ball
one hundred and twenty miles an hour, everyone once in a
while we think he's better than he is. I think
that labor Torres going on like a really hot two
months every year makes us feel like he's a more
talented player than he is. And again, maybe this is
(22:38):
just a coaching thing that other teams can fix. Like,
I think that had you resigned him, he would be
about a three twenty five OHPA Globle player at max right.
I mean he was three thirteen over a full season
last year, including that really great month and a half.
I just I am, I am. I increasingly think that
that's just part of his his game and one reason
(23:00):
he's not a Yankee anymore.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
The way you described it kind of just makes him
sound like the perfect Aaron Boone Yankee in a way
because of just the flashes, but also just these months
where you can't You're just like, what are they doing?
What is he doing?
Speaker 1 (23:13):
Look, he's a twenty eight year old who got a
one year deal, right, Yeah, like baseball does not.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
It's very clear that the Yankees were not alone and
not being enthusiastic with Torres like the rest of the league.
There weren't probably a ton of many offers for him,
and he didn't And he had a bad walk here.
He had a bad walk here, no no question about it.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
He had a bad walk here. I think Detroit's a
good park for him. It's so big, like the big
outfield I think is great for Torres.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
It could be helped for his doubles, and we'll see
how he does. I think that's gonna be. It'll be
good for him to play with a different coaching staff.
I mean, I think frankly, Ag Hinch is probably a
better manager than Aaron Boone. You think probably, so I
think having someone, hopefully maybe someone different. I just think
about how Gary Sanchez had two of his best years
of his career playing with Joe Girardi and then with Boone.
(23:56):
It just kind of felt like Sanchez never quite hit
that same level. Again, I don't know if it was
Girardi that got the best out of Santez because Girardi
clearly didn't work as a manager in Philadelphia, but.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
Like Sanchez has been pretty pedestrians.
Speaker 2 (24:08):
And yeah he's now a backup catcher in Baltimore, So
I get, I get sometimes it just happened, but like,
I don't know, it just got. Glabor has kind of
just feels like a similar type artist Sanchez of his
first two years where he's amazing, you think he's the
future star, and then some mediocre discs. But then in fairness,
I think Glabor has twenty twenty two and twenty three
were better stretches than most of what we got from
(24:32):
Gary Post his first two seasons.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
But yeah, Sanchez's lows were lower than Glaber's. Yeah, his
highs were higher too. I mean that he almost won
Rookie of the Year and like, oh absolutely six weeks right, Yeah, yeah,
so yeah, I look, I wish glab were the best.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
I think we now know exactly why they get did
not give him the time of day in free agency.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
Yeah, it probably wouldn't help.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
I mean, remember Jazz Chisen was like whatever it takes
to help the team.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Yeah, and he did a pretty good job at third
base all things considered.
Speaker 1 (24:58):
Yeah, and he clearly was on inferable there and you know,
was learning a position. And you know, I just I
feel like, I mean, I love Jastitisham and I just
feel like I feel like that trade is going to
go down very positively, but could have gotten down even
better had he been playing second last year.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
I feel like he's going to be probably makes it
more clear that he's more than likely to play second
base this year, or at least start.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
All Right, the other quote we got out of Cashman there,
he was asked about basically he's gonna trade Marcus Stroman,
and you know, Cashman is not going to say yes
to that, right, Like he can't, you know, like these
things are not negotiating public. And he also really just
can't be like, yeah, I'm trying to trade him, because
if he don't, then you have a problem. But what
he basically said was like, you know, maybe we'll see,
(25:43):
but also, you know, we'd like to have him on
the team, and we think we let him down a
little bit last year, implying that essentially that ground ball
pitcher Marcus Stroman terrible Yankees defense. A lot of stroman
struggles last year can be attributed to the defense, not
to Stroman. I'm curious, Pat, what do you think about
that that frame.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
I don't agree with it entirely, because if he had
pitched better, I would agree with it. But I think
the way we talked, I think you were right during
the season is that Stroman kind of overperformed beginning in
the year and then things kind of started to fall
apart from him. I mean, this is a guy who
struck out fewer than seventeen percent of batters. His walk
rate took it was about almost nine percent, way too
(26:25):
high for a picture of his quality. He gave a
hard contact he is expected. Slugging percentage was four thirty
for a ground ball pitcher. You can't be giving up
that much pop pop, and he was. And it's just
like so much of the season, it was just kind
of hard to watch him pitch because he's at his
best when he's able to work quickly and get hitter
bang bang bank, keep throwing pitches, get hitters out, and
like he just wasn't really able to do that. He
(26:47):
just couldn't he kiss wasn't really throwing strikes. I mean
that I think probably the most notable starts. That's one
of the starts that I remember is his Boston start
at Fenway. He's won the game and I think in
extra innings, but like the I think scored three runs
in the first inning after a couple of homers, and
then Stroman gives it right back and isn't even able
to finish three innings. I think in that game. And
(27:08):
then against Baltimore the last week of the season, right
after Cortez got hurt, Stroman gets an opportunity to back
in the rotation and he just was horrible and he
and I think it is noteworthy that the Yankees probably
could have used pitching help in the postseason with especially
in Hamilton getting hurt and he didn't throw a single
inning or single pitch in the entire World Series run.
The Yankees went to Tim Masa out of the bullpen
(27:30):
before they went to Mark Marcus Stroman. Now, I do
think there's a possibility of Stroman improving next year, but
also he has an eighteen million dollar contract this year.
Of course, teams aren't gonna want to pick that up
after the season he had last year at his age
thirty three season for a ground ball pitcher who can't
strike pitchers out, who's also walking more batters than he
(27:51):
has been during his career and is also getting hit hard.
Like he just wasn't very good last year. Aches might
get and the Yankees might just be stuck with him
at the back and back and did the rotation unless
they sell him with something of valuable prospect or something.
So yeah, it just kind of reads as I get.
I respect Cashman for defending Stroman. I think that there
(28:12):
is something left in him, but yeah, he wasn't very
good last year and he's definitely six.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
He was trying to trade him too. So he's not
gonna trash him. You know, look, he lost two miles
an houris fastball. He's old. He had a hip injury
late in twenty twenty three, which is one reason why
he was available. I will say he has a history
of significantly out of perform his XCRA. And you know,
(28:37):
so he had a really awful XCRA in twenty twenty four.
It was twelve percentile of four point nine four. That
tells you that it's not just defense, right, that's an
average defense is what you would expect him his RA
to be. He actually did better than that. Right, he
had a four point three to one RA with a
bad defense behind him, and just I remember a lot
of plays where he kind of got let down by
(28:59):
the Yankees defense. But I think that Stroman, I think
that Stroman has a little bit more in him than
what we saw last year. But he's an innings eater.
Now that's just the way to think about it. Like
this is I mean, by modern baseball standards, he's just
a guy who's you know, you have on your roster
(29:22):
to throw one hundred and fifty you know, you know,
he would have hit about one hundred and seventy innings.
I think he had he made thirty four starts, you know,
because he was kind of pulled towards the end of
the season. You know that that's and and you know,
blow average production, and there's value in that. I think
I still think some team is going to pick him
up eventually. I think the Yankees are just kind of
(29:42):
going to go into spring training, see if any of
their guys get injured, see if any other teams guys
get injured, and see if Stroman's velocity ticks back up,
and try to trade him. And you know, and right now,
I'm sure, I'm sure if they wanted to trade him today,
they could. They just have to eat a lot of money.
And it's really just a matter of like trying to
get the number down a little bit for whatever they
would have to eat. I was hoping they trade him
(30:03):
earlier so they could sign someone.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
You know, I will say this, using Stroman's contract is
a crutch to not sign someone, is I think, And
and maybe this has a bit harsh, but I think
it's kind of loser behavior by the Yankees front end.
I agree, like the Yankees can afford to pay people
and also keep Stroman on.
Speaker 1 (30:19):
The roster they can afford to take the risk that
maybe they can't find someone right, Like, like, I get,
I get that there's a budget, and I respect that
there's a budget, but like it's okay just to be like, look,
we're probably going to trade him, but hey, you know,
but how can we'll.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
Fill your team first? And like the Dodgers have the
dog you're talking about the Dodgers only having good contracts.
They still have Chris Taylor on the team and he's
not He was pretty bad.
Speaker 1 (30:42):
Last year and they just resigned Hernandez. It was also bad, right,
So I mean the Dodgers I think, are a bit like, Look,
the Dodgers are a bit of an outlier. They're spending
way more than anybody.
Speaker 2 (30:53):
Sure, but like they're not they're not afraid to keep
adding on even when they're good. They're not afraid to
keep adding Oh I agree.
Speaker 1 (30:59):
I I mean, I just I think, like I accept
that there's a budget. You know, I look at a
team like say the Phillies, who didn't you know, add
a lot of guys. To me, it's just like the
penny pinching, Like the marginal difference here is low, right,
because you're if if Cashman said, look, I'm gonna try
to trade Marcus Stroman. I don't know what's gonna happen.
It might be a spring training thing, it might happen
in May. I'm gonna try to get rid of this contract,
(31:22):
and I want to sign a decent bench player the
Yankees are basically, I mean, either a backup catcher or
just like a player short somewhere on this roster. It
could be third base. Like right now, you are relying
on dj le Mayhew to be either half of a platoon,
the short half of a platoon, or your only real
(31:44):
bench bat, both of which are bad options. And I
think that if you know, if you were to just
accept fate that dj le Mayhew has done and signed
a halfway decent right handed bat some kind I don't
know who that is, but just anybody like jo Mancatta
just signed with the Angels. You just signed him instead
(32:08):
with you know, here's a five million dollar contact with
the Angels. I just think this roster would be so
much better. And like you know, we're talking about a
bench right you know, right now it's a deeper roster
than it was last year or the year before. It's
healthier it's younger. It's like there's a lot of things
that's less vulnerable that make it less vulnerable. But it
(32:29):
really is like one bat short.
Speaker 2 (32:31):
Yeah, the lineup, especially with losing Sodo, Like the lineup
just isn't quite there right now. Like I worry about
this team after Judge Stanton Bellinger even I'm not even
sure about what they're gonna get from Goldsmith this year.
They need a bat. They need a bat in the
worst way possible.
Speaker 1 (32:51):
I see, I disagree a little bit, Like I I
think I'm looking at the Fangrass roster resource page and
I'm looking at their twenty twenty five projections, So what
do they think that a player is how they're gonna do?
And everybody except for Oswaldo Cabrera is projected to have
an OPS over seven hundred, which is a massive improvement
(33:13):
from last year, right, like like just just having like
the Cody Bellinger with a seven sixty one ops, Paul
Goldchman with a seven sixty two ops, Jash Chisholm with
a seven sixty something ops. Like, to me, that is
it's it's replacing a lot of massive black holes with
above average hitters, and it's look it's not gonna be Sodo.
(33:35):
You know, the Yankees aren't gonna be as good offensively
without Sodo. But they really I think I've done about
as good of a job as I could hope for.
Speaker 2 (33:43):
Oh yeah, this is a solid like BB plus offseason.
I find it hard to give them an a when
Soda when you don't bring back Sodo. But Max Freed
is a really good picture. Devin Williams is a really
good picture. They brought back Tim Hill and Lowaiaca. They
have an interesting bullpen, like.
Speaker 1 (33:59):
They have healthy garricle right, they have a Luise Hill
coming off of an actual full season of the pitching.
Speaker 2 (34:06):
There's like the sad thing is the Yankees are probably
still the one of the favorites in the American League
in the America in a pretty weak American league overall,
I think it's them Houston.
Speaker 1 (34:17):
Yeah, So let me get the Pakoda standings up, which
are always kind of fun. Okay, so Pakota gay it
has the Yankees and eighty nine wins in Baltimore. Eighty
eight point five. Okay, that's a Pakota because of the
way it's structured. Will always underrate Aaron Judge because it'll
give Aaron judge like on like a seven win projection
or something, and just the extreme outliers get get kind
(34:39):
of compressed in kind of the way, which is one
of the ways that that Pokoda is successful. So I
think the Yankees are pretty clear favorites at this point. Texas,
not Houston. Texas has it. It's actually the best in
the American League with eighty nine point eight. I don't
believe that for a second. Yeah, not a second.
Speaker 2 (34:56):
It is interesting though that almost every National League leader
is above the Yankees by a pretty decent margin.
Speaker 1 (35:02):
Oh, the AL is clearly the little brother this. Yeah,
I know, I get that, but you know, to me,
like that's like that's like immaterial. It's like what, who
knows who makes the World Series? You know, the Dodgers
just won the World Series with their worst team in
the last like ten years. Yeah, So like I I
to me, like I that that is is is less
kind of persuasive to me then, like, like I feel
(35:25):
like the Yankees stack up so well against other teams
if I look at even like Texas, unless Jacob de
Grom suddenly can can can hold up for a full
season for the first time in forever, Like that's just
a rotation that none of those guys would crack the
Yankees' rotation right now.
Speaker 2 (35:40):
Right, Yeah, the Texas is relying on a lot of
other players and.
Speaker 1 (35:44):
A thirty four year old Marcus Samon right, a thirty
one year old Corey Seeker.
Speaker 2 (35:48):
Cory still pretty good, but yeah, like Dolas Garcia is
coming off a down year and.
Speaker 1 (35:54):
Was never that good to begin with. Like I know
why at Langford is was a good rookie, Like I
think you.
Speaker 2 (35:59):
Might be good Carter for a full season this year.
Speaker 1 (36:03):
I just I look at their team and I'm not
I'm not press.
Speaker 2 (36:06):
Houston. I feel like is more imposing, and even Seattle
at least they have they can't get a lineup, but
at least they have that rotation.
Speaker 1 (36:13):
But these are these are a lot of imposing teams,
meaning that like they're gonna be fighting for their eighty
seventh win in order to win a week division or
I will say I.
Speaker 2 (36:20):
Think that Houston if they get if Houston finds a
way to get Pregnant back, that's probably gonna.
Speaker 1 (36:24):
I agree, I agree with that. Right, if Bragman goes
back to Houston, then like Houston's a powerhouse, Like yeah,
that's because I mean, they lost Kyle Tucker, but they
gained some other guys I.
Speaker 2 (36:31):
Don't but like, yeah, they have. But Christian Javier is
a guy the Yankee should have signed. He's great, He's
a great option. Parady's in that ballpark is uh really
is just gonna hit a ton of home runs in
the Crawford boxes.
Speaker 1 (36:43):
I mean maybe, I mean he didn't know the the
Cubs is a really feel was.
Speaker 2 (36:48):
A bad ballpark for him. I will say, jose Al
Tuvay and left field, I don't know how I feel
about that yet, but for second yeah too. Yeah, but
I mean Houston, I think Houston has done itting about
as good as it can to bring.
Speaker 1 (37:04):
Yeah. Again, like, I think we're looking at a lot
of flawed teams. To me, the Yankees have by far
the fewest flaws.
Speaker 2 (37:11):
I think of the American League right now. Yes, and
they've actually did make him. They did make significant improvement
that in Houston, I think made the most significant improvements.
Speaker 1 (37:18):
And you know, and the third base. Third base is
a little weak, but in my mind, like if the
Yankees can get a seven herd ops at a third
base between a platoon, I'm okay with that. And I'm
like reasonably confident in Peraza to do that. My concern
is that they give a lot of playing time to Linehu.
Speaker 2 (37:33):
Yeah, I think he's he seems like a guy that's
gonna get the most. So.
Speaker 1 (37:38):
By the way, fun fact that the Yankees are going
to have a majority opening day lineup at this point
drafted by the Yankees or signed by the Yankees first
time in a long time.
Speaker 2 (37:47):
Pretty well.
Speaker 1 (37:48):
Yeah, And uh, I was gonna say completely homegrown, largely
home homegrown rotation kind of you get to Hill was
was originally in Minnesota signing and like I think it
was like the Justin Wilson trade or something that they
that they got him, got him and then Clerk Schmid.
So you have a you have a fairly homegrown team
(38:09):
in a way that we haven't seen in a while,
and also much younger team that we've seen in a while.
Right twenty four, twenty seven, thirty three, thirty seven, thirty
thirty five, twenty six, twenty two, twenty six, you know,
pretty pretty young team. So I'm feeling good hanging into
spring training. Pictures and catchers are coming up next week.
We're gonna be recording an episode based upon all the
pictures and catcher's news we get, which is usually not
(38:30):
that much. A week from today, probably gonna talk a
lot about the farm system. A week from today. I mean, actually, Pat,
what are you gonna be watching? Is there like a
storyline in spring like in early spring training, right, so
guys are gonna come in the best shape of their life,
you know, whatever is there? Is there something you're gonna
pay attention to when we start getting like Brian hook
you know, you know stories right at camp right ups
(38:51):
next week?
Speaker 2 (38:53):
I think what are they gonna say about the third
base spot? Dj lom Mayhew is something that I'm very
interesting How they're going to talk about him. I do
wonder one person that I have we haven't seen in
a while. They mentioned ever since Pereira being an option
in the outfield at some point, and they said that
he's healthy and looking good. I know that the strikeout
rate is concerning, but there he still have the decent
(39:14):
power and he hit well in the minor league. So
I'm wondering.
Speaker 1 (39:16):
I think I think they need they need a lefty masher,
and Pereira is as good a bet as anybody yeah
to be who to at least hold his own against lefties,
and he's like a surprisingly good defender. I think it
could be better than Grisham as a backup.
Speaker 2 (39:30):
He might, and Grisham is still that's right, Grisham's still here.
I keep forgetting that he's stay probably.
Speaker 1 (39:34):
And he's gonna be on the team. Right, He's gotta
pay a decent amount of money.
Speaker 2 (39:38):
I'm not a him over for dou Gooh.
Speaker 1 (39:42):
I think Pereira, as far as players, you stash a
triple A like guys you would call up if somebody
were to get injured. I think Pereira is like a
not a bad stash. Yeah, I don't think he's he's
a great prospect, Frankly, like I I think he's probably
gonna hit like two fifteen in the majors or something.
But like you know, usually ustash a kind of a
(40:02):
washed up triple A veteran or uh, you know, what's
his name from two years ago? The lefty who also
played first.
Speaker 2 (40:08):
Base played first base?
Speaker 1 (40:11):
Yeah, oh my god, I can't remember his name? Is
he played way too much with the Yankees twenty three
Yark Yankees. Well, actually there were two lefties that year
that were playing outfield for them that they well, I
forgot about McKinny.
Speaker 2 (40:26):
But Jake Bowers, he actually hit well for Milwaukee last year.
Speaker 1 (40:31):
I think I don't think that he had a good
start to the season, but he was the think and
Willie Calhan right like like those I like Pereerra better
than that type of guy because at least Perearra has
some ceiling, like you can imagine you can imagine Pereira
like taking over of a Bellinger after next year, right,
like he's he's got real potential and his you know
(40:53):
it has some of the best power in the minor leagues.
So yeah, I like that. I'd love to see if
Pereira you know, had some you know, some swing changes
while he was injured. He missed uh the season with
a with Tommy John. I think, uh last year most
of that season. To me, I want to come in.
I want to see you, said Dijit on Mayhew, which
(41:15):
I think, which I think is a is a good one.
I want to see if Chisholm made any adjustments. Chisholm
is so talented, but he's like he's like that super
talented player who's just a little bit raw and was
kind of swinging and everything and I would love it if,
like we hear that he like went to you know,
whatever the hit or quote from the drive line is
(41:36):
and like worked on. Like I I want to see
something there because when he when he's hitting, he's got
real power and stole forty bases and played good defense. Like, like,
there's so much potential in Chisholm quietly had a four
win season last year, and he's been at a pretty
high pace in other seasons when he's before he's gotten injured.
So I Chisholm is is one that I I I'm
(41:59):
very curious to kind of see what the like, what
the vibe is on Chisholm going into camp, other other things. Volpie,
I'm curious of Vope if we hear any swing changes
from Volpi here about anything anything that went on.
Speaker 2 (42:12):
You know, another guy, I'm curious about an approach, What
is his approach, what's it? What does he want to
be as a hitter. I just don't know if we've
gotten that quite yet. I hope we get to see
something like that from him.
Speaker 1 (42:21):
I agree, But uh, I think that's about all of
the stories for today. We've gone forty two minutes. Somehow
we'll be back next week with some spring training, do
some prospect stuff and uh uh and it's almost time
for kind of baseball. We'll get to see some people
playing catch in the backfields and I'm excited. Pat, thank
you for joining me, everybody, thank you for listening. This
has been your Bronx Beat podcast
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