Adam Ottavino

New York Yankees Analysis: Adam Ottavino must pitch well for the Yankees

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New York Yankees, Adam Ottavino

New York Yankees relief pitcher Adam Ottavino is a veteran reliever that has spent most of his career with the Colorado Rockies. He started as a starter for the St. Luis Cardinals. But as a reliever, he pitched successfully for the Rockies for seven years before becoming a New York Yankee. He had a relatively pedestrian 2017. After that, he set up a full-size bullpen in downtown New York City. Ottavino is a New York boy attending the city’s public schools. Ottavino, in his new gym, applied technology and high-speed cameras to tweak his pitching style.

Adam Ottavino mostly fixed his control for his efforts and had a 6-4 season with the Rockies with a 2.43 ERA in 77 innings of relief. That kind of season got him a $27 million three year contract with the New York Yankees. The Yankees got their monies worth in 2019 he Ottavino had a 1.90 ERA and a record of 6-5. However, this collapse at the season ended was concerning. Ottavino is now in the last year of that contract.

Ottavino went into 2020 with much hope of being a combination stopper and setup man for the Yankees. Unfortunately, he ended the season 2-3 with a dismal 5.89 ERA while pitching only 18 innings. He didn’t lose velocity and didn’t lose control, but he collapsed even quicker this short season. In one game against the Toronto Blue Jays, he gave up two walks, four hits, and six earned runs without recording an out-in-the- eventual 12-7 Yankee loss. In the postseason, he only pitched 2/3’s of an inning and gave up a run.

Ottavino, in interviews, couldn’t really explain what was going on. If you can’t determine what’s wrong, it really difficult to make the adjustments necessary to correct the deficiency. By the time the playoffs came around, Ottavino was all but lost, pitching just two-thirds of an inning and allowing a run against the Tampa Bay Rays in Game Two of the American League Division Series. Even with Ottavino’s past regular season successes, he’s been a train wreck in every postseason; small sample sizes be damned. He currently owns a 7.04 ERA in 12 games.

Ottavino is now in the last year of his contract with the Yankees; if he doesn’t improve this year, he will be packing his bags. Although Ottavino doesn’t know what’s wrong, he seems to lose gas to the casual observer as the season progresses both in 2019 and 2020. For him, that means he loses his ability to pitch to the corners. In 2020 he threw meatballs right down the middle of the plate. Those meatballs counted for 12.4% of his pitches compared to a 7.7% rate during his career.

With Tommy Kahnle gone for the season after having Tommy John surgery and signing with the Lost Angeles Dodgers, Ottavino will certainly get plenty of opportunities to show his stuff. Ottavino is close to but not quite one of the best relievers in baseball. His performance in 2021 with the Yankees will have an enormous bearing on the state of the Yankees’ bullpen as well as his checking account.

At 35 years old, time is running out for Ottavino. The Yankees not likely to sign any big names to the bullpen this year must perform well for the Yankees. Going into free agency at the end of the season, his worth on the market will be based on how well he does this season.

 

 

New York Yankees Analysis: Is It time for the Yankees/Mets trade ban to be lifted?

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New York Mets, Brandon Nimmo

The New York Yankees and the New York Mets have been mortal enemies since the time of owner George M. Steinbrenner took over the Yankees and declared the team would be the preeminent New York sports team. Ever since then, the two teams have been rivals as Steinbrenner demanded that the Yankees be successful over their crosstown team every time they were to meet up. But while they fight it out for space on the tabloids’ back pages, these two New York clubs rarely collaborate on trades. Just 15 times since the Mets joined the fold 58 years ago have the crosstown rivals put aside their differences to complete a deal in the hopes of improving their respective organizations.

With a new operating partner in Hal Steinbrenner and a new New York Mets owner, maybe it’s time to put that near trade ban aside for the benefit of both teams.  The Met’s new owner Steven Cohen has made it known that he wants to raise the Mets to the top of the National League. At least initially, the trades between the Yanks and Mets have not always resulted in direct changes to their big league clubs. However, there have been several moves that have made an impact. Maybe now is again the time to look at possible trade deals.

Here are some trades that make some sense for both organizations. The Mets have a surplus in Brandon Nimmo, especially if they sign George Springer, who seems to be a Met target. Nimmo would be an upgrade from Brett Gardner, who the Yankee cut lose of. Nimmo is as good as a fourth outfielder gets these days, though he’s not quite a star or a 162-game player. He had a bum 2019 season for the Mets but bounced back when many players didn’t play well in the bizarre 2020 season. He slashed a .280/.404/.484 line.

But like any deal, the New York Yankees would have to give to get. The Yankees would likely have to give up prospects such as Luis Gil and Yoendrys Gomez, Gomez for the Mets is Major League ready, with Gil likely following a year or two later. This would move players that have no 2021 likely value to them.

The New York Yankees should talk to the Mets for a trade deal to add to the Yankee’s pitching depth. The Mets have a pitcher named David Peterson. He is a back of the end rotation guy for the Mets but would be an upgrade for the Yankees Jordan Montgomery.  This doesn’t seem to be a logical trade for the Mets. But with so many teams calling Brian Cashman on Mike Tauchman, including him and a high-end prospect such as Estevan Florial, it could make sense to the Mets while shoring up the Yankee’s depleted starting rotation. Peterson was 6-2 in 2020 with a 3.44 ERA. Another plus for the Yankees is that it would keep Clarke Schmidt in an insurance role as he continues to develop.

Here’s another interesting trade to consider: Adam Ottavino for Amed Rosario. With two aspiring prospects right behind Rosario, the Mets don’t have an immediate use for the reliever. It’s true that Adam Ottavino had a disastrous year with the Yankees this past season but still has the ability to be an ace type middle reliever. His bad numbers are mostly attributed to one horrible game against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Getting rid of Ottavino would give the Yankees a chance to sign a more capable consistent reliever to take his place on the 40 man. For the Yankees, they would get a good fielding shortstop in Rosario. Last season he hit .257 with four homers and a .981 fielding percentage. For the Mets, maybe a change of scenery is all Ottavino needs to have a 2019-like season.

Whether any of these trade ideas make any sense for either team, only time will tell, but the Yankees and Mets should not rule out trades between the teams that could benefit both teams, especially considering that they don’t play in the same league.

 

 

 

 

Yankees: Adam Ottavino feels he ‘ran out of time’ in difficult 2020 season

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New York Yankees, Adam Ottavino

The New York Yankees‘ bullpen was mediocre in 2020. It was a notorious fall from the elite groups that the Bombers fielded in 2017, 2018, and 2019. Tommy Kahnle’s injury was a blow that the team could not recover from, but equally damaging was Adam Ottavino’s fall from grace.

If Ottavino, who finished 2020 with a 5.89 ERA (3.52 FIP) in 18.1 innings, can return to form, the Yankees’ bullpen would have a fourth reliable option to navigate through those last few difficult outs, in addition to Chad Green, Zack Britton, and Aroldis Chapman.

In his first season with the Yankees, in 2019, Ottavino had a 1.90 ERA in 73 games. He was excellent, but his command completely abandoned him come playoff time and he wasn’t reliable in October.

The Yankees are banking on a return to form from Ottavino

His elevated ERA this season was partially because of a sluggish start, and since the calendar was shortened due to the coronavirus pandemic and the MLB-MLBPA negotiations, there wasn’t time for him to recover even though he finished strong: in his first 17 games, he had a 7.82 ERA, yet over his last seven outings, he only allowed one earned run, had 10 punchouts and only one walk in 5 2/3 innings.

“I’ve said this a few times, I just felt like it wasn’t good enough,” Ottavino told the YES Network’s Meredith Marakovits on “Yankees Hot Stove” on Monday night. “Obviously, I wasn’t consistent and I didn’t induce the weak contact that I usually do. I felt like I kind of ran out of time there, starting to get going there towards the end. I liked the way I was throwing it headed into the playoffs, but I kind of ran out of time.”

The Yankees are hoping Ottavino can go back to the pitcher he was during the 2019 regular season. In those 5 2/3 final 2020 innings (an extremely small sample, yet it’s what we have) he was starting to show that form.

“I’m in my last seven or eight games, I think I’ve only had one walk and had a bunch of strikeouts, so it was a little more indicative of the way I usually throw the ball,” Ottavino said. “Still give up some hits, but I felt like a lot of it was just kind of poor pitch selection on my part. So there’s pretty easy adjustments to make from that standpoint. Just kind of think through it a little better and make some better choices. But I like the way I was throwing it at that point. So, I wish I would have had a few more months there kind of getting rolling and stay rolling but it kind of is what it is.”

New York Yankees Analysis: Yankee 2021 bullpen starting to firm up

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New York Yankees, Zack Britton

The New York Yankees were pretty much a non-participant in the baseball Winter Meetings. Their main priorities, although they may have been addressed, there were no results. They didn’t re-sign DJ LeMahieu and didn’t add a much-needed starting pitcher. The only real good news coming out of the meetings is that no team made an offer good enough to steal DJ LeMahieu away from the Yankees as of yet. Still, that remains to be seen.

The only area that may be firming up and giving us a look at the 2021 season is in the Yankee bullpen. Here is what we do know. Tommy Kahnle will miss most if not all of the 2021 season rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. The top five listed below will carry most of the 2021 load coming out of the bullpen. But if there is anything close to a 162 game season, those stalwarts will need a lot of help. After such a short season this year, the Yankees will have to be careful with all of them, being cautious with how many innings each pitch to prevent injuries. If the Yankees don’t add a number two or three starter that can go deep into games, that will put even more stress on the bullpen.

Although the bullpen may be shaping up, the New York Yankees still need a bullpen arm that can be Tommy Kahnle-like. Especially with an Adam Ottavino, the Yankees find it questionable if he can return to the reliever he was in 2018.

Aroldis Chapman:

Aroldis Chapman is Aroldis Chapman, you know what you’re going to get, and that is not a Mariano Rivera-like closer. He generally gets the job done but scares the hell out of you doing it.  Last season he lost a bit of velocity but is still overpowering. Another question with Chapman is how he has given away the winning run in the postseason for the last two seasons in a row.

Zack Britton:

You may see Zack Britton take a more leading role in closing games this season. He will definitely be the setup man for Chapman. Britton was really impressed last season when in place of Chapman, who had tested positive for the coronavirus, Britton eight straight saves and ended the 60 game season with an ERA of 1.89 in 20 games. There is no question, Britton outpitched Chapman during the last season. Chapman pitched in 13 games with an ERA of 3.09.

Chad Green:

Chad Green will again be an integral part of the bullpen. The season may see him open games, be a middle reliever, and even a setup man. Green is manager Aaron Boone’s most versatile reliever. Green had a very similar year to his performance in 2019; although he improved his ERA to 3.51, he also saved a game for the Yankees this past season. Chad Green will surely play a big part in the 2021 season.

Luis Cessa:

The Yankees tendered Luis Cessa an offer for a contract this year and good reason. Although Cessa’s 2020 campaign was not as good as his best year in, 2019 he is still a workhorse that can be generally counted on in mid relief. You may find his role being shared with the just re-signed Nestor Cortes Jr. They are very similar pitchers.

Adam Ottavino:

Unfortunately, Adam Ottavino is a huge question about whether he will be effective during 2021, especially considering it may very well be a longer season than in 2020. Ottavino lost steam as the 2019 season progressed. In this shortened season, he lost steam even quicker to the point that he was nearly useless. Ottavino pitched 18.1 innings giving up more than a hit per inning with an elevated 5.89 ERA. He followed that up, turning into a disaster in the postseason. He pitched 2/3 of an inning using 16 pitches, walking one, not getting an out, and given up a run for an ERA of 13.50.

Ottavino, like Kahnle, is most often used as a late-inning setup to the setup man. With Kahnle out of the season and Ottavino in question, the Yankees really need that one more quality arm to firm up the season’s bullpen.

The Yankees have several arms they will have to depend upon. One of the biggest pitching questions is what role Jonathan Loisiga will play. He pitched in twelve games, including three games as a starter. Loaisiga, although not consistent, has shown brilliance at times. He had a 3-0 record last season with an ERA of 3.52. What happens with the starting rotation may play a role in where Loaisiga pitches in 2021.

Because of an expected season going for 100 to 162 games and the stress this will put on the bullpen, the Yankees will have to watch how many innings each reliever pitches so that they won’t be worn out for the hopeful postseason.  Brook Kriske, Nick Nelson, Ben Heller, Miguel Yaujer, and newly acquired Nestor Cortes Jr. will be called up to help out.

Again according to what happens with the starting pitching, Clarke Schmidt, Micheal King, Albert Abreu may be used as starters or could aid the relievers. It is most likely that Jordan Montgomery and Deivi Garcia will find their place among the starters no matter what happens.

New York Yankees News/Rumors: Sanchez, Florial, Schwarber, and more news in one place

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New York Yankees, Estevan Florial

Gary Sanchez

Yesterday before the 8 pm deadline, the New York Yankees tendered an offer to Gary Sanchez so that he will remain in Yankee pinstripes, at least for a while. However, that still does not mean that he could be part of a trade package to get the Yankees a pitcher they so sorely need. Sanchez had a horrible year hitting only .147. Nonetheless, both general manager Brian Cashman and manager Aaron Boone have praised Sanchez and his potential. That seems odd considering the lost faith in Sanchez late in the season and postseason when he found himself replaced by backup catcher Kyle Higashioka. This could indicate that Sanchez may still be a trade piece.

Estevan Florial

Estevan Florial, once a number one prospect for the New York Yankees, has faded in the last couple of years. That being said, he may still have value to the Yankees as part of a trade package that could bring Texas Ranger pitcher Lance Lynn to the Yankees. There is scuttlebutt out there that says the Yankees could be interested in Lynn being a mid-rotation pitcher to replace one of the Yankees’ exiting pitchers.

One trade proposal that has been suggested for the Ranger pitcher that is being shopped by the team looking to cut costs would send Lynn to the Yankees for prospects Miguel Yajure and Trevor Stephan, both right-hand pitchers, then add to that Estevan Florial that could make the trade work for both teams. The Yankees hate giving up prospects. The only piece of this trade suggestion that would hurt would be the loss off Miguel Yajure, who showed a lot of promise this past season.

Kyle Schwarber

Kyle Schwarber is now a free agent after being non-tenured yesterday. This development is almost laughable. The New York Yankees have been interested in Schwarber for several years to strengthen the Yankee outfield. But they were never able to make that happen. Now the Yankee outfield has many options, especially considering the break-out season of Clint Frazier. If anything, the Yankees are outfield heavy. So as life would have it now, Schwarber is easily obtainable off the free-agent market, but the Yankees now have no use for him.

Adam Ottavino

Adam Ottavino certainly had a sub-par season for the Yankees, and he ran out of steam again like he did at the end of 2019. The Yankees didn’t even use him in the postseason. To be completely fair, a large part of his poor stats were because of one game against the Toronto Blue Jays when he gave up six runs without getting an out.

Ottavino has made it clear to fans and the Yankee front office that he wants to remain a New York Yankee even though he is afraid that the Yankees in their cost-saving efforts may try to remove his $9 million salary. This past season he posted a 5.89 ERA in 24 games. In the one game he pitched in the postseason, he gave up a run in Game 2 of the Rays ALDS.

Ottavino addressed the situation while at a Player’s Alliance benefit on Coney Island.

“For me, it wasn’t good enough. Wasn’t consistent enough,” Ottavino said. “It was short. I would’ve liked to have more time. I think I finished OK — had 10 strikeouts and one walk at the end there [in his final seven outings]. Playoffs, it sucks not to get a chance. But I’m not the manager. My job is to make it undeniable [for the manager to go to him].” I’ve been in touch with Aaron Boone and pitching coach Matt Blake, and told them I have a good plan looking forward,” he said. “I like where I’m at.”

CC Sabathia

The Yankees retired pitcher CC Sabathia is going to star in an HBO documentary. CC Sabathia revealed on Tuesday that HBO, along with MLB, will be airing a documentary on the life of the lefty, called “Under the Grapefruit Tree: The CC Sabathia Story.” Sabathia will narrate the documentary, which will look at his early life, playing career, and battles with alcoholism. It will include behind-the-scenes footage from his final season and will air on December 22.

 

 

New York Yankees Analysis: When the Yankees address starting pitching, don’t forget the bullpen

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The New York Yankees have issues. When it comes to pitching, that is an understatement. With Masahiro Tanaka, James Paxton, and J.A. Happ gone to free agency, the Yankees have some holes to fill. When the Yankees fill those holes, they need to do it with pitchers that can give them innings, reducing the bullpen’s stress and overuse. During the last dynasty years, the Yankees had pitchers that could do that and even pitched complete games.  When they didn’t, they had Mariano Rivera and John Wetteland, Medoza, Lloyd, and Rivera.

We all know the record of Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera, but the strength of the bullpen was their set up men. Of Ramiro Medoza, Mike Stanton, Graeme Lloyd, and Jeff Nelson, four won 25 games for the Yankees in 1998. Every starting pitcher had a winning record. Of the Yankees 2020 six starters, only two had winning records. A big difference is that the bullpen this year had to pitch more innings based on a 162 game season than in 1998.

That brings me back to the Yankee’s need for length from their starters. Gerrit Cole and Deivi Garcia were the only starting pitchers to go more than 5 1/2 innings per game, and even Cole only went 6.08 innings per game. Ideally, in this age when pitchers don’t pitch complete games anymore, you would like to see your starters go seven innings leaving just the setup man and closer to close out the game. Of course, that is not realistic, making middle relief really important.

When looking at the bullpen as it now stands, you must remember that the New York Yankees will be without the services of Tommy Kahnle all of next season as he rehabs from Tommy John surgery. So we have Chad Green, Johnathan Holder, Zack Britton, and Aroldis Chapman as the core left in the pen.  That’s great, but they can’t pitch in all 162 games. The Yankees need at least one more dependable arm in the pen, and that is in addition to Clark Schmidt, Jonathan Loaisiga, Miguel Yajure, Luis Cessa. Abreu, King, Kriske, and Lyons all pretty much bombed out and cant’ be counted on.

It seems that Cessa and Loaisiga have been criticized for their performance during the 2020 season. I don’t quite get that Cessa didn’t lose any games for the Yankees and Loaisiga was 3-0 in twelve games, three of which he started. He is young and has time to blossom. Ottavino has another year on his contract, but after failing two years in a row, he won’t be much help next season unless he can figure things out.

All the talk this offseason is on the importance of re-signing DJ LeMahieu and getting a number two premium starter, and rightly so, but don’t forget the bullpen. The bottom line to winning the division and succeeding in the postseason is effective starting pitching, a lineup that consistently hits, and yes, a bullpen that can win games when the starting pitching fails. Usually, you have to have all three components operating at a high level.

With Kahnle gone, ideally, the Yankees should add two quality arms to the 2021 bullpen. Here are some suggestions: Liam Hendriks, $6 million. Hendriks was one of the game’s top relievers over his last two seasons in Oakland. In 2019, he posted a 1.80 ERA and 0.96 WHIP in 75 appearances. He was just as dominant in 2020—32-year-old Alex Colome. In 2020, Colomé posted a sparkling 0.81 ERA and 0.94 WHIP in 21 appearances with the White Sox. Shane Greene put up solid numbers in 2020 with a 2.60 ERA and 1.12 WHIP in 28 appearances for the Braves.  The Yankees could also deal on the trade market, but it doesn’t seem to be the way to go with so many in free agency.

Acquiring Liam Hendriks, the closer for the Athletics, would give manager Aaron Boone the ability to mix and match Hendriks, Britton, and Chapman to suit the opposing hitter in must-win games. I have never been and still am not a big Chapman supporter; although his stats are good, he most often seems to fail in the most important moments. Having three closer types might seem extreme, but it seems really good to me. Hendriks would also not put a huge dent in the New York Yankee finances.

 

New York Yankees Report Card: Adam Ottavino, what happened to the $27 million man?

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New York Yankees, Adam Ottavino

New York Yankees relief pitcher Adam Ottavino is a veteran reliever that has spent most of his career with the Colorado Rockies. He started as a starter for the St. Luis Cardinals. But as a reliever, he pitched successfully for the Rockies for seven years before becoming a New York Yankee. He had a relatively pedestrian 2017. After that, he set up a full-size bullpen in downtown New York City. Ottavino is a New York boy attending the city’s public schools. Ottavino, in his new gym, applied technology and high-speed cameras to tweak his pitching style.

Adam Ottavino mostly fixed his control for his efforts and had a 6-4 season with the Rockies with a 2.43 ERA in 77 innings of relief. That kind of season got him a $27 million three year contract with the New York Yankees. The Yankees got their monies worth in 2019 he Ottavino had a 1.90 ERA and a record of 6-5. However, this collapse at the season ended was concerning.

Ottavino went into 2020 with much hope of being a combination stopper and setup man for the Yankees. Unfortunately, he ended the season 2-3 with a dismal 5.89 ERA while pitching only 18 innings. He didn’t lose velocity and didn’t lose control, but he collapsed even quicker in this short season. In one game against the Toronto Blue Jays, he gave up two walks, four hits, and six earned runs without recording an out in the eventual 12-7 Yankee loss. In the postseason, he only pitched 2/3’s of an inning and gave up a run.

Adam Ottavino’s 2020 report card reads C-.

C minus may not seem all that bad, but it’s actually horrible for a supposed stopper, and Ottavino in interviews couldn’t really explain what was going on. If you can’t determine what’s wrong, it really difficult to make the adjustments necessary to correct the deficiency.   By the time the playoffs came around, Ottavino was all but lost, pitching just two-thirds of an inning and allowing a run against the Tampa Bay Rays in Game Two of the American League Division Series. Even with Ottavino’s past regular season successes, he’s been a train wreck in every postseason; small sample sizes be damned. He currently owns a 7.04 ERA in 12 games.

Ottavino is now in the last year of his contract with the Yankees; if he doesn’t improve this year, he will be packing his bags. Although Ottavino doesn’t know what’s wrong, he seems to lose gas to the casual observer as the season progresses both in 2019 and 2020. For him, that means he loses his ability to pitch to the corners. In 2020 he threw meatballs right down the middle of the plate. Those meatballs counted for 12.4% of his pitches compared to a 7.7% rate during his career.

With Tommy Kahnle gone for the season after having Tommy John surgery, Ottavino will certainly get plenty of opportunities to show his stuff. Ottavino is close to but not quite one of the best relievers in baseball. His performance in 2021 with the Yankees will have an enormous bearing on the state of the Yankees’ bullpen as well as his checking account. At 35 years old, he is running out of time.

 

New York Yankees News/Rumors: Blake Snell to the Yankees? Who would’ve thunk it and much more

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New York Yankees, Blake Snell

Could Blake Snell end up a New York Yankee?

There is an interesting wrinkle popping up for the New York Yankees. The Tampa Bay Rays have made it known that co-ace Blake Snell could be on the trade block as they will listen to offers. The Tampa Bay Rays make some quirky moves when looking to improve their team, like when they traded Archer for Tyler Glasnow and others.

Another interesting bit of news is that the Rays reportedly wouldn’t be against trading him within their own division, even to the Boston Red Sox and, yes, the New York Yankees. Snell is really not a high-quality ace-type pitcher but would be a premium addition to the Yankees ace Gerrit Cole giving the Yankees a big-time one-two punch at the beginning of the Yankee rotation.

As much as this kind of trade would close the pitching gap with the Rays, this probably won’t happen, but it is a possibility now. To further shorten the gap between the two teams, the Rays have just lost Charlie Morton who the Rays failed to exercise his option. He is now an Atlanta Braves pitcher who picked him up on a one-year deal for the $15 million, the same amount that the Rays did not want to spend on him. The unfortunate part of the Morton deal is that he was on the Yankee’s radar to improve the Yankee team. The Yankees have now lost out on Morton, Stroman, and Gausman.

You can be sure that any trade talks for Snell would include Deivi Garcia, who debuted with the Yankees last season, possibly Clarke Schmidt, and even Luke Voit. We know that general manager Brian Cashman is very reluctant to give up prime prospects.

Adam Ottavino’s eye documented the coronavirus season

Who knew? The New York Yankee pitcher Adam Ottavino took a unique approach to the historic 2020 coronavirus season. He wanted to record history, so he took his Leica camera and documented much of the strange season. Everything from what they had to go through when entering Yankee Stadium, to drained hot tubs, to surreal empty stadiums, to players lockers in the hallways at Fenway Park.

He also photographed Yankee Gerrit Cole keeping his pitching form, pitching in his own backyard in Westchester. Ottavino wanted to record for history how strange the 2020 season really was and became an amateur photojournalist in the process. ESPN interviewed Ottavino about why he did it and displayed many of his photos. You can see several of the most interesting photos.

Yankee’s manager Aaron Boone defends Sanchez, but why?

With all the talk of Yankee catcher Gary Sanchez no longer being the Yankee starting catcher, or even that the Yankees will listen to offers for the young catcher, Aaron Boone took to the airwaves of the YES Network to strongly defend Sanchez.

“I think he’s been unfairly criticized a lot,” Boone told the YES Network. “I think at times it’s over the top and people are blinded by some of the things that he’s done really well. This year was certainly a challenging year for him and a struggle for him in a lot of ways, but that’s okay.”

The Yankees are seriously considering replacing their starting catcher of the last four years after having a miserable season. Sanchez has been defensively deficient from the get-go, but those deficiencies have always been overshadowed by his ability to hit the long ball and, in some seasons, a lot of them. But with an ever decreasing batting average, this year at an all-time low of .147, those deficiencies had taken front and center.

Unanswered questions with Luke Voit trade rumors

Swirling around the hot stove is the idea that the Yankees might be willing to trade Luke Voit for Francisco Lindor, but those rumors don’t seem to be gaining much traction as the Yankees front office remains silent on the issue.

The way the trade would work is that the Yankees would send Luke Voit and other assets to the Indians in exchange for one of the best shortstop in the business, Francisco Lindor. That would allow the Yankees to move Cleyber  Torres to his natural position at second base. In turn, that would move DJ LeMahieu if they can resign him to first base, making Luke Voit expendable.

Even though Luke Voit’s value is now more than it has ever been, after having the most home runs in baseball this season, the Yankees will have to decide if keeping Voit is more important than moving Torres. The Yankees will look to what Voit can do for the team for many years to come. The New York Yankees have a history of not trading away assets that they feel important to their future.

Yankees’ Adam Ottavino details life under quarantine for an MLB player

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New York Yankees, Adam Ottavino

The 2020 season for the New York Yankees and the remainder of major league baseball was interesting, to say the least. Tumultuous times and maximum effort lead to a 60 game regular season, but things were far different than the norm, as Yankees relief pitcher Adam Ottavino recorded throughout the campaign.

Ultimately, this moment in time will be talked about in the history books for years to come, and with advanced technology to record and transcribe every part of it, it is interesting to see a behind the scenes look at how the MLB functioned during these times.

Masks, precautionary measures, transportation disruptions, you name it, Adam hits on everything in this fantastic capture of his experiences.

Ottavino was interviewed by ESPN on life during quarantine, and he gave some amazing answers:

During the shutdown, Gerrit [Cole] had moved to Connecticut, and that’s pretty close to where I live. We discussed on my drive up from Tampa throwing together, so for a while, we were throwing in my yard. Then eventually, as we got closer to summer camp finally starting, the Yankees let us back in the stadium. Obviously I knew that there was a narrative on Gerrit coming to the Yankees as a big free agent. People were probably dying to see him on the field. So I figured it was a good opportunity to kind of present him with the whole stadium empty there and just kind of get that epic shot. It was the first time he was there as a Yankee, even though it’s not a game.

Before playing Tampa Bay at the Trop, Ottavino described the eerie sense of emptiness:

That’s the cameraman [at the Trop] who is getting ready to shoot the game. The game is probably at least 30 minutes away from starting, but from the photo you would have no idea. There’s literally no one there.

The ESPN article includes pictures, and fantastic quotes, showing behind the scenes looks at how the players were treated by the medical staff and their methods during transportation.

Taking private trains via the Amtrak to Philadelphia, Baltimore, and more. Watching Aaron Boone manage the lines of his players boarding the train in a dark subway station is rather surreal, and boarding the planes with one player per row opens your eyes to the seriousness of this virus.

The MLB went through an unprecedented time in 2020, and so did the rest of the world. While the virus remains at large, progress is being made, and the hopes of a regular 2021 season are still viewed as optimistic.

Should the New York Yankees explore an Adam Ottavino trade?

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New York Yankees, Adam Ottavino

One of the New York Yankees biggest issues in 2020 was their bullpen. The all-star bullpen that the team assembled crumbled and led to the Yankees finishing just 33-27 this year.

Adam Ottavino was one of the players who helped contribute to the bullpen struggles. After his outstanding 2019 season, he struggled mightily in 2020. He was 2-3 with a 5.89 ERA in 24 games. Ottavino’s struggles led him to being much of a non-factor at the end of the regular season, as well as the postseason.

That being said, should the Yankees explore a trade for Adam Ottavino? With him being on a relatively cheap contract, they may be able to make a trade work.

Now, after one bad season, it may be jumping the gun just a little bit. However, before 2018, Ottavino hadn’t been a very proven pitcher. He was inconsistent, and his best season just happened to fall on a contract year, leading to him coming to the Yankees. We knew it was a possibility things wouldn’t work out for him in New York.

Additionally, he’s not a good big game pitcher. Ottavino has a 13.50 postseason ERA in 12 games, and was part of the reason why the Yankees were eliminated in the ALCS in 2019.

2021 will yet again be a contract year for Ottavino. He will be in the final year of a three-year, $27 million deal with the Yankees. Now would be the time for the team to trade him.

They could pursue bench bats for him, prospects, or even international signing pool money. Many good relievers on the free-agent market could replace Ottavino in the bullpen.

It may be jumping the gun a little bit saying the Yankees should trade Adam Ottavino, but the team should listen to offers. If they acquire the right pieces and sign the right guys, a trade could make sense.