Jacoby Ellsbury

The New York Yankees are still being punished by Jacoby Ellsbury

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New York Yankees, Jacoby Ellsbury

The last time Jacoby Ellsbury featured in the New York Yankees starting lineup was during the 2017 ALCS. The former Boston Red Sox outfielder had one solid season in the Bronx, his first with the Yankees in 2014. He hit .271 with 16 homers and 70 RBIs, capping a strong start to his career with his former rival.

The New York Yankees finally did what needed to be done:

However, the Yankees cut Ellsbury on Wednesday, officially marking him in the “bust” category after spending a lucrative $153 million for four years of average play.

During 2015-17, Ellsbury hit .261/.331/.372 overall, and he missed time in each of those seasons. Maybe it was a conspiracy with the Red Sox to waste away Yankee money, or it was Ellsbury’s fragile body that couldn’t take the organizational perfection the Bombers demand.

Last month, general manager Brian Cashman was vague on the return of the veteran outfielder, stating:

“It’s hard to say based on how things have played out,” Cashman said at the time. “Right now, he’s not someone in a position health-wise where I can answer anything in the affirmative.”

His seven-year contract with the Yanks locked him into 1,134 possible regular-season games, in which he only appeared in 520. As one of the biggest busts in baseball history, the Yankees now have to consider long-term contracts differently, especially when considering veteran ball-players.

While insurance is the priority here, Ellsbury’s contract includes no insurance policy for the final two years on his deal. Cashman decided to give the roster spot to a young, healthy option, which will ultimately benefit the team in the long-term.

New York Yankees: With Ellsbury cut, what’s this mean for the Yankees?

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New York Yankees, Jacoby Ellsbury

The New York Yankees FINALLY did something to help them win championships while staying under luxury tax thresholds. The New York Yankees paid Jacoby Ellsbury $26 million to simply walk away. Also cut were Greg Bird and Nester Cortes Jr. (well, DFAed, but we know they’re gone).

But this is about Ellsbury’s time as a Yankee ending. In the words of Homer Simpson “Jesus, Allah, Buddha, I love you all!”

Ellsbury Troublesome Yankees Career

We haven’t seen Ellsbury since 2017. He’s been hurt in one way or another, keeping him out of each of the last two 100 win seasons. This shouldn’t surprise anyone, considering his injury history in Boston. Excluding his rookie season, he had 3 seasons where he missed more than 40 games due to injury prior to signing his $154 million contract. If you can’t do the quick math, that’s three seasons where Ellsbury missed a quarter of the season. How can you not see that as a GIANT red flag?

Offensively, you’d imagine the dimensions at Yankee Stadium would help Ellsbury more than Boston. As a Red Sox player, he has a career .297/.350/.439 slash line compared to his .264/.330/.386 slash line as a Yankee. Out of his 4 years he actually played for the team, he averaged 130 games played, meaning we still had to find viable subs for roughly a quarter of the season. It’s a little better than the 96 games he averaged for the Sox his final 4 years in Boston, but THAT should have been a MASSIVE red flag for “We need to stay below the luxury tax” Brian Cashman and Hal Steinbrenner. (baseball-reference.com)

So this $26 million dollar buyout finally cuts ties with Ellsbury, clears revenue for next year, and helps free up another spot allowing the Yankees to save 7 players from the Rule 5 draft. That includes to pitching and outfield prospects like Deivi Garcia and Estevan Florial.

What Does This Mean For the Luxury Tax?

The buyout will affect the Yankees for the 2019 tax year. On December 2nd, MLB will tell the Yankees how much they’re over the luxury tax, and they have till January 21 to pay it. So this frees up about $44 million for the 2020 season. This means we can EASILY throw $20 million a year at Cole or Strasburg. 8 players are entering arbitration at the end of 2020, including Judge, Paxton, Sanchez, Urshela, and Kahnle. Not to mention you’re not paying Greg Bird to rehab, much in the same way you were paying Ellsbury to do the same.

So we get dinged in 2019. Big whoop. But that $44 million over two years go to a front line pitcher, Judge, Sanchez, Paxton, Urshela, Andujar, Torres and Kahnle contracts, as well as providing leverage for the Yankees doing the smart thing, and resigning Didi Gregorius. This resets what the tax threshold is for the Yankees in 2020, giving us (finally) a chance to ACTUALLY get together a championships caliber team on the field, that will finally get us back into the World Series for the first time since 2009.

Don’t let the door hit ya on the way out Jacoby. Your first year was great. Every year since? Not so much.

New York Yankees Injury Updates: Severino, Betances, German, and More

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New York Yankees, Luis Severino

As the season progresses, the New York Yankees players are finally coming off the injured list. Key players Didi Gregorius and Aaron Hicks have already made their return. Bomber’s sluggers Giancarlo Stanton is returning Tuesday against the Rays and Aaron Judge is expected to return later this week.

As the injury bug seems to be disappearing, there are Yankees players that are still suffering:

Luis Severino

Yankees’ ace Luis Severino (lat) will not return until after the All-Star break. However, Severino is expected to start throwing from a mound next week.

Dellin Betances

Dellin Betances (shoulder) has said that he is still dealing with discomfort and is not sure when he will resume throwing. It would not be a surprise if Yankee fans see Betances make his return after the All-Star break as well.

Domingo German

Domingo German (hip) was making a huge impact on the Yankees’ so-far successful season holding a 9-2 record when he suffered his injury. German said his hip has been improving and is becoming more mobile. He began throwing on flat ground, however, there is no timetable for his return yet.

Troy Tulowitzki

Troy Tulowitzki (calf) was making progress when he suffered another setback. Tulowitzki was pulled from his rehab game in high-A Tampa a few weeks ago and there have been no updates since. Manager Aaron Boone met with media today and said that he has nothing to say on Tulowitzki’s progress.

Ben Heller, Greg Bird, Jonathan Loaisiga, and Jacoby Ellsbury

These four Yankees will not see the field for some time. Big Yankee names Bird (foot) and Ellsbury (foot) are expected to not return until early to mid-August.

New York Yankees: Why There is No Need to Worry About Their Slow Start

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New York Yankees, Aaron Hicks

The New York Yankees have gotten off to a less than flattering 3-4 start in 2019, highlighted by losing two out of three to two of the league’s worst teams. There is disappointment with the four losses, but there shouldn’t be any worry, yet. There are a lot of contributing factors to their early struggles, so let’s review them.

Injuries

Obviously, injuries are the prominent factor in the Yankees early season struggles.10 main guys are on the IL in Jordan Montgomery, Miguel Andujar, Didi Gregorius, Aaron Hicks, Jacoby Ellsbury, Dellin Betances, CC Sabathia, Luis Severino, Troy Tulowitzki, and Giancarlo Stanton.

We know that Stanton will be back in about three weeks, and that Sabathia could possibly make his next start.

Hicks is just beginning baseball activities, Betances is throwing off a mound and should be ready for rehab soon, while Severino is still throwing on flat ground.

We don’t know a whole lot about the rest of the injuries. We’ll know in about 10 days weather the Yankees can start up Andujar again, or if he’ll need season-ending surgery.

Detroit and Baltimore are off to good starts

The Yankees have played two teams that got off to hot starts.

After taking two out of three against the Yankees, the Orioles went north of the border and took two of three from the Blue Jays before losing to the Yankees in their home opener on Thursday.

The Tigers started the season in Canada, splitting a four game series there. They came to New York to take two of three from the Yankees afterwards, then took their home opener against the Royals.

They aren’t alone

The Yankees are not the only World Series favorite to be losing a lot early. At 3-4, the Yankees are better than some other teams record wise.

The Red Sox are off to a terrible 2-7 start with the worst run differential in the MLB at -26. The Houston Astros have started off 2019 at 3-5. Like the Yankees, they have won the first game of each series and that’s it. Remember, the Yankees and the Astros play on Monday.

Off to the worst start in the MLB are the Chicago Cubs. After winning their opener, they have lost six straight to put themselves at 1-6.

This shows to tell that the best teams don’t always get out to hot starts.

This has happened before

Most years, the Yankees aren’t great out of the gate. They started 5-6 last year en route to a 100 win season.

In 2016, they started out 9-17 on the way to an 84 win season.

In 2009, the Yankees started out 3-4 as they would win it all come October.

The Yankees will get healthy and get back to normal. It may take a while, but they always seem to figure it out.

Morale of the story: the Yankees will be ok, and it’s just a matter of time until they win a lot of games and Baltimore and Detroit start to lose a lot of games. Sadly, it’s also just a matter of time until the team from Boston starts to win too.

New York Yankees: Jacoby Ellsbury Has Injury Breakthrough, Kinda

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New York Yankees, Jacoby Ellsbury

Any positive news surrounding New York Yankees outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury is big news these days, and after his latest injury, there has been nothing but negativity.

Ellsbury was on track to finally earn playing time in 2019 before he went down with plantar fasciitis. The foot ailment makes it hard to run as needle-like pains shoot through the arch of the foot. Several weeks of recovery time have awarded Ellsbury with the ability to run, making his return realistic early on in the season and avoiding the injury list.

It’s yet to be seen if the Yankees will bring him to Tampa to participate in spring training or if they will elect to hold him out until the regular season. Ellsbury hasn’t played in a game since 2017, which will require him to shake off the rust before returning to the starting team.

One positive can be extracted for the Yankees:

However, if the outfielder is placed on the injury list and doesn’t play in the season ahead the Yankees can recoup some of his salary through insurance.

In 2017, Ellsbury batted .264 with seven homers and 39 RBIs. There’s no question that his production has fallen off significantly since his last quality season in 2014. The Yankees signed him to replicate his production in Boston where he was one of the best players in baseball.

Moving forward, all we can hope for is Jacoby to offer some value as a rotational/reserve piece, as it seems his starting days are long gone. Consistent injuries have knocked him back in recent years, and there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight.

 

 

New York Yankees: Jacoby Ellsbury Undergoes “Season-Ending” Surgery

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The gift that keeps on disappointing, that would be the seven-year, $153 million contract the New York Yankees signed Jacoby Ellsbury to prior to the 2014 season. Ellsbury hasn’t even touched the field once this season and it was announced that he underwent hip surgery that will end his campaign before he even gets a chance to help the Yankees at all this season. Ellsbury has struggled to stay healthy over all five years of the contract, but this season has been the one with the biggest headache.

What would Jacoby Ellsbury provided to the New York Yankees if he were healthy?

If not for his season-long stint on the disabled list, Ellsbury could have well been off the team via a release or a trade. If this were not the case, he would have provided some key outfield depth, which now would be huge with Aaron Judge currently on the DL.

Ellsbury would have been able to replace Judge while he is recovering from his injury and provide the Yankees with an extra bat in the lineup. Ellsbury hit at a reasonable line last year, hitting at a .264 average, .348 OBP, and .750 OPS, so he could have been a key bench player and extra bat that could provide some big hits in the middle to end of the lineup.

Should MLB teams say goodbye to long-term contracts?

With long-term contracts with players such as A-Rod and Ellsbury coming back to bite the Yankees and other teams, with injuries, steroids, underachieving, and more coming into play, teams should really consider not looking to sign players to any longer than 5-6 seasons. Most of the time, when a player is signed to a long-term deal, they achieve to the level they are expected to during the first few seasons, but towards the end of their deals, they start to get older and not perform at the same level.

Even players as great as Mike Trout should not be signed to such a long and expensive deal like Ellsbury’s. No one knows what can happen as the years in contract move along, and you can’t predict it, just like anything else in baseball. It is pretty clear that Trout will be great for years to come, but you never know if he will suffer a bad injury, decline, or something of that nature. That is why teams shouldn’t sign players to long-term deals, no matter how sure-fire talent they are. They could always extend them during their deals so they don’t lose them to free agency if they don’t see any decline in their talent.

If the Yankees find a desperate enough team during the offseason, willing to take on most if not all of Ellsbury’s remaining two years of his contract, they will most certainly move him.

He has been a terrible migraine headache during all his contract years, even when he was healthy. He never performed to what the Yankees valued him at, and never came near the level of talent he performed at while playing for Boston during his peak years. There is nothing more frustrating for a team having to pay a player that isn’t performing to that degree, or even not playing at all, as is the case this season.

The Yankees will look to move on from him as soon as they can and forget about the horrendous and nightmarish contract he has been signed to.

Breaking News: Aaron Hicks to the DL

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New York Yankees, Aaron Hicks

The Yankees Opening Day center fielder Aaron Hicks has been played on the 10-Day Disabled List with a Right intercostal muscle strain.

This injury to Hicks marks the third New York Yankees outfielder that has been injured so far this season. Hicks along with Jacoby Ellsbury (oblique) and Clint Frazier (concussion) are all on the DL currently.

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This injury allows rookie outfielder and novice first baseman Billy McKinney to be called up. McKinney played well this Spring. McKinney had five home runs this Spring and with that performance he will be making his major League debut tonight, starting in Left Field and batting seventh.

The Yankees once “Crowded” outfield that was questioned how guys would get any playing time is now evening out. The Yankees will shift Gardner over to center field for the time being.

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The Yankees have a ton of Minor League depth thanks to Brian Cashman and his brilliant. That depth will now be put to an early test.

New York Yankees: The Ellsbury Effect

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Decisions, Decisions, Decisions…

With the start of the Major League regular season a week away, the New York Yankees have a decision that needs to be made:

Who is making the roster to replace the oft injured Jacoby Ellsbury? Jacoby was at one time and six hours North of the Bronx a very productive Major League ballplayer. However, throughout his time in the pinstripes, Ellsbury has been less than a shell of his former self.

Ellsbury has played for the Yankees across four seasons, in that time he has only managed to have one season above “replacement level” production (2014), according to Baseball Reference’s OPS+. 2014 was Jacoby’s first season in the Bronx and his last truly productive season.

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Now, with Ellsbury set to begin the season on the shelf, this opens up a spot on the 25-man roster to “Break Camp” with the team heading North. Manager Aaron Boone told members of the media that Tyler Wade has made the ball club. Many believe that he will be the starting second baseman on Opening Day in Toronto on March 29th.

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The Yankees current roster consists of:

Catchers: Gary Sanchez & Austin Romine
First Baseman: Greg Bird
Second Basemen: Tyler Wade & Neil Walker
Third Baseman: Brandon Drury
Shortstop: Didi Gregorius & Ronald Torreyes
Left Fielder: Brett Gardner
Center Fielder: Aaron Hicks
Right Fielders: Aaron Judge & Giancarlo Stanton
Starting Pitcher: Luis Severino, Mashiro Tanaka, CC Sabathia, Sonny Gray & Jordan Montgomery
Relief Pitchers: David Robertson, Dellin Betances, Tommy Kahnle, Chad Green, Adam Warren & Chasen Shreve
Closer: Aroldis Chapman

Who Gets A Shot ?

That gives you 24 out of 25 players to start out the 2018 season for the New York Yankees. The injury to Ellsbury leaves an opening. Some who have thought that it could have been someone like Tyler Austin who was having a tremendous Spring, but he was reassigned back to Minor League camp on March 21st before the Yankees game against the Orioles. This however does leave the opening for the starter in the same game…. Luis Cessa.

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Cessa has been up and down for the Yankees since his acquisition by the Yankees in December of 2015. Cessa has pitched 106 innings for the Yankees to the tune of a 4.49 era. Luis will have an opportunity to show what he has earlier in the season as the Yankees will have five straight games to open up the start of the regular season.

The injury to Ellsbury could have been the golden ticket to the Bronx for a premium talent like Clint Frazier, however, they both went down at similar times and have stayed out recovering. Clint won’t be getting that opportunity.

This season will be a defining point for Clint Frazier, as with the number of outfielders already on the Major League roster and an impending free agent who hasn’t been shy about stating his fandom for the Pinstripes looming. Frazier once healed up from his concussion must set the world by storm, if he has any hopes of staying in Pinstripes.

Lasting Impression:

Jacoby, much like Clint Frazier, has seen the writing on the wall. And while his contract is rather cumbersome, it’s not impossible to think GM Brian Cashman can sell his talents to another team and move his monetary obligations elsewhere.

Ellsbury’s injury will be a foreshadowing of the potential future the Yankees will have. If the first few weeks of the season pass and Ellsbury has not returned vying that 25th spot on the roster, he may be replaced by a rising prospect.

Jacoby Ellsbury will have a major effect on the Yankees success this season; when healthy he could be a productive fourth outfielder, if unhealthy his spot will provide the launching pad for the top prospects in the top sixth farm system in all of baseball.

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New York Yankees Player Preview: Jacoby Ellsbury

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Jacoby Ellsbury…

There are many things that can be said about him, and a majority of them are negative. He is the third highest paid player on the Yankees, behind only Stanton and Tanaka; Ellsbury is the Yankees 5th outfield option at this point. Injuries have plagued him throughout his career and he still has three years left in pinstripes.

Ellsbury’s numbers last season:

264 AVG, 7 HR, 39 RBI, .348 OBP, .402 SLG

Background:

Ellsbury is from Madras, Oregon and is the first major league player of Navajo decent. He attended Madras High School and played five sports. He was selected by the Rays in the 23rd round of the 2002 MLB Draft. Ellsbury decided to go to Oregon State where he was a Baseball-America first team All-American and was the PAC-10 co-player of the year in 2005. In 2005, Ellsbury was selected in the first round by the Red Sox.

Becoming a Yankee:

Ellsbury won two World Series Championships with the Red Sox in 2007 and 2013. The Yankees had lost Robinson Cano in the off-season of the 2014 season. As a reaction to losing Cano the Yankees gave Ellsbury a seven year $153 million dollar deal.

The deal was a clear reactionary move to Cano leaving. The bombers took a chance on Ellsbury who had played at an MVP level. People were split on if the deal was a good one for the Yankees. Now four years into his career with the Yankees, the deal has proved to be a terrible one.

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Career in Pinstripes:

Ellsbury has had some good moments in Pinstripes. One of his most memorable moments was when he stole home against Matt Moore of the Rays on April 22, 2016.

The second highlight of Ellsbury’s Yankee career happened last season. He smacked his first career grand slam and led the effort in the Yankees comeback win against the Orioles on April 28th.

2018 and Beyond:

Hicks overtook Ellsbury as the Yankees’ everyday center fielder last season. Heading into this season Ellsbury would have been a $22 million dollar bench player, but he sustained an oblique injury in the beginning of spring training.

He will start the season on the DL. When he returns from injury Ellsbury will be a bench player unless there is an injury to someone.

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There is no doubt that the Yankees want to rid themselves of Ellsbury’s contract. Throughout this off-season there were countless reports saying Cashman’s biggest goal was to trade Ellsbury.

Unless the Yankees eat a sizable amount of his contract, Ellsbury will finish out his tenure in pinstripes. When healthy, Ellsbury still has some value. He is a good base runner and is an amazing center fielder. All Yankees fans can do is hope Ellsbury finds some magic in his bat and finishes out the rest of his contract better than he has played so far.