NYY Yankees

Yankees have big decision to make with OF Brett Gardner as free agency looms

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New York Yankees, Brett Gardner

Once again, the New York Yankees stare down the Brett Gardner barrel as free agency looms in the coming months. After injuries in the outfield took hold during the 2021 season, the Yankees were forced to utilize Gardner far more than anticipated. In fact, they were likely happy offering him a new contract for two seasons. The deal paid him $2.85 million in adjusted salary with a player option in 2022 at $2.3 million.

It was interesting to see general manager Brian Cashman give Gardner the choice of sticking with the team next season or retiring. If Gardner elects to decline his player option, the team then has a $7.15 million club option, including a $1.15 million buyout.

The Yankees may prefer to keep Gardner around, given his veteran leadership and reserve qualities. However, they cannot depend on him to be a regular starter at this point in his career. Gardner played in 140 games this past season, posting a .222 batting average, the lowest of his entire career. He recorded 10 homers and 39 RBIs with a 21.7% strikeout rate and 13% walk rate. He posted a 1.4 WAR, hitting his highest ground ball rate at 45.2% since 2018.  It is clear that Gardner’s power is decreasing exponentially — his hit with hard speed percentage dropped by 5% in 2021. His hit with soft speed increased by about 4%, indicating a drop-off in athleticism due to age.

Unfortunately for the Yankees, Gardner holds all the power in this scenario but paying him $2.3 million for 2022 wouldn’t be the end of the world financially. The Yankees are still expected to be heavily involved in the free-agent market, targeting a long-term solution at shortstop with potential transition services at third base.

If Brett elects to decline his player option, we should expect the Yankees to execute a buyout. With Aaron Hicks expected to return next year and Clint Frazier still in limbo, the Yankees could be considering a cost-efficient option in the outfield.

A few names that could pop up include Starling Marte and Juan Lagares, who spent 112 games with a Los Angeles Angels this past season, hitting .236 with a 23.2% strikeout rate. The Yankees aren’t going to spend big at outfield given the emergence of Giancarlo Stanton as a defender once again and the return of Hicks. Hopefully, Frazier will return from his unusual migraine issue, providing a more consistent option moving forward.

Do you think the Yankees should keep Brett Gardner around or let him walk into retirement? Comment here!

New York Yankees: The Blessing in Disguise with Severino’s Injury

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New York Yankees, Luis Severino

New York Yankees fans are justifiably distraught after the news about Luis Severino emerged today. This will ultimately result in Severino making his long-awaited return to regular season pitching by possibly June of 2021. But the blessing in disguise of all this is just how much we can see our prospective pitchers grow and blossom.

The Big Break They Need

Cessa, Loaisiga, King, Montgomery, Abreu, Garcia. We’ve been hearing great things about all these pitchers for a long time now. We’ve seen what some of them could do. The benefit that they have is the prolonged audition period of showing they are true MLB starter material.

We still have Tanaka, Cole, and Happ. This leaves us 2 spots to fill. Many suspects that Montgomery (who’s only thrown 31.1 innings since 2018 in the regular season) will win back a spot in the rotation. We know what Cessa, Loaisiga, and (very briefly) King in the regular season can do. Abreu and Garcia have been talked about for so long, that one of them has a legitimate shot at a rotation spot.

Now, Happ will be our surefire number 5 in the rotation. If the New York Yankees don’t want to pick up Happ’s $17 million option for next year, he will be sent to the pen or traded by the deadline. By June, we know that Paxton and German will be back. This leaves clear and obvious room for two of those 5 names to become season-long members of the starting rotation. Fans complain about how the Yankees don’t do enough to “developing pitching” (forgetting of course how they developed Dellin Betances, David Robertson, Luis Severino, and Tyler Clippard to name a few), here’s the chance for Abreu to show WHY he’s the Yankees top prospect. He already has more strikeouts than innings pitched in the minors. His time is now. Who knows? He might beat out Jordan Montgomery.

I’m in no way trying to make light of Severino’s injury. But there is a silver lining to all of this. Tanaka is a free agent next year. If he doesn’t come back, and we don’t have Happ, the brightest prospects from this year will clearly be there next year. This… is… good!

What do the Yankees do with the Ticking Timebomb in Tanaka’s Elbow?

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New York Yankees, Masahiro Tanaka

Masahiro Tanaka has been a fixture In the New York Yankees rotation since his debut in 2014. He was electric that rookie season, right up until the partial year in his pitching elbow was discovered. Rather than go through a full year of recovering and rehab from Tommy John surgery, Tanaka elected to simply rehab the tear. To this date, Tanaka still has that partial year in his elbow. And this is the final year of his contract. So it begs two very important questions:

First: What Does Tanaka Do?

As it’s been the case since he made his choice, Tanaka’s elbow could go at any minute. The fact that is still the case in the most important season of his career, should worry Tanaka. He went from being the Yankees bonafide ace, to the 3rd or 4th man in the rotation (depending on how you view Paxton’s August through October last year). Based on his postseason record, Tanaka will want ace caliber money, or something akin to what Stephen Strasberg got. With diminishing returns in the regular season each of the last 4 seasons, it’s hard for him to make that claim about his value. Especially if he finally has to get the surgery at some point in 2020.

Next, What do the Yankees Do?

It seems likely that when German’s suspension is over, he’ll slide into the rotation as the 5th starter. Deivi Garcia is poised to crack the starting rotation as a strike throwing machine. Jordan Montgomery, Johnathan Loaisiga and Luis Cesa are also all going to be viable spot start candidates moving forward. In order to build for the future, you sometimes have to dismantle the past, and Tanaka’s presence in the rotation may have to be dismantled moving into 2021.

Remember when the Yankees let David Robertson walk after 2018? Who’d have thought that he’d go down with Tommy John? The Phillies certainly didn’t, but the Yankees look a little smarter as a result. Plus, Tanaka is going to be 31 by seasons end. If the Yankees weren’t prepared to offer Didi Gregorius even a one year deal, being north of 30, with diminishing returns defensively (and offensively), why would they give Tanaka a likely 7 year deal? Especially if he goes down with Tommy John at any point this season?

It’s going to be interesting to see how things unfold with Tanaka. If the Yankees do give Tanaka a new contract, it may be with the caveat of Tanaka HAVING to get Tommy John by his signing. The only thing we can do right now is wait and see.

New York Yankees: Luis Severino Timetable and Update

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New York Yankees, Luis Severino

The New York Yankees have not had their ace all season, Luis Severino, who has suffered with shoulder problems all season. His recovery has been up and down and Yankee fans are beginning to wonder – will they see Severino take the mound at all this year?

Many reports have said that Severino should be returning late August, however, Severino’s rehab has been inconsistent all year. He’s been cleared to throw, then shut down. Cleared to throw, then shut down again. According to CBS Sports, Severino will need to complete a full spring training before the Yankees can consider activating from the 60-day injured list.

The Yankees’ righty is expected to begin throwing on flat-ground before heading into bullpen sessions. Severino’s pitch count will be highly monitored as he enters into throwing to avoid any other setbacks, per CBS Sports. This throwing program is expected to begin Monday.

A few days ago, Severino met with media where he said he wouldn’t mind taking on a bullpen role, per Coley Harvey of ESPN.com. “I just want to pitch. It doesn’t matter where or when, in the bullpen or as a starter. I just want to pitch” Luis said.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bz9KOrCF341/

Last season Severino posted a 3.39 ERA with a 19-8 record. In 191.1 innings pitched, he fanned 220 while only allowing 19 home runs. Severino averaged an astounding 10.3 strikeouts per nine innings pitched (Baseball reference).

Sevy’s return?

Severino’s return could be huge for the club. As they try to tack on their 28th World Series championship this year, having their ace available would be big. That being said, I personally don’t believe we will see Severino back on the mound for this season. His injury and rehab has been so inconsistent that I think it would be hard to put him back in a major league role after being sidelined all season. As much as I want to see “Sevy” take the mound again, I just don’t think it’ll happen.