- Tommy Kahnle has yet to pitch this season due to shoulder inflammation, as one setback already delayed the Yankees’ initial plan to activate him from the 15-day IL when first eligible. However, manager Aaron Boone told MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch and other reporters that Kahnle threw a simulated inning of live batting practice yesterday, and is planning to throw off the mound again in a few days’ time. Kahnle posted a 2.66 ERA in 40 2/3 relief innings for New York last season, in between a season-opening 60-day IL stint due to biceps tendinitis and then more shoulder inflammation that prematurely ended his season in September.
Yankees Rumors
Yankees Outright McKinley Moore
The Yankees announced this afternoon that right-hander McKinley Moore has cleared waivers and been assigned outright to Triple-A Scranton.
Moore, 25, was a 24th-round pick by the White Sox in the 2019 draft but made his big league debut as a member of the Phillies last year after coming to Philadelphia as part of the return for outfielder Adam Haseley back in 2022. The righty struggled badly in his first taste of big league action and was lit up for seven runs on five hits, five walks, and two hit batsmen against just two strikeouts in 3 1/3 innings of work.
Those three relief appearances are Moore’s only big league action to this point in his career. The right-hander was retained by the Phillies on the 40-man roster throughout the offseason but was designated for assignment early in Spring Training to make room for the addition of Spencer Turnbull to the club’s roster. The Yankees took the opportunity to claim him off waivers and bring him into the organization, though he has continued to struggle since jumping organizations. In just 2/3 of an inning of work for Scranton this year, Moore has allowed two runs while walking six and hitting a batter while recording just one strikeout.
Despite Moore’s obvious control struggles, the right-hander has flashed enticing stuff including an upper-90s fastball during his limited big league action. The 6’6” power arm could be an impactful relief arm for a club if he can find a way to rein in his control, and now the Yankees will get the opportunity to work with the 25-year-old throughout the year without dedicating a 40-man roster spot to him. While it’s not impossible to imagine Moore pitching for the big league club at some point this year, with non-roster veterans such as Phil Bickford and Duane Underwood Jr. currently available to the Yankees in the minor leagues it seems more likely that Moore will have to iron out his control issues to get another shot at the major league level.
Jon Berti To Begin Rehab Assignment
- Yankees third baseman Jon Berti is expected to begin a rehab assignment with Double-A Somerset today, according to MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch. The utilityman, who the club acquired from the Marlins in a three-team trade just before Opening Day, has been shelved for two weeks due to a left groin strain. Prior to the injury, Berti had been operating as part of a platoon at third base with Oswaldo Cabrera, though the 34-year-old veteran was just 4-for-19 when he was placed on the IL. Cabrera has taken over regular duties at third base in the absence of both Berti and DJ LeMahieu, posting a respectable .258/.294/.404 in 95 trips to the plate.
Yankees Claim Michael Tonkin, Designate McKinley Moore
The Yankees announced that they have claimed right-hander Michael Tonkin off waivers from the Mets. He had been designated for assignment by the Mets earlier this week. To open a roster spot for Tonkin, right-hander McKinley Moore was designated for assignment.
Tonkin, 34, has been getting passed around the league so far this year. He was non-tendered by Atlanta at the end of last season and then signed a major league deal with the Mets. Shortly after the season started, he was designated for assignment and went to the Twins on a cash deal but then returned to the Mets on waivers. Now he’s on the move yet again and will join the Yankees.
Amid all those transactions, he has managed to throw nine innings on the year. He’s allowed six earned runs for a flat earned run average of 6.00, which obviously isn’t too impressive, but the peripherals are solid. He has struck out 23.9% of batters faced while walking 8.7% of them and keeping 44.4% of balls in play on the ground, with all of those rate stats coming in fairly close to league averages.
With Atlanta last year, he tossed 80 innings over 45 appearances. He had a 4.28 ERA in that time, as well as a 23.1% strikeout rate, 7.1% walk rate and 38.3% ground ball rate. He’s clearly an attractive enough bullpen arm that teams keep grabbing him but he’s also out of options and keeps getting squeezed.
Since he’s out of options, the Yankees will need to make room for him on the active roster whenever he reports to the team. Of their bullpen arms, Ian Hamilton, Ron Marinaccio and Cody Morris all have options and could be sent down. Hamilton isn’t likely the one to be packing his bag since he’s entered a high-leverage role for the Yankees. He had two saves and five holds last year and has already added four more holds this year.
To get Tonkin onto the 40-man, the Yankees have bumped off Moore. He’s only been with the Yanks a short time, having been claimed off waivers from the Phillies in February. He has made two appearances for the Triple-A club but walked six of the nine batters he faced.
That continues a pattern of control problems for the righty. He walked 23.8% of batters faced in his major league debut last year. In his 20 1/3 innings of minor league work in 2023, he struck out 40.7% of batters faced but also gave free passes to 24.2% of them.
The Yankees will now have one week to trade McKinley or pass him through waivers. The control problems will obviously be a concern to other teams but Moore’s also struck out 32.6% of batters faced throughout his entire minor league career. He averaged 97.2 miles per hour on his fastball during his MLB debut last year while also throwing a sweeper and a changeup. He still has a couple of options and could perhaps appeal to a club looking for a long-term project.
Latest On DJ LeMahieu
6:23pm: LeMahieu experienced right foot soreness and was removed after one inning, the Yankees announced (X link via Joyce). He’ll return to New York for further evaluation tomorrow.
5:31pm: The Yankees announced that infielder DJ LeMahieu has been sent to Double-A Somerset to start a rehab assignment. LeMahieu is leading off tonight’s game and playing third base, per the X account of the Patriots.
LeMahieu, 35, was supposed to be the club’s everyday third baseman here in 2024 but a Spring Training injury scuttled those plans. The veteran fouled a ball of his foot and was initially diagnosed with a bone bruise. After the swelling didn’t go down, he went for a second MRI, which revealed a non-displaced fracture. He was set to begin a rehab assignment this past weekend but his foot still wasn’t healing enough and the rehab assignment was pushed back by a few days.
Manager Aaron Boone told reporters, including Bryan Hoch of MLB.com, that the plan is for LeMahieu to play four games and possibly rejoin the Yanks in time for their series against the Orioles next week.
The club is surely excited to welcome LeMahieu back but they will have a bit of a tricky decision to make in terms of distributing playing time. The veteran has hit .258/.345/.375 since the start of 2021 while battling various injuries. That’s still amounts to a 106 wRC+, indicating he was six percent better than league average in that time. But the Yankees were surely hoping for more, especially since he hit .336/.386/.536 for a 146 wRC+ over 2019 and 2020, before they re-signed him to a six-year, $90MM contract.
To start this year, Oswaldo Cabrera has taken over at the hot corner and is out to a great start. He’s hitting .290/.324/.478 so far on the young season, production that leads to a wRC+ of 133. That’s a small sample of 74 plate appearances, which means it likely doesn’t carry as much weight as LeMahieu’s career numbers, but the Yanks probably want to keep riding the hot hand.
Each of Cabrera and LeMahieu are capable of playing different positions, so the club will have some flexibility. First baseman Anthony Rizzo and second baseman Gleyber Torres are both out to slow starts, so perhaps they could get some breathers when LeMahieu and Cabrera are both healthy and looking for playing time.
Elsewhere in Yankee news, Gerrit Cole threw 50 pitches from a distance of 120 feet today, per Chris Kirschner of The Athletic. It hasn’t yet been decided when he’ll move to mound work, but Boone said it could be as soon as next week, per Greg Joyce of The New York Post.
Needless to say, any progress from Cole is a good development for the Yankees. The reigning American League Cy Young made just one official appearance during Spring Training before some elbow issues popped up. Since he wasn’t recovering as expected between throwing sessions, the club shut him down and sent him for testing. He was eventually recommended for non-surgical rehab and has been on that path for the past month or so.
Cole is on the 60-day injured list and won’t be eligible to return until late May at the earliest. Even if he begins throwing off a mound soon, he’ll likely need to redo Spring Training from scratch, meaning he’ll be out beyond that timeframe anyhow. His eventual return date will naturally be determined by how his arm holds up as he continues building up in the weeks to come.
Yankees Outright Kevin Smith
The Yankees announced this afternoon that infielder Kevin Smith has been assigned outright to Triple-A. The news comes on the heels of Smith being designated for assignment earlier this week to make room for recently-claimed outfielder Taylor Trammell on the 40-man roster.
Smith, 27, was a fourth-round pick by the Blue Jays in the 2017 draft and is perhaps best known as part of the four-player package Toronto sent to the A’s in exchange for third baseman Matt Chapman. Smith made his big league debut with Toronto in 2021 prior to being moved and ultimately appeared in 96 games with Oakland across two seasons before he was non-tendered by the club back in November.
Smith eventually joined the Yankees on a minor league deal back in January and managed to crack the club’s major league roster last weekend following the placement of utility veteran Jon Berti on the injured list, leading the Yankees to replace Smith’s minor league deal with a fresh big league contract. Unfortunately for Smith, he made just one appearance in a Yankees uniform and did not record a plate appearance before being designated for assignment last week.
When Smith has found playing time at the big league level, he’s generally struggled offensively. In 114 games with the Blue Jays and A’s dating back to his debut in 2021, Smith has hit a lackluster .173/.215/.301 with a 31.2% strikeout rate and a wRC+ of 44 throughout his big league career. While those numbers leave much to be desired, Smith’s respectable .282/.352/.523 career slash line at the Triple-A level and his experience at all four infield spots as well as both outfield corners leave reason for hope that he could be a useful depth piece for a big league club in need at some point.
For now, however, Smith will return to the minor leagues with the Yankees as the infielder has neither the requisite service time nor a previous outright assignment on his resume that would allow him to reject the move in favor of free agency. Going forward, Smith will serve as non-roster depth for the Yankees and hope for another opportunity to join the club’s bench mix at some point this season, competing with youngster Jorbit Vivas as well as fellow non-roster veterans Rougned Odor, Josh VanMeter, and Jordan Groshans.
DJ LeMahieu's Minor League Rehab Delayed
- DJ LeMahieu was set to begin a minor league rehab assignment yesterday, but an MRI revealed that his right foot fracture hadn’t entirely healed. The infielder could still begin his assignment as early as Tuesday, though “we’re just being conservative with this thing,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone told ESPN News Services and other media. “He’s doing really well and I know he feels ready to go, but the foot specialist has weighed in. We want to make sure this thing’s 100 percent.” LeMahieu suffered the injury about a month ago after fouling a ball off his foot in Spring Training, and is healthy enough to partake in such baseball activities as batting practice and fielding drills, even if he hasn’t gotten the green light for rehab games just yet.
Which Hot Or Cold Starts Are For Real?
The 2024 season is just a few weeks old. There’s still a lot of time for narratives to shift and plenty of exciting or deflating changes are surely coming up over the horizon. Nonetheless, the games in April count just as much as the games in September. Some clubs have already banked some valuable wins while others have put themselves in a real hole.
Looking at the FanGraphs Playoff Odds today and comparing them to where they were ahead of the Seoul Series, there are five clubs that have increased their postseason chances by more than 10%. Meanwhile, six clubs have seen their odds drop by more than 10%. Which of those are just small-sample blips and which are signs that the club’s talent level is meaningfully different than expected? Let’s take a glance.
Orioles
The defending champions of the American League East were given just a 51.8% chance of making it back to the postseason, per the FanGraphs odds from before any games had been played. They have started out 12-6 and seen their odds jump to 76.5% today, a difference of 24.7%.
Baltimore continues to get huge contributions from its young core and role players alike. Jackson Holliday’s big league career is out to a slow start, but others have picked up the slack, with Colton Cowser, Gunnar Henderson, Jordan Westburg and Cedric Mullins off and running. Even Ryan O’Hearn, who was acquired in a small cash deal from the Royals, continues to thrive. On the pitching side, Corbin Burnes has been the expected ace while Grayson Rodriguez continues to cement himself as a quality big league arm. There are some question marks at the back end with Dean Kremer and Cole Irvin out to wobbly starts, but Kyle Bradish and John Means are both on minor league rehab assignments and could rejoin the club soon.
The 18 games they have played so far have come against the Angels, Royals, Pirates, Red Sox, Brewers and Twins.
Royals
The Royals entered the season with playoff odds of just 13.1% but they have gone 12-7 so far, bumping themselves up to 33.2%, a difference of 20.1%.
An improved rotation gets a lot of the credit. Between last year’s trade for Cole Ragans, the offseason signings of Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha, as well as the emergence of Alec Marsh, it’s a whole new look alongside Brady Singer. None of those five have an ERA higher than 4.32 so far this year. On the position player side of things, Bobby Witt Jr. is further proving himself to be a superstar, while Salvador Perez and Vinnie Pasquantino are healthy and productive.
They have faced the Twins, Orioles, White Sox, Astros and Mets thus far.
Yankees
The Yanks had strong odds to begin with, starting out at 71.2%. A hot start of 13 wins and 6 losses has already bumped those all the way to 85.9%, a jump of 14.7%.
Health was a big factor for the Yankees last year, with players like Aaron Judge, Anthony Rizzo, DJ LeMahieu, Giancarlo Stanton, Nestor Cortes and Carlos Rodón all missing significant time. This year, Gerrit Cole is on the shelf, as is LeMahieu. But new face Juan Soto has been great so far, while Stanton, Cortes and Rodón are back in decent form.
The injuries or lack thereof will probably remain a focus for the months to come, especially with so many key players in their mid-30s. Last year, the club was 45-36 through the end of June, but mounting injuries led to them going 20-33 through July and August.
They have started their season by playing the Astros, Diamondbacks, Blue Jays, Marlins and Guardians.
Brewers
The National League Central is arguably the most up-for-grabs, with the five clubs fairly close in terms of talent. Despite being the reigning division champs, the Brewers were given just a 30.6% chance of making the postseason, below the Cardinals and Cubs. They’ve started out 11-6 and are now at 43.5%, a 12.9% bump.
There have been quite a few nice performance on the offensive side of things. Willy Adames had a bit of a down year in 2023 but is off to a good start in this campaign. Brice Turang and Blake Perkins are also putting up better numbers than last year. Joey Ortiz has done well since coming over from the Orioles in the Burnes trade. The loss of Burnes and the injury to Brandon Woodruff left the club without their co-aces, but Freddy Peralta has stepped up with a 2.55 ERA and 39.4% strikeout rate through his first three starts.
They have faced off against the Mets, Twins, Mariners, Reds, Orioles and Padres so far.
Mets
After a disastrous 2023 season and a relatively quiet winter, the Mets opened this year with their odds at 27.6%. A 10-8 start has already bumped them to 38.7%, an 11.1% difference.
They have been especially strong of late, as they started out 0-5 but have gone 10-3 over their last 13 contests. The bounceback plays on Luis Severino and Sean Manaea seem to be going well so far. Edwin Díaz is healthy again and already has four saves. On the position player side, Brett Baty seems to be taking a step forward. DJ Stewart is carrying over last year’s hot finish, and the Tyrone Taylor pickup looks like a nice move.
They have lined up against the Brewers, Tigers, Reds, Braves, Royals and Pirates.
Giants
The Giants added plenty of talent this winter and opened the season with playoff odds of 44.6%. But an 8-11 start has already dropped them to 34%, a difference of 10.6%.
Stretching out Jordan Hicks is going great so far, but Blake Snell showed a lot of rust in his first two starts after signing late in the offseason. On offense, acquisitions like Jung Hoo Lee, Matt Chapman and Nick Ahmed have produced subpar offense, and the same goes for incumbents like Mike Yastrzemski, Wilmer Flores and Thairo Estrada.
They have squared off against the Padres, Dodgers, Nationals, Rays and Marlins thus far.
Cardinals
Despite a dreadful 2023 campaign, expectations were high for the Cards coming into this year after they remade their rotation. But a middling start of 9-10 has dropped their playoff odds from 50.1% to 38.7%, a difference of 11.4%.
Injuries have been playing a notable role in the early going for the Cards, with Sonny Gray, Lars Nootbaar, Tommy Edman, Dylan Carlson and others missing time. The Lance Lynn signing looks good so far, as he has a 2.18 ERA through four starts, but Kyle Gibson is at 6.16. Both the veteran Paul Goldschmidt and the youngster Jordan Walker are out to terrible starts at the plate. The Cardinals’ long list of injuries opened up playing time for guys like Alec Burleson and Victor Scott II, who have each struggled immensely.
They have faced the Dodgers, Padres, Marlins, Phillies, Diamondbacks and Athletics to this point.
Mariners
The Mariners just missed the playoffs last year but still opened this season with a 60.8% chance of getting back there. A tepid start of 9-10 has seen those odds slide to 49.1%, a difference of 11.7%. Things were even more dire before they swept the Reds this week, as they were 6-10 prior to that.
The rotation has surprisingly been a problem thus far. An injury to Bryan Woo bumped Emerson Hancock into the rotation, but Hancock has an ERA of 7.98 through three starts. Each of Luis Castillo and George Kirby also have poor results, though those may be based on luck. Both have a high BABIP and low strand rate, so both have a FIP just above 3.00, about three runs lower than their ERA.
Julio Rodríguez is the biggest disappointment on the position player side. He is striking out at a 34.6% clip and walking just 5.1% of the time while still looking for his first home of the year, leading to a line of .219/.269/.260. Luke Raley, Mitch Garver and J.P. Crawford have also looked lost at the plate, with none of that trio posting a wRC+ higher than 75 so far.
The M’s have played the Red Sox, Guardians, Brewers, Blue Jays, Cubs and Reds.
Marlins
The Fish swam into the playoffs last year, their first postseason berth in a full season in 20 years. They followed that with an offseason mostly focused on overhauling their front office and player development system. A disastrous 4-15 start has already dropped this year’s playoff odds from 27.9% to 2.3%, a difference of 25.6%.
Injuries have been a huge factor, as the club’s former starting pitching surplus quickly became a deficit. Sandy Alcántara required Tommy John surgery last year, and Eury Pérez followed him down that path this year. Edward Cabrera and Braxton Garrett also missed some time due to shoulder troubles. A.J. Puk’s attempted move from the bullpen to the rotation is not going well so far, and Jesús Luzardo is struggling badly. Max Meyer was doing well but he was optioned to the minors to monitor his workload after he missed all of last year recovering from his own Tommy John procedure. The offense has been pretty bad across the board, as not a single member of the team has a wRC+ of 105 or higher. Jake Burger hit the injured list earlier this week, removing one of their top power bats from that already weak group.
They faced the Pirates, Angels, Cardinals, Yankees, Braves and Giants to start the year and have yet to win back-to-back games.
Astros
The Astros have been a powerhouse for years and opened this season with an 86.2% chance of returning to the postseason. But they have stumbled out of the gates this year with a record of 6-14, dropping their odds to 59.7%, a 26.5% drop.
Like some of the other clubs mentioned above, health has been a big factor here. Lance McCullers Jr. and Luis Garcia each underwent elbow surgery last year and are still rehabbing. So far this year, the Astros have lost Justin Verlander, José Urquidy and Framber Valdez to the IL, giving them a full rotation on the shelf. (Verlander will return tomorrow.)
With those prominent arms not around, others haven’t really picked up the slack. Hunter Brown has an ERA of 10.54 through four starts while J.P. France is at 7.08. Prospect Spencer Arrighetti was called up to fill in but has been tagged for nine runs over seven innings in his two outings. Josh Hader, Ryan Pressly and Bryan Abreu have surprisingly been bad out of the bullpen, with each having an ERA of 6.00 or higher. On offense, José Abreu has been awful, hitting .078/.158/.098. That performance got him bumped down in the lineup, and he’s been ceding playing time to Jon Singleton lately.
The Astros began the year playing the Yankees, Blue Jays, Rangers, Royals and Braves.
Twins
The Twins are the reigning champs in the American League Central but made some budget cuts this winter. Their 6-11 start has moved their playoff odds from 66% to 38.6%, a shift of 27.4%.
Once again, injuries are a big part of the story here. Oft-injured Royce Lewis went down with a quad strain on Opening Day, and Carlos Correa followed him later, subtracting the club’s left side of the infield. The only guys with at least 30 plate appearances and a wRC+ above 100 are Ryan Jeffers, Alex Kirilloff and the currently-injured Correa. Multiple injured relievers, most notably Jhoan Durán, have left the bullpen shorthanded.
In the rotation, the club lost Sonny Gray, Kenta Maeda and Tyler Mahle from last year’s club, but their main attempt at replacing those guys was to acquire Anthony DeSclafani on the heels of a pair of injury-wrecked seasons. He required flexor tendon surgery and will miss the rest of the year. The incumbents haven’t been much help. Chris Paddack, Louie Varland and Bailey Ober each have an ERA above 6.50, though Ober has rebounded after being shelled for eight runs in just 1 1/3 innings in his season debut.
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Some of these are probably just flukes, and the results will even out over the rest of the season, but some of these clubs might be showing us who they really are. Which ones do you believe in? Have your say in the polls below, the first one for the hot starts and the second one for the cold starts. (Note: you can select multiple options in each poll.)
Yankees Claim Taylor Trammell, Designate Kevin Smith
The Yankees announced that they have claimed outfielder Taylor Trammell off waivers from the Dodgers, the latter club having designated him for assignment earlier this week. To open a roster spot for Trammell, the Yankees designated infielder Kevin Smith for assignment.
Trammell, 26, was only with the Dodgers for a couple of weeks. They claimed him off waivers from the Mariners in early April and he only got six hitless plate appearances, striking out three times, before getting bumped off the roster and put right back on waivers.
The Yankees are likely interested based on Trammell’s past status as one of the top prospects in the game. Selected 35th overall by the Reds in 2016, he was on Baseball America’s top 100 lists in three straight years starting in 2018.
But his results started to dip as he began to be passed around the league a bit. He was flipped to the Padres in the 2019 deal that sent Trevor Bauer to the Reds and Yasiel Puig to Cleveland, then was traded again, going to the Mariners in the 2020 deal that also sent Ty France and Andrés Muñoz to Seattle.
The Mariners gave him sporadic playing time in the majors over the past few years but he didn’t live up to his previous prospect hype. He currently has a line of .165/.266/.361 in 357 plate appearances, having struck out in 37.3% of those. His 10.9% walk rate is strong but the overall output has obviously not been good. He is now out of options, which is why the Mariners and Dodgers have each had to designate him for assignment in recent weeks.
Reasons for optimism can be found on Trammell’s Triple-A performance. Dating back to the start of 2021, he has 812 plate appearances at the top minor league level. He struck out in 24% of those but also drew walks at a 14% rate and hit 38 home runs. That’s to be taken with a grain of salt since those homers were all in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, but his .274/.381/.506 batting line nonetheless translated to a 116 wRC+, indicating he was 16% above league average. He also stole 33 bases in 40 tries in that time.
The Yanks will give Trammell a roster spot to see if he can finally have his long-awaited breakout in pinstripes. While that’s a sensible decision in a vacuum, it seems less than ideal in terms of roster construction.
The Yankees already have a pretty loaded group in terms of outfielders, with Aaron Judge, Juan Soto and Alex Verdugo getting the regular playing time. Giancarlo Stanton is in the designated hitter slot most days while Trent Grisham is on hand as a glove-first backup.
Smith was added to the roster on the weekend with the club’s infield injuries mounting. Oswald Peraza and DJ LeMahieu both started the season on the injured list, which prompted the Yanks to trade for Jon Berti. But then Berti himself landed on the IL a few days ago, which is what led the club to select Smith’s contract.
Swapping in Trammell for Smith will seemingly give the club a surplus of outfielders but leave them a bit shorthanded on the dirt. Oswaldo Cabrera has taken over as the regular third baseman amid all those injuries, taking a spot next to Anthony Volpe, Gleyber Torres and Anthony Rizzo. The Yankees have Jahmai Jones on hand as a depth infielder but he’s been given just one plate appearance so far this year and only has major league experience at second base and in left field.
LeMahieu is starting a rehab assignment this week but a bench of catcher Jose Trevino, Jones, Grisham and Trammell will leave the club a bit thin on the infield until LeMahieu is ready to rejoin the big league club. Someone will have to lose their roster spot when LeMahieu gets back and time will tell who that is. If Trammell hangs onto his spot, he can be retained well into the future. He has less than two years of service time, meaning he has four years of club control beyond the current campaign.
As for Smith, the Yankees will now have a week to trade him or pass him through waivers. He got into one game as a pinch runner during his time on the roster but didn’t get sent to the plate. He has hit .173/.215/.301 in his 333 career plate appearances at the major league level.
He seemed to have a Triple-A breakout in 2021 when he hit .285/.370/.561 for the top minor league affiliate of the Blue Jays. But since then, his Triple-A performance has been an average-ish .280/.340/.497, which translates to a 101 wRC+. He also struck out in 29.9% of his plate appearances in that time. Like Trammell, he’s out of options but comes with years of potential club control. If he were to pass through waivers unclaimed, he would stick with the Yankees as depth but without occupying a roster spot.
MLBTR Podcast: Free Agent Power Rankings, Ohtani’s Stolen Money And The A’s Moving To Sacramento
The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.
This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…
- MLBTR’s 2024-25 Free Agent Power Rankings (1:30)
- Gerrit Cole didn’t crack the rankings due to his specific opt-out situation with the Yankees (6:30)
- The upcoming free agencies of Alex Bregman of the Astros and Pete Alonso of the Mets (9:20)
- Is there any scenario where Juan Soto of the Yankees is not the top free agent? (15:15)
- Ippei Mizuhara, former interpreter for Shohei Ohtani, charged with bank fraud (19:40)
- Athletics to play in Sacramento before moving to Las Vegas (32:40)
Plus, we answer your questions, including…
- How can a pitcher blow a save in the seventh inning? How early can a save be blown? (38:25)
- Do you think the Tigers will release Javier Báez? It is painful to watch him. (41:15)
- Who could the Braves target inside or outside the organization to replace Spencer Strider? (45:15)
Check out our past episodes!
- Reviewing Our Free Agent Predictions And Future CBA Issues – listen here
- Baseball Is Back, Will Smith’s Extension, Mike Clevinger And Jon Berti – listen here
- A Live Reaction To The Jordan Montgomery Signing, Shohei Ohtani’s Interpreter, And J.D. Martinez Joins The Mets – listen here
The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!