The Yankees’ playoff chances may hinge on a game of catch that will take place today at Yankee Stadium. General manager Brian Cashman confirmed to George A. King III of the New York Post that Masahiro Tanaka will throw today for the first time since a slight UCL tear was discovered in the righty’s throwing elbow. If Tanaka feels good after his session, he’ll continue his rehab process with an eye towards a return in September. If he doesn’t feel right, Tanaka may have to undergo Tommy John surgery and could be in jeopardy of missing the entire 2015 season.
Here’s some more about the Bronx Bombers…
- The trainer for Christopher Torres, a 16-year-old Dominican shortstop, made a complaint to the commissioner’s office claiming the Yankees backed out of an agreed-upon $2.1MM bonus with the youngster, Baseball America’s Ben Badler reports. The Yankees claim no deal was ever reached, while Torres’ trainer says that by not informing Torres of their decision until June, the shortstop was left unsigned with no teams had room left in their international budget. Badler goes into great detail about the case and the gray area created when teams agree to sign international players months in advance of the July 2 signing period, which is against MLB rules but is very common around the league.
- The Phillies asked for Aaron Judge in exchange for Marlon Byrd, according to Bill Madden of the New York Daily News. Needless to say, the Yankees balked at giving up Judge, who was drafted 32nd overall in 2013 and is ranked by MLB.com as the fifth-best prospect in the Yankees’ farm system.
- With the Yankees struggling at the plate and facing questions at third base and DH for 2015, Newsday’s David Lennon writes that Alex Rodriguez would’ve been a useful piece on the roster right now. Had A-Rod worked out a 125-150 game suspension last August instead of appealing and ending up suspended for all of 2014, he would already have been eligible to return, Lennon notes.
- Also from King’s piece, Rusney Castillo’s private workout with the Yankees will take place on Friday. The Cuban outfielder also has an upcoming session with the Mariners, and he has already worked out for the Phillies and Red Sox. King hears from sources that Castillo could sign for between $35-45MM, which is a step up from the $25-35MM we last heard was Castillo’s likely price range, though given the heavy interest in his services and the big-market teams involved, it isn’t surprising his price tag is going up.
Oh Ruben…
The conflicting scouting report for Rusney Castillo are very confusing. The NY Post has him displaying “prodigious power” during his workout while Baseball America quotes some Scouts saying he maybe a 4th outfielder.
Apparently, Castillo has gotten quite a bit stronger and has been profiled to have “plus raw power.” I’m still not sure if he’s right for NY with Ellsbury and Gardner though, they need a true power bat, not more “occasional” power.
you can’t blame Ruben for trying, but you wonder if he doesn’t have a fundamental misunderstanding of his counterparty’s needs. it’s marlon byrd we are talking about here. A 36 year old who was suspended for PED use in 2012. The Yankees weren’t going to do that. If Judge was going anywhere, it would have been in a more complex deal for a better player.
Exactly. Byrd has been pretty good these past 2 years, but there’s the PED suspension and the fact that he wasn’t all that great before last year anyway. He might be worth his salary, but he isn’t worth top prospects.
I have no problem with starting high so when you compromise and negotiate you still end up with a decent player. Wonder if Judge was Amaro’s starting point or sticking point. Knowing him, both.
I would be a better General Manager than Ruben Amaro.
So can many who comment on this website. And that’s a fact.
My pet rock would be an upgrade.
Who says A-Rod would’ve been able to work out that deal anyway? His punishment was grossly unfair compared to everyone else’s and it doesn’t look like Selig was going to budge.
I feel like the Yankees injury woes have gone under the radar by the media. Maybe it’s just me, but I’m pretty happy with how the Yankees have done considering Sabathia, Tanaka, Pineda, and Nova have all missed at least half the season, really most of it. It’s unbelievable that they are over .500 considering we are starting guys who were our 9th and 10th starters going into the year.
Very true.
I’m also pleased, whether this was by design or un availability, that the Yankees brass has not made foolish deals by giving up prospects for short term veterans.
This team’s chances of making the post season are very slim. And to actually beat Oakland or Detroit… none. Let’s not fool ourselves into thinking we have a chance to compete if we traded for Byrd or Lee.
Hamels would have been nice for next year.
At the cost of Judge, Severino, Sanchez and Clarkin?
Prospects are prospects. The Yankees especially have few pan out.
Hamels is a different story. He’s good, and more importantly, controlled for a long time.
@douglasrau:disqus I don’t mind giving up prospects if you get Hamels back, though, I would still prefer just giving up $ to get Lester in the off season.
I really, really like Hamels, for the talent level and price he’s signed, as well. But I have a feeling if the Yankees had done that deal, by 2017, Aaron Judge would be an All-Star right fielder and Severino would be a solid no. 2 starter for the Phillies. I have a good feeling about both of them. Sanchez…..not as good as when the season started.
I want to believe you. I really do. But I’ve had the same feeling with Jesus Montero. I had the same feeling about Betances, Banuelos, Brackman. I had the same feeling about Tyler Austin, Mason Williams, and Slade Heathcott.
I just don’t know anymore. Yanks really need to research what is going wrong with their development that these top prospects’ hype always ends up higher than their production.
They would be in a better position if Mc Cann and Beltran (until lately) had performed as expected.
I wouldn’t say “under the radar.” The Yankees are an old team. Old teams get hurt. You had to know at any one point X amount of guys would probably be on the DL. So I don’t think it’s as under the radar as it is expected so there’s not much to harp on if you are the media.
Yeah because Tanaka, Nova, and Pineda are old. Our only “old” players that got hurt if I’m remembering correctly are Beltran, Tex for a bit, and Sabathia.
I guess I could have said “old and often injured.” The fact remains that the Yankees being banged up isn’t a media story because everybody expected the team to be banged up. The media doesn’t really run with “the grass is green, the sky is blue” type stories.
Prado can play 3B I thought, seems like we should be ok.
Doubt Yanks go after Castillo with Prado and Drew on the roster. You could sign him and develop him as a 2B but heard he’s not a great infielder.
Drew is free agent after the year and Prado can play pretty much anywhere he’s asked.
Yankees are better off not rushing Tanaka back this year. They made a very significant commitment to him and rushing him back from injury in the first year of his deal would not be wise.
Tommy John surgery is inevitable regardless of how he feels today. He should have bitten the bullet last month and gotten it over with.
Whether Tanaka had surgery a month ago, or in a couple weeks really makes no difference in his recovery timetable, he would likely miss all of 2015 regardless. By spending a few weeks seeing if he can rehab the injury it gives them the chance to save this season and next.
So the Yankees keep their prospect and the Phillies keep their HR and RBI leader for a little while longer.
The Yankees r in position right now and looks like there gonna want to sign Scherzer AND Lester after this year which would change up the al east next year
I hope they stay away from Scherzer, if he didn’t want the 6/144 (which I think is an overpay) then I really hope they don’t pursue him.
No way they sign both, they might sign Lester but not both. I’m good with next years rotation being Tanaka, Lester, CC, Pineda, McCarthy with Phelps and Greene being the backups and also Nova working his way back from TJ slowly and Severino being an option around this time next year.
Tanaka cc nova Pineda are all question marks. Servino is 16-17 n phelps is having elbow issues. You can never have enough pitching and it’s the Yankees
Or, judging by how long it took A-Rod to become a full-time DH when he finally came back late last season, Girardi would be trying to figure out how to alternate A-Rod and Beltran, 2 expensive, older pieces, into the DH slot, constantly having one moping on the bench. Gee, what a wonderful “solution” that sounds like–just causes more problems.
That was actually a pretty reasonable proposal for Byrd so long as Philly sent some money back. It was maybe a tad bit of a stretch, but nowhere near an outrageous request.
BP had him as a top 50 prospect. You don’t get that back for Byrd with the contract he is on.
BA didn’t have him in their mid-season top 50 and MLB Pipeline didn’t have him as a top 100. Opinions vary a lot when you get past the top 25-30. In this case the Yankees opinion matters most. They obviously feel Judge at A+ is worth more than a big league player on pace for 30/90 and guaranteed about $10.5M through next year at age 38/39.
If I were Amaro I would’ve offered to send back an OF prospect like Cozens, Altherr or Dugan.
BP had him as a top 50 prospect. You don’t get that back for Byrd with the contract he is on.