The Yankees announced a number of roster moves today, including the return of southpaw Zack Britton. Britton has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. Mike Ford has been designated for assignment, and right-hander Brooks Kriske has been optioned to Triple-A.
Britton will make his first appearance of the season, potentially making an already-strong Yankee bullpen even stronger. Yankees’ relievers are fourth among relief units in the Majors with a 3.30 ERA this season. For his part, Britton is coming off back-to-back sub-2.00 ERA seasons.
Ford has been designated for assignment after struggling offensively the past two seasons. Ford mashed in Triple-A back in 2019, earning a promotion to the bigs where he continued his good work at the plate with a .250/.350/.559 line in 163 plate appearances. Since then, Ford has batted just .134/.250/.276 across 156 plate appearances.
Kriske was a sixth round draft pick out of USC back in 2016. He rose steadily through the Yankees’ organization, but has struggled in short stints in the Majors. This season, Kriske served up five earned runs in four innings of work, allowing six hits and two walks while striking out three.
In other news, Luis Severino took a step forward in his rehab, earning a promotion from Low-A to High-A, per the team. Severino has made just three starts going back through 2019.
mrmackey
Ford’s been a Pinto, no issues with DFA’ing him.
Ducky Buckin Fent
But Mike Ford went to Princeton!
I think that’s why he had a seemingly pretty large contingent of Yankee fans. & he did have that nice Shane Spencer type September back in ’19.
Outside of all that – however – yeah, the guy didn’t hit. Or field particularly well. & he was just so-so at pitching mop up.
Really hoping Gittens can give us a spark/production out of 1B. Gleyber & Miggy coming around.
Man we need to get this offense going
mrmackey
He did grow one fine mustache.
Poster formerly known as . . .
@mrmackey
One of the better Ford grill covers.
deweybelongsinthehall
Bring back Jay Bruce Brian Cashman (as a Sox, I’m saying pretty please)…
Rsox
Gittens is 0-12 so far with 5 strikeouts and 1 walk. Not to much sparking so far
Ducky Buckin Fent
No.
No, not too much sparking or production thus far. A fella can hope though.
Fever Pitch Guy
Ford isn’t the reason the Yankees have been losing. If the regular season were to end today, they wouldn’t even qualify for the postseason.
Ducky Buckin Fent
D’accord.
He certainly wasn’t helping, however.
Yeah, I saw that. 3 games back. Need to get back to winning series’ & go on another little run here.
Every time this season I’ve thought the lineup had gotten back on track, they put up a meager 5 runs – or whatever – the very next series.
But: I think the lineup has gotten back on track.
So.
nitemare
Boone sitting their hottest hitter Stanton for series. Boone will make sure to lose
YankeesBleacherCreature
We’ve seen over time that Stanton is allergic to grass. They deserve to lose if winning depends on one hot player.
mrmackey
He wasn’t alone by a longshot. They miss Voit badly.
But he wasn’t able to be a capable backup option.
deweybelongsinthehall
Fever, it’s so early to talk about being in the playoffs if the season we’re to end today. if it did, there wouldn’t be a playoffs to worry about.
Joe says...
Definitely no problem with DFAing Ford but Kriske needs to be put in front of a firing squad. Hope to never see him in pinstripes again. I’m not sure why Adam Warren isn’t getting a call up.
dave frost nhlpa
I think you mean Edsel.
chrisjaybecker
Remember when the Mariners picked Mike Ford in the Rule 5? And then they were all regretful when the let him go back to the Yankees? Oh, Jerrrryyy! Guess who’s available?
chrisjaybecker
*they let him go…
uvmfiji
Time to move on from Cashman. It’s not the manager when the lineups are constantly full of muscle bound broken down stars.
They need a star table setter to play center. I wonder if the Ellsbury contract scared them away.
YankeesBleacherCreature
How many of those bonafide centerfielders have been on the market in recent years or even exists in MLB?
bobtillman
None since Refsnyder.
YankeesBleacherCreature
And there won’t be another one long after his number gets retired in Monument Park.
Ducky Buckin Fent
Hey.
Refs is playing well out here. Had a nice game against us.
Keep the Refs for the Hall dream alive.
deweybelongsinthehall
Having a better career than the often compared to Blake Sweihart.
Poster formerly known as . . .
The Cubs got two years of Marisnick for $5M. He owns a 169 OPS+ this year.
There are others, but we can start with him.
echozulu88
He hasn’t been a table setter though. He has logged almost all of his at bats 6-8 and his OPS+ is high but his history shows there is likely some regression. He’s a great complementary piece & probably should have been added instead of retaining Gardner.
Ducky Buckin Fent
Citing Marisnick’s numbers strikes we as a bit misleading, @person. Especially if you don’t also include that he’s done that over a mere 30 games & a scant 66 PA’s.
Plenty of time to get back to that career OPS of .676. When discussing him, I think that would be a good place to – ya know – “start with”.
& I don’t recall a single Yankee fan hoping for the big Jake Marisnick signing this past off-season. Yet, I certainly remember some Cubs fans being…underwhelmed – shall we say – about the move.
Poster formerly known as . . .
The question was: “How many of those bonafide centerfielders have been on the market in recent years or even exists in MLB?” He didn’t say anything about Yankee fans wanting or not wanting him.
He’s played several thousand more innings in center field than in either left or right field. He’s a bona fide center fielder. And if he gets back to that .676 OPS, his OPS will still be higher than Gardner’s.
If you prefer a more accomplished center fielder who was on the market, George Springer has played more center field than right field every year since 2017.
Badfinger
Cashman is part of the Steinbrenner family at this point. He’s not going anywhere.
Ron Tingley
Ford has had a great eye in the minors with some nice pop and almost as many walks as strikeouts. That plays in today game. An old school non Sabre stat that only a handful of batters even accomplish, let alone someone with pop. Should be praised more with all the swing and misses in today’s game. Not sure why it took so long to get a shot but somewhere like COL or Detroit would play. I remember when the Cards didn’t want Voit.
jellbuc
Walks and homers are exactly what Sabremetrics preaches. Walks are much more valued today then ever.
They gave him a lot of time to turn this around but 2 seasons of 130 ball while watching him make pop ups to shallow left would be DFA’d anywhere. It’s not a Yankees thing.
I’m sure someone else will give him a shot
Ducky Buckin Fent
I don’t think those are really all that comparable, @Tingley.
Voit was clearly blocked in St Louis. Goldshmidt was extended & they had Martinez. & the Yanks gave up actual MLB players for him: Gallegos & Shreve.
I have a good friend that is a die hard Cards fan. St Louis knew he knocked the crap out of the ball. They just had no room for him & tried (successfully) to add to their pen.
Rare “win-win” trade.
Ford – however – was given plenty of opportunity to prove himself over the last few seasons. He does have some intriguing numbers in MiLB. So perhaps there is a bit more growth/improvement there.
But – as of now – he just simply looks overwhelmed at the plate at the big league level.
Poster formerly known as . . .
Goldschmidt didn’t join the Cardinals until 2019, signed in December 2018. The Yankees acquired Voit in July 2018.
Voit was blocked by Martinez, Matt Adams and Matt Carpenter.
toomuchpie
“In the minors” is the key. In MLB this season he had a 32% k rate.
Ducky Buckin Fent
& a .560 OPS.
That is untenable.
Ron Tingley
I knew better than to comment on a Yankee player. I would love to go to a game there. I’m also full of useless information so here we go..
Mike Ford hit .259. With a .359 OBS AND 12 HRS in 159 abs which is a SLG % of .559 as a rookie in 2019. That sic numbers and he’s been hurt a lot since. Yankees are so stocked always you better be hitting to get a chance. You’re like all our Ex’s. It’s not what you done but what you done for me lately.
Now as for Voit being traded. That’s before goldschdmit was even on the team. If my memory serves right, Matheny was a fan of Martinez over Carpenter at first even thought Carpenter was the franchise player. Mike Schildt took over half way through the year and put Martinez in a part time outfield role and Carp back at first. Then Goldschdmit came in the following year and now Martinez isn’t playing in the MLB. The relievers, while have been pretty good, can easily be replaced by chance. The Angels have cut guys like Rich Hill and Kirby Yates in recent years.. Most good relievers have a 5 year run? I think Voit will last longer than who he was traded for.
Ducky Buckin Fent
Ya know, I’ve not been to the new park yet myself. Went to The Stadium hundreds of times when I was a kid though. I just don’t really care to go to NY anymore.
That’s right.
It was Carpenter. But – in essence – it still looks like he was blocked.
Remember though, that Ford did all that during a September call up. He was oftentimes having success against other call ups. & he was tucked out of harm’s way in an extremely deep & dangerous lineup (Yanks scored 5.77(!) Runs/Game that year).
It was a pretty good situation for him.
But I’ve always been wary of September performances. & in ’20 he had a sub .500 OPS. So his struggles have been pronounced & consistent since then.
I guess in the long run we’ll see. It just seems like it worked out pretty well for both teams. 1B was – & continues to be – a problem for the Yanks after Texeira & before Voit.
We could certainly use him back in the lineup, serious.
Ron Tingley
Yes great points. Helps when you’re the only guy seeing fastballs in the lineup. We all remember the goood old Kevin Maas/Shane Spencer times as well
. Fact he had like 7 years in the minors says something.. albeit with success.
And your right. Carp was all the hype at the time. He was making up for the lack of Albert and did for a while. Then he turned into Albert himself.
Metsin777
Wow Yankee fans told me he was the next Babe Ruth just like they did with Refsnyder and Bird, with Dominguez soon to be the next. Dont forget about their prospects who were supposed to be the next Pedro Martinez aka Justus Sheffield and Deivi Garcia. What a joke
YankeesBleacherCreature
Does this make you feel better about the Cano/Diaz trade and Jed Lowrie? If so, please go on.
Srechter35
I’m fairly certain there are far more hilarious folks such as yourself ripping Yankees fans than there are Yankees fans worth ripping on. The irony really is amazing.
Ducky Buckin Fent
@BleacherCreature & @Srechter
Did you!?
Did you guys “tell” @Metsin7 “he was the next Babe Ruth”?
C’mon.
Level with ole Fent. Are you fostering unreasonable expectations on the board in re our young players?
Let’s get to the bottom of this Right Now.
YankeesBleacherCreature
Mark my words! The Yankees will draft a 15 y,o. centerfielder in the 158th round with their 9th pick and MLB is going to name the MVP award after him.
Ducky Buckin Fent
Oh, you can consider them marked.
Heh.
Anyway.
Britton back! That’s a big deal. Our pen is our real strength. Without those guys…man, we’d be in real trouble.
But they haven’t been perfect or whatever.
Wilson & O’day should be back soon too. I think we will be the only contender (or “contender” depending how you see it) that won’t actually need a relief arm. Injuries could change that. But our bullpen is stacked.
Drag seeing Kriske & Abreu struggle while Whitlock is tearing it up. But Yanks like those guys & are typically able to develop relievers.
YankeesBleacherCreature
Good to see him back! It got me thinking if he returns to form if the Yankees can flip him later for reinforcements from a team needing a closer. Can even eat some cash. Flirting with fire I know.
Ducky Buckin Fent
Ooof.
I dunno. That’s pretty bold. I think this pen could be a serious weapon in the playoffs. 3 guys (Loaisiga, Greene, Cessa) that can go over an inning. Chapman & Britton for the end game. Good match up guys: Wilson, O’day, Luetge, etc.
& some of the lesser guys have looked decent, at times. That could be a pen of 7 or more trustworthy relievers. That’s big.
Starting to get frustrated with DJ. Other parts of the lineup are producing/showing life. But he has been a huge letdown after signing a pretty sweet deal. Can’t seem to buy a timely hit, & he has cost us some big runs with his glove.
CF is the glaring problem to me.
& with about 3 million bucks to fix it, there are not many good options out there.
Gotta find something somewhere though.
Perhaps it’s Florial. Or…Michael A. Taylor? Pickins are slim.
toomuchpie
Name one who said it.
Badfinger
When you say “Yankee fans” you really mean the voices in your head.
Metsin777
You guys are delusional
Every trade idea by Yankee fans are “Miguel Andujar, Deivi Garcia, and Mike Ford/Tyler Wade” for a superstar player
echozulu88
Don’t forget Frazier
YankeesBleacherCreature
He’s been annointed “untouchable” unanimously.
driftcat28 2
I don’t recall anyone calling Ford the next Ruth lmao
pinstripes17
You’re hilarious
pasha2k
They knew Ells had injury issues in Boston n they still signed him. I just hope they don’t decide to dump Chapman’s contract sending him to Boston cuz I can not stand him. I agree with above saying they have muscle bound clunkers. Judge is the real deal, a good hitter.
toomuchpie
lol
Ducky Buckin Fent
You’re certainly ahead of me, @pasha2k.
But you inspired me to go ahead & pour myself a nice stiff bourbon to start off this game.
Bottoms up.
Gwynning's Anal Lover
If he had a change of scenery, he would probably do better. Maybe once he gets assigned to AAA, he can be traded to another AAA team like the Pirates.
YankeesBleacherCreature
I think fans tend to forget that opposing pitchers receive better shared scouting reports with more data over time. If a new hitter dominates out of the gate, pitchers learn to adjust. Then it becomes the hitter’s job to adapt. That skill is what seperates a AAAA player from a ML’er.
StudWinfield
Ford can now take his rightful place alongside Kevin Maas, Shane Spencer and Greg Bird in the hall of “thank you for that one excellent season now GTFO” fame.
YankeesBleacherCreature
Maas and Spencer belong in the All-Century whereas Bird and Ford were merely knocking on its door.
WideWorldofSports
Ford has been launched to Saturn, so Lexus put the memory of Ford Behonda us.
deweybelongsinthehall
Anyone hear from Rocky7? He’s been quiet this year which I hope is due to the way the Yanks have so far played and not because of health ills, etc.
whyhayzee
“Yankees’ relievers are fourth among relief units in the Majors with a 3.30 ERA this season.”
How many teams are spending $35 million?
Ducky Buckin Fent
That is certainly one of the benefits of a $200MM payroll. Ya know?
But.
The Yanks entire bullpen cost significantly less than one Trevor Bauer. So I get what Cashman was doing & why.
What a terrible first inning. Hat tip to @pasha2k for helping me, ummm, consume it. Mercy. & I hurried back from work stuff for this.
mlbnyyfan
I’ve been saying all along the Yankees need a legitimate lead off hitter to be a table setter. The problem is Cashman and it’s time for him to move on. One off season they don’t bring back Cano they sign Ellsbury. Another off season they can’t convince Ohtani to come to NY Cashman trades for Stanton instead of Yelich. Both those moves cost the Yankees severely especially with any kind of pay roll flexibility. It’s time to see what they can get for Voit, Sanchez, Judge. I’d even see about Cole. It’s obvious the Yankees window with this team is almost closed and they are wasting Coles prime when at one time most fans thought the Yankees were an ace pitcher away from getting back to the WS.
Ducky Buckin Fent
I don’t quite connect all those dots in the same way, @mlbnyyfan.
& DJ was supposed to be the “table setter”.
I actually felt the Yanks should break that money up into multiple bats. I posted as such here numerous times. Hey…even a blind squirrel finds an acorn once in awhile.
I’m not anywhere near the “tear it down” stage. The rotation looks pretty good. & with Sevy & Kluber (hopefully) returning it should/could be excellent.
Just need to get the bats going.
Cash fully embraced TTO guys. Right now we sit 6th in the AL in home runs. That needs to change. If we start hitting the ball over the fence like we should, this is absolutely a playoff team.
Then…well, yeah. Ya gotta get hot.
But I’ll take in the playoffs with a shot over sitting out & counting prospects any day.
rocky7
Well, things aren’t going too well these days and regarding your comment about “not anywhere near the tear down stage”…lots of Yankee fans might disagree. Basically its way beyond “they need to hit a little”!
Sevey went down about 1 hour ago and had to be helped off the field…Kluber…who knows when he’ll be back and exactly what can you expect…..Taillon got LIT UP today lasting 1/3 of an inning….the bullpen will be dead on arrival by July 31st……offensively, you starting a second baseman who Texas couldn’t wait to get rid of, Stanton doesn’t “have the legs” to play the outfield, Judge NEVER hits in critical situations, the Yankees are terrible up the middle with Sanchez, Torres, and 38 year old Gardner manning…..wow…..when do you admit that this team is totally dysfunctional and needs to be disassembled and then re-asembled with new players who are better defensively and offensively if possible……too many scrap heap acquisitions and the Hicks and Stanton contracts are KILLING them!
And I could go on but its too painful….and I’m a Yankee fan!
Ducky Buckin Fent
Let them disagree, @Rocky.
& let’s face it. Ever since 2004, Yankee fans have gotten a bit hysterical. You actually seem a tad bit hysterical yourself.
17-20 these guys put up the most runs in MLB.
Right now we are 24th.
So…yeah.
The problem is decidedly on the offense. For whatever reason: new ball, batting coaches, sticky stuff, Boone, weather, or one I have not heard, that is why we are scuffling.
It’s June 12th & – at the very least – the Yanks are firmly in the playoff race. But if all that complaining & blustering online is good for your soul, then carry on, please.
I’m just going to set my sails & ride it out.
YankeesBleacherCreature
OK MLBNYYFAN.. I’ll entertain this. What do you suppose the Yankees do if you were the GM? Honest question. You have to take all current existing contracts into consideration. Go…..
deweybelongsinthehall
Glad to see you’re ok Rock. I kind of like when NY and Boston are going well. our comments at times in retrospect were a little over the top but in good fun.
This year reminds me of 2013 for Boston when Sherrington made numerous smaller type moves including Napoli, Vitorino and Jonny Gomes. Unfortunately for the Yankees, they bet on veterans who have been injured. Combine that with underperformances and the team is lucky to be above .500. That said, there is plenty of time left. The Rays could still run away with the division, Boston could hang with them and as for NY, they could get back in the race or become sellers in 45 days.
Joe says...
Ducky.. It’s ok. For some reason they grooved a fastball to Gardy instead of walking him to face Cortez.
Ducky Buckin Fent
Nice to see GGBG get a big knock.
Joe G probably wept. “If only they were all like Gardy…”
whyhayzee
It seems like the only thing that the cash man has been interested in is the bullpen and it seems to be based on the 2015 Royals which was a one time success story and not necessarily indicative of the way to win it all every year. That was one long sentence. He’s built a rotation out of one stud (foreign substance man) and a whole lot of TJ’s. The “lineup” is 9 men batting in an order with very little rhyme or reason to their position in said order. It just seems (gasp) almost Mets-like in its design. Is this yet another NY franchise in scuffle mode? It’s too early to tell for sure.
mlbnyyfan
On another note. Judge must be thrilled with Lil Toe playing well with the Philadelphia
YankeesBleacherCreature
@whyhayzee Let’s be honest. If the Yankees really want to win all EVERY year, resetting their own tax line by ducking under the CBT wouldn’t even be a topic. They go over for a few years, dip under, rinse, repeat. I don’t forsee this pattern changing any time soon as long as they hold steady fan support. If their valuation goes stagnant, maybe they pull a 2009 and collect every top free agent.
mlbnyyfan
I don’t care if no one agrees with me but I know when Yankees missed out on Ohtani they overreacted getting Stanton. Especially when the next off season they probably could of gotten Harper. Judge and Harper much better than Judge and Stanton.
YankeesBleacherCreature
Well-run businesses such as the Yankees and many other teams don’t make emotional-based decisions. There’s typically a calculated Plan A, Plan B, Plan C, etc. in place well in advanced. You could also say that Trout (plus $550m) and Judge is better than Harper and Judge.
whyhayzee
I actually think both the Red Sox and the yankees have been reactionary at times for quite some time. Both teams have made epically bad moves and I think they worry too much about each other. I think Bloom is finally ignoring that and trying to build a good team regardless of what is going on. I’m not saying it’s worked yet because it’s early in the season. We will see how it plays out. But I do think the yankees get greedy when it comes to relievers and home run hitters. As if that’s all you need.
mlbnyyfan
As much as I dislike Boston they seem to care less about loyalty than the Yankees. Boston rarely holds onto a player too long. I thought getting rid of Mookie was a mistake but they seem to thrive better without. The Yankees refuse to get rid of Gardy and go with someone else. It may sound crazy but bringing back DJ could that have been a mistake. I thought if the Yankees brought back Didi the lineup would be more balanced. If Yankees insisted on bringing back DJ then trade Voit. That move would of hurt like the Mookie move but it’s for the better of the team. The young players Yankees do have never live up to expectations. The Yankees should have the best scouts but player development is lacking severely. They don’t even trust Florial after Hicks goes
down again. Something definitely has to give because it’s not working at all. That lineup has problems and the team needs to have some speed. DJ is not a lead off hitter get one with speed move DJ to batting second like Jeter add more leftys and watch them thrive.