The Yankees have signed infielder Derek Dietrich to a minor league contract, per Chris Hilburn-Trenkle of Baseball America. It’ll be the second straight season with time spent in the Yankees organization for Dietrich, who’s represented by All Bases Covered Sports Management.
Dietrich, 32, didn’t play in the big leagues last year, instead splitting the season between the Triple-A affiliates for the Yankees and Nationals. In a combined 302 trips to the plate during that time, he slashed .163/.338/.293 — a continuation of the struggles he’s endured in his most recent big league stints. Dietrich swatted 19 home runs with the Reds in 2019, going on an epic May hot streak that saw him swat 12 home runs in a month’s time while slashing .304/.400/.841. It’s been downhill since, however, as evidenced by a .143/.311/.302 slash in his past 236 Major League plate appearances.
Dietrich has drawn plenty of walks in recent years, both in the big leagues and in Triple-A, as he’s morphed into a three-true-outcome player. Since 2019, in 682 plate appearances between the Majors and Triple-A, Dietrich has homered, walked or struck out in 44.1% of his plate appearances. Add in another somewhat incredible 53 instances of being hit by a pitch, and 51.8% of Dietrich’s plate appearances have ended without a ball in play for defenders to field.
The Yankees have plenty of options at first base and second base, Dietrich’s primary positions, already on the depth chart. Anthony Rizzo and Marwin Gonzalez, both in the Majors, will see the lion’s share of time at first base. Old friend Greg Bird and Ronald Guzman are both playing in Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. At second base, the Yanks are set with DJ LeMahieu, Gleyber Torres and Gonzalez on the big league roster, to say nothing of journeymen Jose Peraza and Phillip Evans and top prospect Oswaldo Cabrera down in Triple-A. (Cabrera is on the 40-man roster.) Dietrich, who also has experience in left field and at third base, will give the Yanks another lefty bat to add to that mix in Scranton.
You GO Cashman! That’ll bring consistency to the offense.
Truth be told, he & Rortvedt are the start of the Yankees players’ calendar… any way Hal can make money. There’s a battle for Mr. December – more to come.
@Clip
What are we doing? I know it’s very early, but it seems obvious that we need a major offensive player to shake things up. Derek Dietrich is not the answer. With no one injured we have a very ineffective offense. What are we going to do when Hicks, Judge, Stanton, or Donaldson get injured?
Justin Upton to the rescue! Pinstripes here Justin comes!
Is Upton really better than Dietrich at this point?
Yeah, this is just the a model of inconsistency revived & refashioned. They can’t win or score without HRs & they leave far too many players on base. It’s a recipe for disaster in the postseason when they face consistent top-tier tier pitching. Plus the Jays offense has shown maturity & growth in their young stars which is a bit concerning for the four-team race that’s ahead.
Sounds like what they may need is the second coming of Rod Carew but they just don’t make players like that these days.
I agree clip, but that’s how all teams play it these days. Problem is they are not hitting enough if those homeruns. Judge has exactly one hr on the season, And without him contributing in a major way they have shown they can’t win
Does Dietrich have a growth on the side of his face?
Funny guy, Right there
.163 he’ll fit right in!!! Boone can have him catch while Higgy is the DH. No since in not adding one more clown to the “Day Off” list.
What a freaking joke the Yankees have become. Oh and the Judge Signing Not that surely didn’t dampen morale.
Boone, Cashman and three day old lettuce, they are all a waste.
NY TANKees
If it’s broken, don’t fix it
Not that DD is a direct threat to him but Torres is not looking good so far. Would not be surprised to see him optioned to SWB if he doesn’t turn things around rather quickly. At this point he should start losing at bats to Gonzalez.
They won’t do it but Torres should definitely be sent down to work on some things. If everyone else was playing as they should, it wouldn’t be so noticeable but good lord he looks bad.
Really unfortunate how his career has essentially fallen off a cliff after his excellent 2018-2019 seasons. I don’t follow the Yankees closely, was a hole found in his swing, or was it a more inexplicable deprecation?
I think it’s as much to do with the dejuicing of the ball and his inability or unwillingness to adjust as anything. He’s still swinging out of his shoes.
Gleyber needs to go down to AAA to completely rework his swing and try to improve his defense as well. It’s now very clear that he was the poster boy for juiced balls and his ugly off balanced swings won’t cut it anymore. Gleyber is still only 25 so he’s not a total lost cause (yet) but he needs a complete overhaul. Otherwise he’ll be out of the league by the time he’s 30
Does he even hove an options left?
Only time he was optioned was the start of the ’18 season.
I’ll trade you DiDi and Bohm for Gleyber and Hicks right now.
Done.
They should just bring up Peraza. No sense in another over-30, no-hit guy to add to an all-or-nothing lineup that is, on their best days, a replica of last season’s offense.
I hate to say it this early because a lot can change, but I believe they’re going to prove Ducky right with a less than adequate offense.
At some point the Yankees are going to have to admit they’re not looking to improve, they’re looking to play the playoff lottery.
Still not on board with Ducky’s offseason analysis yet because even the big bats have been quiet but it ain’t looking good so far.
@Joe – When the Yankees hit home runs they win. If they hit home runs in half their games, they finish at .500.
You have to be able to scrap and get on base. Move runners over and get them around. You can’t come out and manage for the 2 or 3 run homer every day.
Why not? Hit more homeruns, win more games.
Rick, the moves made over the offseason was supposed to help with that. So far it ain’t. Still early though.
I hear you, Joe, and normally I would agree. My assessment comes from the insurmountable volume of players left in scoring position in any given series, coupled with their proclivity to HIDP with runners on base.
Their biggest offensive losses are because of runners left on base. They’re falling back into that pattern again & amplifying it by fighting for the league lead in GIDPs.
I do hope you’re right & im wrong, my friend, but until they fix Cashman’s formula for roster construction, I don’t see another viable solution.
Yep Clipper, here’s to hoping the old adage about don’t believe anything you see in April and September is true.
I agree. Also their tendency to rest at least one good player every day ,is gonna result in a lot of losses ,especially if the rest of the lineup isn’t hitting , it would be one thing they were hitting.
Possible that Dietrich signing is because of opt outs for one or more if Bird, Guzman and/or J. Peraza. They had him last early last year and still acquired Odor instead of promoting him. Just AAA veteran depth.
Yupe! Looks like Ducky was right. I agree let’s bring up Oswald Peraza!!! At least if were going to lousy and boring, let’s do it with newer and younger faces!!!
It’s 10 games, bro! BUT it’s also three winnable games that the Yankees can’t redo. ::breaks emergency button glass:: Someone push the button.
Yeah, & let’s face it…getting blanked by the O’s is just plain pitiful! Lol.
Never count the Yankees out, they always find a way to make the playoffs!
I like your attitude!
Dallas, There is an extra playoff team this year, so you may be right, but the Yankees had an opportunity to be a really good team this year and Cashman didn’t take advantage of the opportunity like your Mets did. Yankee fans are DISAPPOINTED and Frustrated!!!
teamrankings.com/mlb/stat/team-left-on-base-per-ga…
If I am reading this correctly, the Yankees leaving an average of 7.7 runners per game on base and are trending upwards. There are only two more teams that leave more runners on base. One of those just took 2 of 3 from the Yankees.
And because of this I’m not too worried about the offense yet. Getting on base and hitting the ball hard is what they are doing, they just need to do in unison.
Well, this is surely a game-changing move. “A combined 302 trips to the plate during that time, he slashed .163/.338/.293” and in the minors, no less. Yankees look like a water-logged team right now, too close to last year, where many of their regulars were barely average.
Perhaps the Yankees see something in him. The same way the Dodgers saw something in Andrew Heaney. But no one had told the Yankees that they need glasses.
Wow. Was he really that bad! I guess the article does flesh out how his 3 true outcome tendencies make him hard to count on.
Just have him play on May
Where to begin.
Boone, Boone, Boone. What are you doing?
For how many months did this man watch Gleyber Torres struggle at short, and he still plays him there. I could only shake my head yesterday when he took IKF out and moved Torres to short — and of course Gleyber promptly committed a throwing error.
Donaldson gets moved down in the order and hits his first home run and doubles, so of course Boone moves him right back to the three hole where he enjoys a .143 BA.
With a mic in front of their faces, players trot out the cliche that it doesn’t matter to them where they bat in the lineup, and retired hitters tell the truth and say, yes, it matters a lot to have the comfort of an established role. You’d think that Boone, an ex-player, would understand that. But no, the constant tinkering with the lineup continues.
But we all make mistakes, and one of mine was dreaming that Higgy might turn into a hitter. I don’t get it: he’s got lots of power and he watches pitchers from behind the plate all day, but he can’t put it together at the plate.
I have no idea why Cashman brought Dietrich back, but I’ll give him props for trading Abreu for Trevino. Jose was a great add. The dude’s a gamer. Now — will Boone make him the starting catcher if Higgy’s travails continue?
Ya know, there was an article written recently that detailed Boone’s penchant for overcomplicating the lineup process. The article, written by Suzanne Carbano, illustrates how Boone often tries to get too “cute” with the lineup, mixing and matching, switching out bench-for-position players when unnecessary, & only achieves inconsistency as the only consistent outcome. I tend to agree.
Make a lineup, use common sense, & stick with it. Let Donaldson know he’s hitting sixth every day. Make sure you’re not putting Hicks’ 30/30 bat (sarcasm alert!) at the top of the order.
Boone is lost. He just doesn’t seem capable of managing outside of the data analysis-based decisions. He doesn’t seem to be able to put winning over the perception of fairness (to his players) thus ensuring even those who are completely failing get equal playing time. He’s a fine team coach, maybe a bench coach or a little league coach, because of his player-first mentality. But he’s only exacerbating their existing problems.
Amen to that.
@clipper. I did see Hicks batting lead off in the Yankees lineup. Blew my mind!
Agreed.he’s over his head, to put it kindly. But Cashman is clueless also, he said recently that if he was to look for another manager he would have all the qualities of Boone. And I would ask him what qualities are those, incompetence?
Well I don’t think we have to worry about who will replace Cashman because he’s not going anywhere. He’s deeply entrenched with Steinbrenners so Cashman will remain, the best that we could hope for is that he’s moved upwards in the organization ,leaving way for another GM. unfortunately it will probably be Cashmans job to pick him to ,so he would be just another chip off the old block
Yep. That’s not even to address moves like taking out a brilliant Nestor Cortez, or choosing a struggling, flat Johnny Lasagna in a hitter-favored matchup over a red hot Lucas Luetge.
It speaks to the main point: Boone, outside of the paper analytics, can’t make good decisions. He can make conventional ones, ones that he’s seen play out before, like “put in the closer to close the game.” But, to choose one guy who’s hot over another who’s cold because he could perform better in that moment on that day is a function of higher-level managing that completely escapes Boone. Hence Boone brings in the guy he would normally defer to l, even when said player is off his game.
Spot on clip
I didn’t have an issue with taking Cortes out because he didn’t throw all that many pitches last year, and I think he was at around 88 pitches when he was taken out. But leaving Loaisiga in when his struggles were obvious was a game-changing blunder. I think some managers rely on what it says on paper because they think they can blame the analytics for bad results when their real-time indecision blows up in their faces.
Didn’t they sign him to a minor’s deal last year?
Yup.
Please fire Cashman lol
I’ll never get Yankee fans that don’t appreciate Cashman. Don’t appreciate small moves.
Cosmo, we do, really. Many of us see his positives & understand his strengths. But, we also tire quickly if his weaknesses that are repeated annually to see the team exit early from the playoffs. Cashman is far better than many GMs, & I think you will find that if you change the dynamic of the conversation to one of a poll for Cashman v “X” GM, Cashman would be selected over most.
The feeling tends to be that the Yankees could/should do better though. And if they can’t with Cashman, surely they can find someone who can. They keep telling us we have a World Series team, but we never even make the big game – at some point someone has to acknowledge the fault & its origin, because the fanbase will accept nothing less than a title from our 7-billion dollar representative.
@Yanks2. Glad you get it! Firing Boone is a waste of time unless Cashman goes with him. Boone is horrendous but if Cashman remains he will just hire another Boone type, that he will dictate to. Even if you think Cashman was once a good GM, it’s time for a new face. He’s been there too long! Probably have to wait until the end of the season in order to find a credible replacement but it needs to happen.
Yeah, that another good point Mick. Cashman has positioned himself to Have so much control over the team that it’s his way only. There’s really no blame outside of Cashman because he’s simply that involved in the decision-making processes.
Clip, We needed a player who would have really shaken up this lineup. Imagine if we had Correa instead of IKF or Marte instead of Joey Gallo. Nothing against IKF, he’s just not a player that will shake up a lineup.
On Boone, put Aaron Hicks in the lead off spot until he gets injured and goes on the IL. And YES bring up Oswald Peraza!!!
Clip, if Cashman goes at the end of the year do you think the new GM will be taking a step back or a big push for the title?
Ooof. That’s the million dollar question… See, in a normal seven-billion-dollar business, they would plan for the future & Cashman’s replacement would be ready to takeover the second he stepped away.
But, with HalCash? Yeah, I’m 50/50. I don’t trust Hal’s decision making because his ultimate motive isn’t winning, so it impacts all his choices, naturally. Nonetheless, the devil you know…
If Cashman goes, Boone has to go to. Hal has to bring in a top-shelf GM & a trusted, proven manager, imo. Who that is we could debate but I think there are a few names up for the task. To clarify, I don’t think they are better than Cashman per se, but I think they can do with this team what Cashman can’t/won’t which will bring them to the next level. I think we can agree 19/20 misses with a top-3 payroll is probably not what we’d call irreplaceable though.
…….and can we throw out the three day old lettuce as well?
Lettuce- gone.
Captain Barney Miller : So Dietrich, big plans for the weekend?
Dietrich : No, I’m staying home. I’ve gotten involved in the New Celibacy Movement.
Captain Barney Miller : Oh, Yeah?. what’s that?
Dietrich : Its a movement for people who are fed up with the whole shallow dating scene.
Captain Barney Miller : Couldn’t get a date, huh?
Dietrich : Not a single one.
Lol… But, is there any…particular reason you chose celibacy, Manny?
Classic.
Cashmen has been terrible! Gave a starting 2nd and SS to the Angels, Velasquez and Wade and starting 3rd basemen to Minnesota, Urshela and got back a huge contract and two players that can’t hit IKF and Donaldson. Big Yankees Gn but they got worse!
Yeah lol Donaldson is god awful. As is Kiner-Falefa. Both players are unbearable to watch. I’d say the trade still made the Yankees better since they got rid of Sanchez though lol
It remains to be seen if Wade can maintain, but right now he owns a .364 BA and .800 OPS. Good luck to him. Velazquez was no great loss.
If Cashman ever stops moving Donaldson around and lets him settle into a spot down in the lineup, say, the five, six or seven hole, I think he’ll hit. He looks like he’s pressing, and the worst thing to do was to put him in the unaccustomed leadoff spot and then move him to the three hole, where typically you put the best hitter in the lineup. No pressure, Josh.
Who cares. Another nothing move.
Yes Dietrich will surely help with their offensive incompetence lol. They had him last year too when they cut him cause he wasn’t very good
Did they really think that just adding a 36-year-old Donaldson who is not what he once was, is going to revitalize what they acknowledged was a inadequate offense last year. Plus they made catching and short stop worse, At least from hitting standpoint. So I know it’s early, but right now it looks like this team is from a hitting standpoint ,even worse than it was last year ,which is not very good. The frustrating part of this whole thing is that they were quite a few Outstanding players out there, and they took none of them.
When the weather gets warmer, this Yankees team is going to start hitting a ton. They are still a very dangerous team; however, the do have too many streaky hitters in their lineup who depend on the long ball for stats, so while they will hit and will score 10+ runs in more than a handful of games, I’m not sure they’ll be consistent enough to do damage in the playoffs.
That’s true enough. But October games are played in….well, October. And you’re spot-on regarding their potential to score a bunch of runs in any given game, while getting blanked the very next game for no apparent reason (outside of clearly not hitting any HRs). Inconsistency has been the only constant in the Yankees lineup for a while now, unfortunately.
Not to mention the three guys they have in a lineup that are going to strike out 200 times or more this year… No one has ever won a World Series in the history of baseball with one player that struck out 200 or more times… Yankees have three
As a Red Sox fan I hate to admit this but the demise of the Yankees are premature to say the least. Right now Yankee pitching is 6th in WHIP and they have stranded the most runners in baseball. They certainly hit home runs when they needed to against Boston. Maybe the team is just not amped up to play Baltimore. I am confused why they project 92 wins for the Yankees and just 86 for both Tampa and Boston, it must be on the strength of the pitching staff. I think both Boston and Tampa will out perform those projections and the Yankees again at 90 wins. This 4 team race again will come to the end of the season in my eyes as both Boston and New York play each other.
This is a joke, more dead wood hoping to help start a fire! Let’s be clear on 1 thing: Yankee championship teams have always had strong CF, SS, C, and dominant stArter LHP & with a lineup mix of Lefty hitting power. What do we have now? None of that except Rizzo. So facts matter, Rizzo & Mgmt need to go!! Fix it NOW
Sorry Cashman & mgmt need to go
Sorry – meant Cashman to go not Rizzo
I think some of you will like this, from the current MLB article about Seiya Suzuki:
‘Given the incredible start Suzuki has enjoyed this season for the Cubs, it was fair to assume he was now adding analytics to his pregame preparation. That would help explain all the eye-popping numbers early in his transition to the Majors from Japan.
‘”I haven’t looked at any of the data,” Suzuki said via his interpreter, Toy Matsushita.’
mlb.com/news/seiya-suzuki-makes-more-history-for-c…
I’m no Luddite. I think analytics can be useful. But maybe if Cashman’s analysts would stop shoving spreadsheets in Gleyber’s face and let him return to a see ball/hit ball approach, he’d stop obsessing over launch angle and hit the ball where it’s pitched.
Cashman is not going anywhere… He evidently has nude pictures of his wife… How else do you explain this guy still being there… 20 years of $200 million payrolls and the guy has one championship that he spent over a half $1 billion on in 2009…. And I got to say… I am kind of fed up with the puppet manager… How many times can I listen after they don’t score a run how hard they all hit the ball though
The fact that he’s wildly successful at what he does and his biggest critics don’t understand analytics?. Cashman is doing a great job, he’s not getting fired cuz a bunch of old school talk radio types don’t understand how good he is. Possibly the best in the game.
Are you high?..so results don’t matter… $200 million payrolls for 20 years and he’s got one World Series championship… And you’re going to tell me because they’re competitive every year he’s a great GM… Your last name must be Cashman
Results: how often are the Yankees not competitive? Virtually never. There is no formula for winning a WS, there is only a formula for fielding a competitive, good or great team. Cashman has ALWAYS done that. The high payroll, all big contracts are mistakes.
Analytics have really done him some good…. Cosmo Cramer
I mean, they have, haven’t they? The Yankees are indisputably one of the absolute most superior teams during Cashman’s tenure. Still one of the best teams today. Cry and moan about no WS ring recently but a new GM isn’t gonna pull that out of a hat.
That is supposed to read nude pictures of how Steinbrenner’s wife
youtube.com/watch?v=f5dMqHqC4pM
Gerrit Cole — “ace” — can’t get through two innings against the team that’s 27th in runs. This is what Cashman is best at — spending a lot of money. And he bid against himself, letting Boras play him like a rube at the carnival.
Yeah, but like Cosmo 2 says… Cashman is wildly successful at what he does… Just trying to figure out what that is right now… the guy’s an Ass Clown
The Yankees are a top team. How does this make Cashman incompetent? What standard are you using here? Are you honestly saying Cashman is NOT successful?
We could use instead the reincarnation of the bambino, this offense is so inept.
He’s had the highest payroll in baseball for the last 19 years and been to the WS once…the year he spent a1/2 billion dollars… that’s successful???
Yes. Very. They’ve made the playoffs every year but one on his watch. Baseball doesn’t owe the Yankees three WS victories per decade.
Choke artist Green just lost Sevy a win. I’ve been wanting them to trade Green for two years. He’s a classic example of how you can’t rely solely on WAR to value a player.