The Yankees have added a bit of minor league depth, signing outfielder Michael Hermosillo and right-hander Demarcus Evans to minor league deals, according to each player’s MLB transaction log (here and here).
Hermosillo, 28 next month, has spent the past two seasons with the Cubs. He hit just .115/.250/.148 without a home run across 73 plate appearances and 31 games in 2022. He spent much of the year on the injured list with a left quadriceps strain, and only made an additional ten appearances at the Triple-A level, hitting .324/.400/.559 in 40 plate appearances. While that sort of sample size is far too small to draw accurate conclusions, he did hit .306/.446/.592 over 186 plate appearances a year earlier at that level, so he certainly can hit at the highest level of the minors.
Originally drafted in the 28th round by the Angels in 2013, Hermosillo came up through their system and made his big league debut in 2018. Despite tallying some promising numbers coming through the minors, Hermosillo never hit enough in the big leagues to stick, putting up a .188/.287/.288 line over 118 plate appearances in three years with the Angels. Combined with his Cubs work, that makes for a career .167/.268/.283 line with four home runs over 229 plate appearances.
Defensively, Hermosillo logged most of his time in center field, but also spent some time in left as well. On the whole, he’s been worth 3 Outs Above Average in 312 2/3 career innings in center, 1 OAA in 115 innings in left and 1 OAA in 126 innings in right. So even if the bat doesn’t show up in the big leagues, there’s a solid glove-first depth piece for the Yankees to cover any injuries.
Evans, 26, didn’t pitch in the big leagues last year but made appearances over the prior two seasons for the Rangers. Originally drafted in the 25th round in 2015, Evans came up through the Rangers’ system flashing big strikeout stuff, averaging a 13.5 SO/9 over his minor league career. He got a brief cup of coffee in the big leagues in 2020, pitching four innings to a 2.25 ERA. A longer stint was ahead in 2021, but the results didn’t come, as Evans was tagged for a 5.13 ERA over 26 1/3 innings. Despite striking out batters at an above-average 27.5% clip, the walks were an issue for Evans, as he handed out free passes at a 13.3% rate.
At Triple-A this year, Evans tossed 33 innings of 3.82 ERA ball. The same issues that plagued his big league stint were evident in the upper minors, as Evans offset a strong strike out rate (30.1%) with a poor walk rate (15.1%). His fastball sits in the low-90s, and he mixes in a cutter and a curveball. He’ll give the Yankees a bit of minor league bullpen depth at worst, with a bit of upside there if they can straighten out his walk problems.
Michael was actually a decent hitter with the Cubs for a bit hope he does well with the Yankees.
Dude had a .144 BA with the cubs and 3HR in 2 seasons
Ok, let me clarify since you don’t know what I mean he had a hot streak going and yes after that he was just not good.
Hmm. I don’t recall a hot streak anywhere. Maybe he had 1 game that he went 2-4? I looked up his split stats month by month and they are all below the Mendoza Line.
Hot streak? The guy had less than 15 hits total during his 2 years with the Cubs.
The man couldn’t fall out of a boat and hit the water.
he should be an aaa player. he showed good potential as a leadoff hitter with good base stealing ability and high obp. but then when called up he was terrible with hitting.
Everybody on the team loved Hermosillo’s hustle and attitude. Based on both his major and minor league track record, given another chance, I think that he could hit 0.200 to 0.220 with a little power and speed. Better than before, but not enough.
Fresh winds
You both are correct. Fresh winds is a Pirates fan. Michael had his three best games all against Pirates. Sept. 3, 2021 Michael went 3 for 5 with a homer. April 21 and 22, 2022, Hermosillo went 1 for 2 both days and had an RBI. One of those two games Cubs beat Pirates by double figures. Other than the Pirates, Hermosillo was unable to hit.
Maybe cutting bis dreads will take some weight off his shoulders, and he’ll learn how to hit
Logjammer
Are you Don Imus?
No. Why? I don’t even know who that is.
Michael should have his agent contact some KBO teams. If he ends up in the Yankees outfield for more than a few games in 2023 it’s a failure on the part of the team to develop players in their minor league system. At 28 if he can’t hit major league pitching he never will be able to.
Opportunity to play in the majors vs. going to Korea…
I’d fire my agent for even suggesting Korea.
korean teams generally want hitters with power. they seem to have plenty of slap hitters with good speed.
Hermosillo’s purpose is to provide organization depth at CF. On the surface it’s no big deal, but it does help the minors system.
Evans, however, is a lottery ticket. He’s young and gets Ks.
Was really hoping Hermosillo would work out for the Cubs, since he’s a local kid. But he was constantly injured or in a slump, or both. He didn’t even do enough to be considered as a AAAA depth piece. Hopefully he’s able to find some success somewhere.
Drafted in the 28th round? One might argue he’s exceeded expectations to even get a single AB in the majors.
Yanks are in a numbers crunch on their 40 man roster. They are hoping to unload Donaldson, Hicks. If they can’t they will have to cut someone like Albert Abreu, or possibly even Estevan Florial (unlikely) or they may inc
I think Florial will be DFA’d and brought back on a minors deal with a ST invite unless he gets signed elsewhere. He’s out of options and they’ve shown no trust in him.
I suspect Florial gets claimed if he’s DFA’d. That could be why they signed Hermosillo. Need a backup in AAA if they lose Florial.
@LordD99-Yeah the Yankees got to package Gleyber, Florial, Sweeney, Pereira, and Gill/Vasquez, Schmidt/ German for Bryan Reynolds. This is a great trade for both teams. Gleyber will be an All-Star next season, Florial playing every day will be a 20/20 player. Sweeney is a hitting machine. Pereira can play all 3 outfield positions, hit, and steal bases. Get it done Yankees.
No way!
Gleyber is a free agent after 2024 ends, only two years of control makes him useless for Pirates, plus he is due for a raise to about ten million dollars in arbitration this offseason.
Pirates would trade Bryan Reynolds for Oswald Peraza, Jason Dominguez, Luis Gil and Randy Vasquez.
Yeah Gleyber doesn’t fit their needs at all. I do think he could be a part of a deal with Arizona for one of their guys.
Captain, it’s great trade for the Yankees anyway. All their spare parts for a good player that they need. I’d sign into that deal any day. I doubt Gleyber willp be an all star, much overrated,hes had one decent year in the last three, the other two were horrid. Not just bad.
I’m thinking you are kidding.
I think Reynolds would fold up like a tent in NYC. Inconsistent in Pittsburgh, he’s never be able to play for the big boys.
Agreed
No way, not happening!
Don’t forget Mick, Hicks gets 10/5 rights this year too, so he’s untradable soon after the season starts.
I think it could complicate things Clip but not too bad. He came across as someone who wanted out of town towards the end of the year to me.
Yeah, that’s true Joe. Perhaps it won’t affect him at all. Could it affect the acquiring team? I’m honestly not sure how they would perceive that. If it’s a smaller market, maybe they wouldn’t care at all either.
I think they’re at 44 on the 40-man, so the crunch is coming. I believe a trade is in the works which will take 2-3 of those personnel.
Reynolds is their first target but I don’t see that coming to fruition. Cashman will not part with the requisite prospects. I could see a trade commencing with the Diamondbacks, but that’s still going to be a steep price.
I can see Max Kepler most of all with Cashman, although his similarities to Gallo are uncomfortable.
Yeah I agree Clipper. What I’ve heard is Pittsburgh’s asking price is really high. Doubt Cashman is going there. With Arizona, I read Houston was interested in Varsho but the ask was crazy high on him. It’s looking like Kepler or Michael Taylor (who I read is available). I also saw Ian Happ’s name thrown out there. Not bad if he’s available even if he strikes out a bit much.
Hm, Happ would be a good acquisition. The Ks may lower a bit with more protection too. I really don’t like skimping on LF though. I think it’s a mistake. As we’ve learned and Cashman should have, cutting corners doesn’t work. We would essentially be repeating the same trial but with a different rotation.
We need an offensive upgrade, bottom line. The whole left side is in question right now.
I agree with your clip without the order and some of those players. I don’t know about Kepler though, his numbers don’t seem to be any better than Hicks the last few years. Happ would be a great acquisition though.
But we need a major upgrading the offense and not just one position really. If DJs healthy and playing third and that’s an upgrade right there.
Yeah truth be told, Kepler reminds me of Gallo. Has very good defense, high Ks, low contact, power.
I should’ve clarified that the list of names is out of those players for whom the Yankees have expressed interest in a trade.
My personal list would be completely different outside Reybolds, and maybe Varsho. But there are quite a few names between Reybolds and Varsho for me.
Understood clipper. We need a major upgrade, but it seems like we’re running out of options for left field that would actually be improvements at this point. of course we’re not privy to everyone in the major leagues that might be available, the GM might know of. Hopefully Cashman can work something out.
Even better, clip. They need to dump him fast. although maybe he wishes to leave at this point, it’s getting dangerous for him in the outfield. Maybe the Dodgers will take him.
Hicks was regaling the wonders of playing for the Dodgers, and the horrors of playing for the Yankees, poor Hicks who they did not play enough, which is why he was so bad according to him lol.
Haha! Exactly, the guy who played in like 130 games… He’s such a goofball.
Exactly clipper.and apparently Gallo is Hicksies role model for how great it is out of NY. Good grief.
Yanks are in a numbers crunch on their 40 man roster. They are hoping to unload Donaldson, Hicks. If they can’t they will have to cut someone like Albert Abreu, or possibly even Estevan Florial (unlikely) or they may include him in a trade (more likely), Hermosillo is an emergency backup in case they move both Florial and Hicks.
They Signed Nick Ramirez too!
I wish they’d finally promote 1 of their own outfield prospects we here so much about. Why do we always have to pick through other peoples trash.
Cabrera did well and I think it’s his job to lose in ST if they don’t sign a LF’er.
Maybe bleachercreatures.I don’t know if he’s much of an improvement over hicks.Would rather see someone more established out there, if possible. We have enough uncertainty, with all the players that are perpetually injured, and the potential assimilation of rookies into the infield, we don’t need more uncertainty.
You know, the grass is always greener.
Yanks are adding a lot of minor league depth, but they really need is actually a few hitters. For the major league level. All the black holes in the lineup will not do ,despite the upgrade in the pitching.
Dr. Hoping all these small moves are in preparation for a bigger move.
Clipp Happ would be good addition.
Personally I prefer one of the DiamondBack OFers.
@mickey, I would prefer an established player. But whatever they do, hopefully it will be successful this time. Cashman’s experiments have not been working out.
I would even take Profar at this point. Although not even close to my first choice. Here is my order right now:
Reynolds
Varsho
Thomas
Kepler / Profar
Cabrera
Leave it completely empty
Someone I haven’t thought of
Bleacher Creature’s infant
Hicks
@clipper. I don’t care for profar either, but I agree with you, if there’s nothing else left he’s probably an improvement over Hicks anyway, but not much.Granted, it’s a low bar.
Hopefully Cashman can come up with something else.
The Yankees might as well trade Florial now. He ranked 13th among qualified AAA players in wRC+ and 15th in wOBA. He ranked in the 19th tier in OPS. It seems obvious he’s never making the big club, and he just turned 25 last month. Some team would surely see something of value in him.
What’s the point of holding onto him pink. They’ll never use him ,and if they expect he’s going to have more value in the future, he will not ,it will just get worse. Might as well get what you can for him now and give someone else a chance in the organization.
I don’t get why all the hate for Hicks. For all accounts, I hear he is a terrific golfer.
We appreciate his golfing M4N.And we wish he would spend full-time doing it ,instead of playing baseball at this point. It would be an improvement for him and us.
Although Hal opened the vault to pay for Judge, Rodon and Rizzo, I hope Cashman doesn’t refuse to admit the obvious — that Hicks never should’ve been given a 7-year contract and needs to be dumped. As the days pass without a left fielder being acquired, I get more anxious that Cashman might be planning on trying to squeeze some value out of that foolish contract and playing Cabrera in left field with Hicks as a backup outfielder.
I honestly wouldn’t be opposed to giving Cabrera his shot. He put up a 109 OPS+ in 44 games and might have a higher ceiling. But I feel that Hicks needs to be removed from the roster.
No hate. I am all for him golfing full-time.