My Take: Yankees Make Strong Move in Acquiring Eovaldi

15-35.

Let us get that out of the way first, as that is likely the first thing that the detractors will bring up when it comes to Nathan Eovaldi.   That is his career record with a less than sparkling 4.07 ERA (95 ERA+).

So, now that is out of the way, let us analyze this trade for the Yankees, which is likely their best move this entire winter (other than letting mediocre veteran pitchers sign elsewhere).

There is a lot to like about Eovaldi, who will only be 25 years old on Opening Day.  In 2014, he finally started to come into his own a bit, posting a 3.37 FIP (a full run below his actual ERA) while decreasing his walks considerably (from 3.4 in 2013 to 1.9 in 2014).  He did that while maintaining his strikeout rate (which, to be fair, has not been his strong suit.  But there could also be room for improvement there).

Eovaldi's overall season can be attributed to a lot of bad luck.  His BABIP (.323) was the 4th highest number in all of baseball, while his strand rate (65.5%) was the second lowest in all of baseball.  It doesn't take rocket science to figure out what happens when those two worlds collide. 

So, what does Eovaldi bring to the table stuff wise?  We must start with the fastball, which is one of the hardest thrown fastballs in all of baseball.  He averaged 95.5 MPH on it, which ranked him 4th in baseball.    He compliments his fastball with a 86 MPH slider, 86 MPH "change up" and a 76 MPH curve.    His two-seam fastball is his best pitch (according to fangraphs), while his other offerings are still not completely refined.  Essentially, the Yankees have acquired a pitcher who is still developing, but has enough major league experience to start passing some judgement on him.  If he continues to develop those secondary pitches (and he has a pitching coach who will help him in this regard), the K rate should begin to climb (a Rothschild specialty), which would instantly make Eovaldi one of the best young pitchers in the game.

As for Garrett Jones, the Yankees have acquired a needed right-handed bench power bat who can be used as insurance if there is an injury to Teixiera or Beltran.   But perhaps the biggest thing Jones can offer is that of a capable right-handed designated hitter once Alex Rodriguez proves to the world he simply cannot play anymore.   Jones will be a free agent after the 2015 season, so he is not a long-term piece to the puzzle.  In the short term, however, he does fill a void.

The Yankees also added power arm Domingo German in the deal.    The #6 prospect in the Marlins system, German throws a 97 MPH fastball.  He pitched in Low-A Greensboro (equivalent to Charleston in the Yankees organization) at the age of 21 last season, compiling a 2.48 ERA and 113/25 K/BB ratio over 123.1 innings.    The innings were a significant bump over his 2013 total, so that is something to watch.  But he instantly becomes one of the Yankees better pitching prospects - arguably only trailing Luis Severino in that spot.

The move also allows the Yankees to do something fans have been clamoring for:  Opening up a spot on the roster for a rookie second baseman, whether it be Robert Refsnyder or Jose Pirela.  The Yankees are highly likely to bring in a veteran to compete for the job, but as of now, the feeling seems to be that they want Refsnyder to come into spring training and win the job outright with Pirela as the backup option.   Refsnyder is the Yankees most advanced upper level prospect, and he should be ready for a big league job in 2015.  Whether that happens out of camp or not is still to be determined, but the fact that the Yankees are seemingly going to give him a legitimate chance is an exciting thing to think about.

As for what they gave up:  Martin Prado is a superb super-utility player, but not an irreplaceable player.  (Amazing how Brian Cashman works, isn't it?  One second, he is talked about as the third baseman for 2015 - the next, they sign Headley and ship Prado out the door).  The Yankees will miss the Prado that excelled in his brief stay after being acquired in 2014 - they won't miss the statistics he compiled PRIOR to that trade, however.   Overall, they lose veteran depth, which stings - but if it means playing time opportunities for someone younger, I am all for it.

David Phelps has done a good job as a "tweener" over the past several seasons for the franchise, mixing in solid work from both the rotation and the bullpen.  But if you get an opportunity to acquire a pitcher who is younger, has a lot more upside, AND is a no-doubt-about-it starter right now, you do it in a heartbeat.    Phelps did a lot to enhance his trade value through the years - there was a time when many doubted just how much of a major league pitcher he could be, despite strong minor league work.

Overall, the Yankees gave up a veteran utility player and a pitcher who has an injury history with his elbow for a young starter, a strong prospect, and a useful bench player who should provide them some power.    The Yankees have essentially swapped out Shane Greene in their rotation for Eovaldi, which is an upgrade, while acquiring their likely starting shortstop in 2015.   On top of that, they can hope that German can stay healthy and become the prospect Jose Campos was supposed to be prior to injury.  

My initial thought is to give this trade a big fat "A" - and nothing I have read over the past several minutes has changed my mind on that.  The Yankees became a more exciting team today - provided they don't go out and trade for a mediocre second baseman now.

My Take: Yankees Made Horrible Move in Signing Andrew Miller

Andrew Miller was fantastic in 2014.   Andrew Miller is in the conversation for best left-handed reliever in all of baseball in 2014.   Andrew Miller helps any team he is a part of.  

Andrew Miller is also one of the worst investments in all of baseball.  

You will not see me trying to dispute his greatness in 2014 - the numbers speak for themselves.  He is a pure power lefty who can get all hitters out, not just a token lefty.  His K/9 and K/BB ratios weren't simply great - they were insane.   In 2014, Miller was simply one of the biggest bargains in the game.

In 2015, he will be one of the most overpaid players in the game.

In some ways, Miller is like Dellin Betances.  A pitcher with a history of command/control problems who suddenly discovers it in 2014.   (Let us just say that if both regress back to the types of pitchers they were prior to 2014, we may as well buy out all of the Pepto Bismal in stock.  It won't be pretty - to be exact, it will be downright ugly, with Houdini (David Robertson) likely not around to bail them out.)

But just for the sake of argument, let us say that 2014 was the beginning of Miller's rebirth - and he will be able to pitch like that for the majority of this contract.

It is still a bad deal.

Let us look at a few reasons why:

1.  Unlike SS, the Yankees have internal options for the role Miller is going to be given.  No, Jacob Lindgren, Tyler Webb, and James Pazos are not household names, and may never be.    But Lindgren was a second-round pick in 2014 who many thought could make his big league debut as soon as last summer.  The Yankees (rightfully so) decided not to do that - but he should be ready sometime in 2015.   Webb and Pezos are not likely to ever pitch like Miller did in 2014, but they wouldn't need to - they are young relievers under team control for many years who have the potential to be good enough.    Relief pitching is so fickle by nature with a very small margin for error.   Even though we likely won't see Webb and Pezos put up a season like Miller just did, we also may not see Miller ever put up a season like he just did.  It isn't like he has a history of success.   Also, the Yankees are loaded with right-handed relief options as well.  The bottom line is that relief pitching is one area that the Yankees develop very well.  Spending money on Miller to reinforce something that doesn't need reinforcing is just not smart.

2.   If Robertson doesn't come back, the Yankees downgraded their biggest 2013 strength. As good as Miller was in 2014, he doesn't have the history of success that Robertson has, and even if he may have been a better reliever in 2014 (debatable), it wasn't by much.   Allowing Robertson to come back to close keeps Dellin Betances in a true "fireman's" role,  allowing the Yankees to use him pretty much at any time to get a big out.   As a "closer", he would be relegated to 9th inning duty only (no, that isn't a rule - but name the manager that is willing to use their closer as anything but the "9th inning guy").  As the bullpen stands right now, it is Betances-Miller-Warren-Wilson (acquired for Cervelli)-Kelley and some combination of two other guys (they have a lot of internal options to choose from and just resigned Esmil Rogers as well).  With Robertson, it would have been Robertson-Betances-Warren-Wilson-Kelley + 2 other guys.  The latter is certainly a better bullpen than the former in my opinion - for the simple reason that Robertson is, as we speak, the one more likely to repeat past performance.

3.   It means that the Yankees are trying to win in a way that teams simply cannot consistently win.

Building a team from bullpen - down doesn't work.   Why?  Because the bullpen is simply not the most important part of the team.  It is certainly more important now than it was even ten years ago, as more and more teams watch the workloads of their starters and try to shorten games with shutdown bullpens.  But as important as the bullpen is, it still is no substitute for a strong starting staff or a strong offense.  Let me ask the most basic of questions:  Would you rather have 5-0 leads with an average bullpen or 1-0 leads with a tremendous bullpen?  If you say the latter, I hope you are not a baseball executive.

4.  Which leads to........the Yankees simply have more pressing needs.

I will be honest - I hate giving out big contracts to relievers, though I would have accepted signing Robertson because he came from the Yankees' farm system and has been excellent for many years.   That said, if the Yankees had a great offensive team with a good enough starting staff and wanted to splurge on Andrew Miler to complement David Robertson, I would have cringed but wouldn't have gone crazy over it.  But none of that applies to the 2015 Yankees.  The offense may improve (hard for it to get worse), but it seems unlikely it will go from decisively below average to decisively above average with essentially the same cast of characters plus Didi, the skeleton of Alex Rodriguez,  and maybe Robert Refsnyder.  Is it possible that they will get the type of year from McCann in 2015 that they wanted in 2014?  Of course.  He did hit well late in the season.  Beltran?  Yes, it is possible that now that his surgery is taken care of that that he will bounce back into a productive player.   But this is where baseball fans can get into a lot of trouble:  They begin to assume all of the good will likely occur.   The reality is, given the age of the offense, that the bad is much more likely to occur than the good.    Having a shutdown bullpen is nice...when everything else is clicking.  Not everything else is clicking, and the Yankees are no more likely to make the playoffs now than they were before the day started.   As I stated in my other post, I have warmed up to the trade they made a bit.  But I won't warm up on this move because it was completely unnecessary.

All of that said, it is still a young offseason and the starting pitching on the market has still not moved, which will allow the Yankees to jump in and sign a few pitchers to fill in the voids on the starting staff.   But that offense - oh, that offense.  Nothing they are doing will currently save that, and they are so handcuffed with bad contracts on the offensive side of the ball that it makes upgrading that much more difficult.  How can they look into a useful bat like Brandon Moss, when they don't have a place to put him in the lineup?   They currently have a mediocre lineup that they are unable to upgrade because of contractual commitments.  Perhaps this is why they decided to spend on the bullpen.  It still isn't smart.

My Take: Yankees Trade for Didi Gregorious

There are many times when I see a Yankees' move that I go with my first reaction.  My first reaction to the Brian McCann signing was "Yay!"  My first reaction to the Jacoby Ellsbury signing was "What are they doing?"

Today, I am actually doing something different - as I am, for the first time in a long time, not going with my initial reaction in my analysis.

My first thought when I saw the Gregorious (can't wait to see what the Bleacher Creatures come up with) for Shane Greene trade was "This makes no sense!  Time to go to the Yankees offices and bash down Brian Cashman's door!"

However, I think I was wrong about that.

There aren't many deeper black holes in baseball than the 2015 SS position for the New York Yankees.  They just lost a Hall of Famer.  Their best prospects at the position are at least three years away, if they ever come at all.  The list of free agents is less than inspiring.   There simply was nothing obvious when it came to who was going to play the position in 2015.  Everyone was flawed - and not spending a multi-year deal on a flawed player like Jed Lowrie is perfectly acceptable.

So they decided to go the trade route, dealing last year's big surprise starting pitcher (Greene) for a shortstop with less than inspiring offensive skills but a solid defensive reputation (Gregorious).   

When you saw Greene pitch in 2014, it was hard to not be impressed.  He mixed in a hard sinking fastball with a solid breaking pitch to produce results that nobody in their right mind expected.  After the 2012 season, when Greene compiled a 5.22 ERA in High-A ball as a 23-year old, it appeared that his only ceiling would be that of a middle reliever.   However, something changed in 2013.  Greene suddenly started to walk less hitters (BB/9 went from 5.1 all the way down to 1.7), his strikeout rate remained strong, and he suddenly went from a nothing prospect to a fringe starting prospect, which is actually quite remarkable.   We all saw what happened in 2014 - after a slow start due to being jerked around between Triple-A and the major leagues without actually pitching, Greene came on like gangbusters - helping save the rotation after the injuries to Tanaka, Pineda, and Sabathia crippled the staff.

So why am I changing my mind slightly about this trade?  It is all about supply and demand.  Not long ago, Greene would have been treated like gold, because he was rare.  A relatively young pitcher who was cost-controlled with big league success on his resume.   But that is no longer the case.    Nowadays, pitching can be found - maybe not as cheaply as Greene would be, but it can be found.  The market is still littered with several capable starting pitchers, and the Yankees will likely sign one or two or three of them before all is said and done.

But shortstops?  Try finding a 24-year old shortstop with any kind of talent for a projected #4 or #5 starting pitcher.   It is almost impossible to do so.   The Yankees were not going to fix any problems with their offense through the SS position - that kind of player simply was not available, unless you think Stephen Drew was going to bounce back to 2013 levels (and stay healthy while doing so).   Drew was nothing more than a short-term, band-aid solution with no real upside to speak of - the Yankees evaluated him for a few months at the end of 2014 and came away unimpressed (which is not surprising)

Gregorious is not flawless.  He is a capable bat against right-handed pitching, but is atrocious vs. left-handed pitching, which could force the Yankees to look for a capable right-handed backup IF who can handle shortstop.   Given his defensive play, I would hesitate to bench him versus all left-handed pitching, but he shouldn't be out there against good southpaws.

So, yes - at first, I thought this deal was dumb.  I thought it was bad - I thought the Yankees had officially gone over the edge.   

But now?  I am at least more open to what they did - I don't necessarily love it, but I do actually understand it.    We should hesitate a bit before we overrate Shane Greene - while keeping it in the back of our minds that Gregorious is also no sure thing.  There is a chance that in a few years, everyone will say "What was that trade the Yankees, D'Backs, and Tigers made again?  What happened to those guys?"

Yankees Minor League Notes: The Protected

As you probably know by now, the Yankees set their 40-man roster today by protecting several prospects from the upcoming Rule 5 draft.  They could have protected one or two more, but decided to leave open slots, presumably for a Rule 5 selection of their own if they see someone out there who intrigues them.

For those who are wondering, players eligible for the Rule 5 draft are players who are not on a team's 40-man roster and have been in the minor leagues for four or five years, depending on the age when they were actually drafted/signed.  In other words, players drafted in 2014 do not have to be on a team's 40-man roster to be protected from the draft; they are not eligible.  

The Yankees had several players eligible, but the reality is that only a handful are important for the discussion:  OF Tyler Austin, OF Mason Williams, P Branden Pinder, P Danny Burawa, P Mark Montgomery, P Matt Tracy, SS Cito Culver, and P Zach Nuding.

The Yankees decided to protect Austin, Williams, Pinder, and Burawa, while not adding Montgomery, Tracy, Culver, or Nuding to their 40-man roster.

Austin was a no-brainer.  He is a right-handed power hitting outfielder who seemed to come along in the second half of 2014, and continued his hitting ways in Arizona this fall.   Although the Yankees are settled in the outfield right now with Gardner, Ellsbury, Beltran, and Young, don't count Austin out of the mix - a hot start to his season coupled with a Beltran injury or Young ineffectiveness could have Austin knocking on the door quickly in 2015.

Pinder and Burawa are relief pitchers in a system full of relief pitchers.  One thing about 40-man roster spots and relief pitchers:  Once you get on the 40-man roster, your debut is inevitable if you show any signs of life in the minors.   Pinder and Burawa can be shuffled up and down between New York and Scranton all year in 2015, so unless they are ineffective or injured, I can almost guarantee that both of them will be in pinstripes at some point.

Not long ago, the big debate was whether or not Gary Sanchez or Mason Williams was the top prospect in the entire system.  Neither is anymore, but it is Williams who has taken the biggest step back.  He simply hasn't hit a lick, but has defense and speed on his side.  The Yankees likely protected him because of his pure athleticism, and sometimes players like this can suddenly "click".   I tend to doubt it with Williams at this point, but it is not impossible.

As for those left off the list, Culver is a bust who might get selected because of his defensive ability, but I doubt it.    A couple of years ago, Montgomery looked to have some David Robertson in him - striking out minor league hitters at extreme rates by using a devastating breaking pitch.  But an injury to his shoulder and reduced velocity since coming off of that injury has made him a project, at best.  His devastating slider isn't nearly as effective when he can't throw even 90 MPH anymore.    Tracy is a left-handed pitcher with some talent, but his K/BB ratios have often been pedestrian.  The Yankees have been stockpiling left-handed pitchers this winter (signed one, acquired one), so that likely sealed Tracy's fate (along with Nik Turley).  Nuding may be the most intriguing of them all - a failed prospect as a starter with a big arm that could find some success in the bullpen.  I can see a team drafting him and instantly shifting him to the bullpen in spring training to see if he can stick.  This is not a major loss at this point, because Nuding hasn't even begun the transition to the bullpen yet.  He is still a work in progress.

Overall, no huge news here - the unprotected players, like most unprotected players, are not likely to make an impact (there are always exceptions to this in baseball history, though - Johan Santana was once a Rule 5, for example).  The players they did protect have talent, but only Austin seems to have any potential to be a significant major league player.

Yankees Off-Season Plan, Part 2: The Relievers

Over the past several years, the Yankees have been fantastic at constructing bullpens.  For many of those years, obviously, it was made a little easier by the fact that they didn't have to worry about who was going to come into the game in the 9th inning.  Last year, that changed with Mariano Rivera's retirement, but David Robertson handled the promotion to closer nicely. 

My plan:

The Yankees have no real need to try to be cute here.  If they offer Robertson market value, and he agrees to it, the bullpen will be largely set for 2015.  They can surround him with holdovers Adam Warren, Dellin Betances, and Shawn Kelley to give them the foundation for yet another strong bullpen in 2015.  While David Phelps and Bryan Mitchell may figure into a spring training competition in the rotation, neither will be considered a favorite (especially if everyone else is healthy and they bring in a free agent).   Barring a trade, Phelps would slide into a bullpen role, while Mitchell would likely go back to Triple-A for depth.   This would leave two openings in the bullpen, which could be filled in a few ways.  They could bring back David Huff, allowing them to use the last spot for one of their talented farmhands.   They could go with two farmhands.  They can scour the free agent market for a diamond in the rough for additional depth as well (they have already resigned Andrew Bailey, who essentially did nothing but rehab in 2014).   If left up to me, I would probably hope to bring back Huff cheaply (making him expendable if he implodes) while using a rookie such as Jacob Lindgren to round out the staff.  

This would leave the Yankees with the following:

RHP Robertson

RHP Betances

RHP Warren

RHP Kelley

RHP Phelps

LHP Huff

LHP Lindgren

One name that is certainly missing is Chase Whitley - unless the Yankees decide to trade Phelps or possibly not resign Huff, Whitley will be best served as minor league depth to enter 2015.

Of course, everything does change if Robertson decides to walk.  If that happens, expect the Yankees to at least inquire about free agents such as Andrew Miller and Sergio Romo.  Jason Grilli may also jump onto their radar in this scenario.  I don't consider any of these pitchers to be in Robertson's class, but I am also not naive enough to think that the Yankees are simply going to ignore the market if Robertson bolts.

The future:

The Yankees have built a bit of a minor-league pipeline with relief pitching, and it may finally start to bear some fruit from the left-hand side.    Lindgren, Tyler Webb, and James Pazos are all legitimate left-handed relief prospects.  From the right-hand side, the most ready pitchers include the erratic fireballer Danny Burawa, Nick Rumbelow, and the now-healthy Nick Goody, who may be the best overall relief prospect of them all.   Any of these pitchers can easily find themselves on the major league roster in 2015, with a chance to get to the big club as early as Opening Day.

The bottom line:

The Yankees simply have a knack for finding and developing relief talent.  They find it in Independent Leagues, the free agent scrap heap, through the draft, and small trades.   I don't expect it to be any different going forward; they have the depth and the talent to continue to shut down the opponents.  The big question will remain, however:  How many leads will the offense be able to hand over to them in the first place?   That is what the Yankees need to figure out, as perhaps their biggest strength is something that can't be utilized unless everyone else does their jobs.

Yankees Offseason Plan, Part 1: The Starters

13.

That is the number of starting pitchers the Yankees used in 2014.   Of the five pitchers who began the season in the rotation, only Hiroki Kuroda was able to give the Yankees a full season's worth of work, as CC Sabathia, Ivan Nova, Michael Pindea, and Masahiro Tanaka all went down for significant periods of time due to injury.    Of the 162 games the Yankees played this year, their Opening Day starting five only started 77 of them.

It would have been perfectly understandable if the rotation imploded during the course of the season, but a smart trade for Brandon McCarthy and the somewhat surprising development of Shane Greene helped keep the team in contention for most of the second half of the season.  The Yankees as a team ended up with a 3.75 ERA, placing them in the middle of the pack in the American League.

2015, as it currently stands:

As it stands right now, the rotation is in a state of flux.   Tanaka and Pineda were able to return at the end of 2014, giving the franchise a bit of hope that they will be good to go again in 2015.  Sabathia's knee injuries are now chronic in nature, and Nova will not be ready to go at the beginning of the season.     Their most stable starter (Kuroda) is likely leaning towards retirement, or going back to Japan to finish his career.  On top of that, McCarthy is a free agent.

If 2015 started right now, the Yankees rotation would consist of Tanaka, Pineda, Greene, Sabathia, and swingman David Phelps.    This is obviously not ideal, and it would be surprising if the Yankees actually went into spring training with this as their expected rotation.

My Plan:

If I were the Yankees, the first part of my plan would be to resign McCarthy.  It is hard to think of any pitcher who enhanced their value more than McCarthy did during the course of the season.  After a disastrous start in Arizona (3-10 with a 5.01 ERA), McCarthy came over to the Yankees and instantly became one of the better pitchers in the American League, posting a 2.89 ERA in 90.1 innings.   He also reached 200 innings (exactly) for the first time in his injury-filled career, which is the biggest red flag in a potential deal.   McCarthy's value pretty much went from a pitcher who would have to search around for a 1-year deal to a pitcher who can probably command three for significant money, and get it rather easily.  I stay away from four years - I may consider it  if it is a vesting option based on health.

After that, the Yankees will be staring at free agents Max Scherzer, Jon Lester, and James Shields.  Shields had a rough postseason and has basically scrapped his once dominant change-up in favor of a cutter.  His postseason performance in 2014 was eye-raising, but shouldn't really keep anyone from signing him - after all, to win the World Series, you first have to make it there - and Shields will help you in that regard.

Since I have a major love for pitchers who miss bats and/or keep walks at a minimum, you may think I would learn towards Scherzer, the type of pitcher who can shut down any offense on his pure stuff alone.  He will command a rich contract, and likely deserves it.  He will likely wait out the market to see which teams are desperate after Lester and Shields make their choices, and if there is one thing we know about the Yankees, we know how desperation and/or panic can lead them to overwhelm a free agent with a contract they cannot resist.

For me, however, I go after Lester.  He has experience in the division and should benefit from Yankee Stadium's kinder dimensions in left field.   Lester also spiked his strikeout rate in 2014 (9.0/9) while keeping his walks down (2.0/9).  He is a true superstar pitcher who has been durable, is left-handed, and knows all about pitching in a demanding market.   He fits the team perfectly - almost as perfectly as CC Sabathia did prior to the 2009 season, but without the pressure of having to lead the rotation like Sabathia did.

There are other alternatives on the market that may intrigue the Yankees.  Francisco Liriano is a second-tier free agent who could interest the team as a lower-cost alternative to the big three.   They supposedly had interest in promising (but oft-injured) Brett Anderson in 2014, and the Rockies released him today.   Other reclamation projects include Chad Billingsley, Josh Johnson, and Justin Masterson.  I can see the Yankees at least inquiring on these types of pitchers as low-cost/medium reward types.

The farm:

The Yankees system hasn't been producing upper-level talent in recent years, but they do have a little bit of depth in their rotation.   Bryan Mitchell has a few big league appearances under his belt now, and top prospect Luis Severino will be camped in Double-A.   If Severino can develop in the neighborhood of Royals' young stud Yordano Ventura, the Yankees would be ecstatic - Ventura's name gets thrown around because like Severino, he features good stuff in a relatively small package.    If Manny Banuelos can stay healthy, he should also make his way up to the big leagues in 2015.  He will be 24 years old in 2015, with only 446 innings under his belt in seven years (he made his debut at 17 in 2008).  He will forever remain a bit of a wild card, but a wild-card with legitimate talent.

My 2015 Rotation:

Tanaka

Lester

Pineda

McCarthy

Greene/Sabathia

The Yankees would have a good combination of talent and depth, which would be needed given the injury issues scattered throughout that projected rotation.  

As was the case in 2014, the rotation should hold together pretty good, even if there are inevitable injuries.  If they have one of those lucky seasons where hardly of these pitchers gets injured for a significant period of time, they could have one of the better rotations in the game.  But I think that does require spending the money needed to acquire one of the stars on this year's market.

 

Yankees Call Up Several Players; DFA Zoilo Almonte

Players called up are:

RHP Chase Whitley

RHP Chaz Roe

RHP Bryan Mitchell

RHP Preston Claiborne

RHP Phil Yoon

LHP Rich Hill

C John Ryan Murphy

OF Chris Young

OF Antoan Richardson (I thought this was a big possibility, given that he is a speed guy who can pinch-run)

The Yankees also announced they have released Matt Daley (who cares), and designated Zoilo Almonte for assignment, which really surprises me (Chris Young and Antoan Richardson over Almonte?  Doesn't make sense)

Tanaka and Slade Heathcott were moved to the 60-day disabled list.