Yankees Minor League Note: Yankees DFA Brett Marshall

With the signing of Carlos Beltran being made official today, the Yankees cleared a spot on their 40-man roster by designating 23-year old right-handed pitcher Brett Marshall for assignment.

A once-promising prospect, Marshall struggled mightily in 2013, compiling a 5.13 ERA in 138.2 innings for Scranton with a 120/68 K/BB ratio.     He also made his big-league debut, giving up six runs in 12 innings with a 7/7 K/BB ratio.

I don't know what the odds are on Marshall getting claimed.  This is the time of year when teams are trying to find spots on their roster for their own free agent signings, which could prevent someone from claiming him.  By the same token, we have seen many players get treated like hot potatoes this time of year as well, getting claimed by organizations, only to be DFA'd when that organization needs to open up their own 40-man slot.

The Yankees lack some pitching depth at the moment, which could make this type of move a surprise.  But Marshall was still far down the list of pitchers competing for a spot on the 2014 Yankees.  His best bet would have been the Adam Warren role, but they can give that to whoever loses the competition for a starting slot out of spring training.

Yankees Sign Matt Thornton

After Boone Logan left to go to Colorado on a ridiculous 3-year deal, it left the Yankees with a void in the bullpen for a left-handed reliever.

Enter Matt Thornton, who signed a 2-year, $7M contract this afternoon.

We will get this out of the way first:  If you are expecting the Matt Thornton from years ago in Chicago, you are going to be greatly disappointed.     This should be obvious, as that version of Matt Thornton gets a contract that is much bigger than the one the Yankees gave out here.

Thornton doesn't throw as hard as he used to, but he still does throw hard.  In 2013, his average fastball was still averaging an impressive 94.3 MPH, down from his peak performance of 96.1 in 2010.  With the reduction in velocity has come a reduction in usage.  Thornton used his fastball 51.7% of the time in 2013.  As recently as 2011, he used it 85.1% of the time.

Thornton is more of a LOOGY nowadays than a shutdown reliever.  He is not competition for David Robertson.  He is not someone you are going to use as "the 8th inning guy".    Last year, he held left-handed batters to a .224/.267/.370 line with 20 K in 22.1 innings.   Right-handed hitters had much more success, hitting .329/.423/.405, walking 12 times while only striking out 10 times in 21 innings.  It is possible that some of those walks can be attributed to pitching around a right-handed batter to get to a left-handed one.  It is also possible that right-handed batters saw the ball so well that they weren't even thinking about swinging at anything that wasn't in the zone.

This is the type of contract you should hand out to a veteran LOOGY.  He is a piece to the bullpen, but should not be viewed as a significant part.  They simply filled a void and will now move on to more pressing needs.

Overall, I like the signing for what it is.  It doesn't really take pitchers like Cesar Cabral out of the competition for a 2014 slot, though it will obviously make his journey more difficult.      Other left-handers in the organization (Nik Turley, for example) likely aren't ready for big league action, and Turley should start in the minors right now, not be a reliever in the majors.   

Re: Yankees "Close" on Brian Roberts

On Tuesday, December 17, 2013 6:57:58 AM UTC-5, Vinnie S. wrote:

On Tuesday, December 17, 2013 12:39:12 AM UTC-5, Tom K wrote:

This comes from a report from Ken Rosenthal on Twitter.

We all should know the Brian Roberts story - a very good major league second baseman for many years before succumbing to a lot of injuries.    Roberts has played a total of 192 games in the last four years, 77 of which came in 2013, when he put up a .249/.312/.392 line.  

I will assume he is going to come cheaply. However, it is hard to fathom that he will last more than 75 or so games in 2014.  (If he did that, the Yankees may consider themselves fortunate).

I will assume the Yankees are not done shopping - this is a bit of blah signing.  I don't see much overall upside, even if he does miraculously stay healthy.

They may be just buying 2 years for Refsnyder.

https://twitter.com/erikjblair/status/412941291555946497

Erik Blair ‏@erikjblair

@nomaas Yankee management is like the guy who shows up late to your fantasy draft hammered and uses a five year old magazine.

Re: Yankees "Close" on Brian Roberts

On Tuesday, December 17, 2013 12:39:12 AM UTC-5, Tom K wrote:

This comes from a report from Ken Rosenthal on Twitter.

We all should know the Brian Roberts story - a very good major league second baseman for many years before succumbing to a lot of injuries.    Roberts has played a total of 192 games in the last four years, 77 of which came in 2013, when he put up a .249/.312/.392 line.  

I will assume he is going to come cheaply. However, it is hard to fathom that he will last more than 75 or so games in 2014.  (If he did that, the Yankees may consider themselves fortunate).

I will assume the Yankees are not done shopping - this is a bit of blah signing.  I don't see much overall upside, even if he does miraculously stay healthy.

They may be just buying 2 years for Refsnyder.

Yankees "Close" on Brian Roberts

This comes from a report from Ken Rosenthal on Twitter.

We all should know the Brian Roberts story - a very good major league second baseman for many years before succumbing to a lot of injuries.    Roberts has played a total of 192 games in the last four years, 77 of which came in 2013, when he put up a .249/.312/.392 line.  

I will assume he is going to come cheaply. However, it is hard to fathom that he will last more than 75 or so games in 2014.  (If he did that, the Yankees may consider themselves fortunate).

I will assume the Yankees are not done shopping - this is a bit of blah signing.  I don't see much overall upside, even if he does miraculously stay healthy.

Yankees Acquire Kyle Haynes to Complete Chris Stewart Trade

Haynes hasn't pitched above Low-A ball yet in his career.   The right-hander will be 23 at the start of the 2014 season.  He was a 20th round pick in the 2012 draft.

The Pirates converted him from a reliever to a starter late last season.  Compiled a 2.38 ERA in 83.1 innings with a 85/36 K/BB ratio overall.   He is not ranked in any of the Pirates' Top Prospects lists, nor should he be.  He is "just a guy" for now.

This is obviously not a major haul.   But for Chris Stewart, anything above a lawn mower would be considered a decent return.

Yankees Interested in Joaquin Benoit

Pros:   Over the past four seasons, you aren't going to find many relievers who have pitched better.   In 268 games over that span, he has posted a 2.53 ERA (164 ERA+), 0.983 WHIP, and a 4.1 K/BB ratio.    After tearing his rotator cuff (causing him to miss the entire 2009 season), Benoit has been surprisingly durable.

Cons:  Benoit will be 36 at the start of the 2014 season, so his expiration date is not far away.  The rotator cuff has held up, but you always will have his past shoulder injuries in the back of your mind.  Also, and this is always important for the Yankees:  He doesn't generate a lot of ground balls.  That is not typically a good thing for a right-handed pitcher in Yankee Stadium, especially one you are asking to protect leads late in games. 

Bottom Line:    I would have to pass here.   He is a bit of a ticking time bomb, and I don't like right-handed pitchers who put balls into the air in this ballpark.  His home run rate is above average as is.