It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Grapefruit League play has begun and the weather is warming up. Baseball is upon us. Also upon us: another edition of our MLBTR Archives series. All we do is go back five years and look through all the Yankees rumors culled together by MLB Trade Rumors, because few things in baseball are as silly as rumors in hindsight.
We’re now into March 2011, so the offseason is over and Spring Training has begun. The Yankees lost out on Cliff Lee, re-signed both Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera, panic signed Rafael Soriano, watched Andy Pettitte retire, and brought in a bunch of scrap heap veterans to fill out their rotation. Fans weren’t feeling all that great about the club, especially since the Red Sox had a huge offseason (Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, etc.) and never make mistakes. To the archives.
March 1st, 2011: Twins Notes: Liriano, Yankees, Cuddyer
The Twins turned down a Yankee offer of Ivan Nova and Ramiro Pena for Francisco Liriano earlier this winter, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com. The Twins, however, are interested in left-handed pitching prospect Manuel Banuelos and want him included in any package from New York. Rosenthal thinks the two teams will revisit negotiations before Opening Day, but notes the two sides haven’t talked “in at least a month.” Minnesota assistant GM Rob Antony said last week that the Liriano trade speculation was nothing but rumors.
Nova and Rakin’ Ramiro for Liriano. What an offer. Keep in mind Liriano was 26 at the time and three years away from free agency. He was coming off a season with a 3.62 ERA (2.66 FIP) in 191.2 innings. Nova, 24 at the time, had all six years of team control left and pitched to a 4.50 ERA (4.36 FIP) during his 42-inning cameo in 2010. Pena was Pena.
This was not a serious offer. This was a “hey maybe the Twins really like Nova and/or hate Liriano” offer. Minnesota had every right to push for Banuelos. It was fair to consider Liriano a top 15 pitcher at the time. Of course, he then had a 5.09 ERA (4.54 FIP) in 134.1 innings in 2011, so yeah. Still though, Nova and Pena for Liriano? Hey, you’re never going to get Scott Kazmir for Victor Zambrano if you don’t ask.
March 1st, 2011: East Notes: Joba, Wieters, O’s, Damon, Durbin
Johnny Damon tells Ken Davidoff of Newsday that his free agent discussions with the Yankees this past winter involved a scenario that would have seen Damon make three starts per week for New York. Damon turned the deal down since the lack of playing time would have hurt his quest for 3000 hits.
The outfield at the time was Brett Gardner, Curtis Granderson, and Nick Swisher, with Andruw Jones as the fourth outfielder. Jorge Posada was set to take over as the full-time DH. Even without Andruw, where would Damon have fit? This was a rumor that didn’t make sense. It would have been a nostalgia based signing, not a “he fills a need and fits the roster” signing. The Yankees didn’t need a lefty bat.
March 2nd, 2011: Mark Teixeira Drops Scott Boras
Mark Teixeira dropped agent Scott Boras, according to MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch. The first baseman, who is under contract through 2016, says he wants to focus on helping the Yankees win, not signing his next mega-deal.
I forgot about this. It was five years ago and at the time it felt like Teixeira’s contract was never going to end, so this seemed inconsequential. Well, Teixeira is now coming up on free agency, so his agent is kinda important. The internet tells me he is currently represented by Casey Close, so Teixeira’s in good hands. Hard to believe we’re already talking about his impending free agency. Time flies, man.
March 2nd, 2011: Quick Hits: Hall, Young, Feliz, Burnett, Buck
Earlier today, Yankees GM Brian Cashman told versatile Astros veteran Bill Hall that the club was “this close” to signing him, tweets Jack Curry of the YES Network.
Ah yes, Bill Hall, one of those guys who was overrated because he was versatile. Hall was 31 at the time and he had just hit .246/.316/.456 (104 wRC+) in 382 plate appearances with the Red Sox. That was, by far, his best season since his out of nowhere 35 homer campaign with the 2006 Brewers. The Astros gave Hall a one-year deal worth $3.25M, people complained the Yankees missed out, then he hit .211/.261/.314 (57 wRC+) in 199 plate appearances in 2011. Hall played his final MLB game in June 2012.
March 3rd, 2011: Red Sox Notes: Ortiz, Gonzalez, Papelbon
Ortiz told Joe McDonald of ESPNBoston.com that that he would at least consider playing for the Yankees. “Well, if I don’t get signed here, I would play somewhere,” Ortiz said. “You know what I’m saying? I’m not saying I would play for the Yankees, but I if I don’t have a job, I gotta go somewhere else. As long as I play, right?”
Oh, how very nice of David Ortiz to say he would be willing to consider gracing the Yankees with his presence. Of course, Ortiz was entering his contract year in 2011, so he was angling for a new deal. It only made sense to use the Yankees as leverage, especially they were legit World Series contenders and the Red Sox missed the postseason in 2010.
March 4th, 2011: Quick Hits: Richard, Crawford, Feliz, Castro
Vernon Wells would have accepted a trade to the Yankees, not just to the Rangers or Angels, according to Heyman (on Twitter).
Phew, bullet dodged. Wait … dammit!
March 4th, 2011: New York Notes: Izzy, Crawford, Perez, Montero
Jesus Montero appears to have an excellent chance of winning the Yankees’ backup catcher job, since Francisco Cervelli will miss at least four weeks with a broken foot. Yankees GM Brian Cashman says he has no interest in delaying Montero’s arbitration clock by holding him back for the first few months of the season (Twitter link).
Montero in 2010: .289/.353/.517 (133 wRC+) with 21 homers in 504 plate appearances as a 20-year-old in Triple-A. Baseball America considered him a super-elite prospect …
… and Cervelli’s foot injury opened the door for Montero to make the roster. It was exciting! Then Montero hit .250/.286/.300 with no homers in 42 Grapefruit League plate appearances and looked rough behind the plate. The Yankees sent him to Triple-A Scranton and went with Gustavo Molina as their backup catcher. Gus went 1-for-6 in three games while Cervelli was out. Montero hit .288/.348/.467 (121 wRC+) with 18 homers in his second go-round at Triple-A, mashed during his September cameo, then was traded for Michael Pineda in the offseason.
Spring Training 2011 was peak Montero hype. His stock was at an all-time high and everyone was convinced he was ready to rake at the MLB level. Yes, his defense was not good, but no one seemed to care. Alas, it was not meant to be. Peak Montero sure was an exciting prospect though.
March 5th, 2011: New York Notes: Mets, Piazza, Yankees, Aceves
Yankees GM Brian Cashman told Peter Abraham of The Boston Globe that he doesn’t believe he’ll be able to acquire a starter before the Opening Day, and perhaps not until June. “Normally anything of quality doesn’t become available until after the June draft,” said Cashman. “That’s why you try and get as much as you can get accomplished in the winter. I know New York doesn’t handle patience very well. But I’m from Kentucky, so it’s a little easier for me to deal with.”
The 2011 season was a slow year for starter trades. The only starters traded that season were Rodrigo Lopez, Edwin Jackson, Tommy Hunter, and Erik Bedard. The entire 2010-11 offseason and 2011 season was a really down time for starting pitcher transactions. Lee was by far the best free agent starter and no one of consequence was traded during the season. It’s pretty amazing the Yankees were able to cobble together a division winning rotation in 2011. Things looked mighty shaky behind CC Sabathia.
March 9th, 2011: Cashman: Never Made Offer To Chapman
WEDNESDAY, 9:45am: The Yankees “never made an offer” to Chapman, GM Brian Cashman tells ESPN’s Buster Olney (Twitter link).
TUESDAY, 10:01pm: The Yankees really liked Aroldis Chapman. A Florida lawsuit against the left-hander’s representatives claims that the Yankees made an “offer to Chapman valued at more than $54MM,” according to Melissa Segura of SI.com (on Twitter, hat tip to River Ave. Blues).
Chapman signed with the Reds in January 2010 and the Yankees reportedly wined and dined him during the 2009-10 offseason. They supposedly brought him to Yankee Stadium for a 2009 World Series game to show him what it was all about. “Never made an offer” is all semantics though. It doesn’t mean they didn’t talk money or terms. It just means they didn’t put a piece of paper in front of him to sign. Five years later, the Yankees finally got their man.
March 9th, 2011: AL East Links: Yankees, Anderson, Slowey
Mariano Rivera told Andrew Marchand of ESPNNewYork that Manny Banuelos is the greatest pitching prospect he has ever seen. “I like everything about him,” Rivera said. Cashman says the left-hander, who turns 20 this weekend, will not start the year higher than Double-A.
I’m glad we’ve moved on from the “best pitching prospect I’ve ever seen” and “he’s the next Roger Clemens” stuff. Nowadays all we hear about pitching prospects is that they’re composed or have impressive command. Normal compliments. Not crazy stuff that sets unfair expectations. Banuelos was pretty awesome back then, but the best pitching prospect he’d ever seen? Sheesh.
March 10th, 2011: A’s, Yanks Agree To Terms With International FAs
The Yankees have agreed to terms with Dominican right-handed pitcher Juan Carlos Paniagua, 20, for $1.1MM, according to Badler. Paniagua, who had previously been suspended by Major League Baseball for one year for age and identity fraud, is 6-foot-1, 170 pounds, Badler writes. His fastball sits in the mid-90s and can touch 98 mph, while scouts are mixed on his secondary pitches. The signing of a previously suspended player for fraud is not unprecedented in MLB nor for the Yankees, for the matter, as Badler notes. Carlos Martinez of the Cardinals and Jose Rafael DePaula of the Bombers are two such examples.
Paniagua has an eventful backstory. He played in the Diamondbacks’ system from 2009-10 before his deal was voided because of identity fraud. The Yankees signed him in 2011, though his deal with New York never became official. MLB found he presented the Yankees with falsified documents, so the contract was voided. The Cubs gave Paniagua a $1.5M bonus in 2012 and he’s been pretty terrible since. He has a 4.41 ERA with 109 walks in 208 minor league relief innings. Lot of hassle for a middling prospect.
March 12th, 2011: Yankees, Nationals Scouting Carlos Silva
The Cubs have been watching Carlos Silva‘s spring starts closely as they decide whether he deserves a spot in their starting rotation, but Chicago hasn’t been the only team following Silva’s progress. According to Bruce Levine of ESPNChicago, the Yankees and Nationals are among the clubs scouting the right-hander.
Silva had a 4.22 ERA (3.75 FIP) in 113 innings for the Cubs in 2010 and never pitched in the big leagues again. Chicago released him at the end of camp and the Yankees quickly signed him to a minor league contract in April. He had a 3.00 ERA in seven minor league starts before coming down with shoulder problems. The team released Silva shortly thereafter and he never pitched again. He was only 32 that season too. Silva went from effective in 2010 to being done by the middle of 2011. Baseball is cruel.
March 13th, 2011: Royals Acquire Robert Fish
The Royals have claimed lefty Robert Fish from the Yankees on outright waivers, according to a team press release. In order to make room for Fish on their 40-man roster, Kansas City has moved right-hander Henry Barrera to the 60-day disabled list.
March 13th, 2011: Quick Hits: Looper, Turpen, Moyer, CBA, Nationals
One of the Yankees‘ Sunday roster moves involved returning Rule 5 pick Daniel Turpen to the Red Sox, as Chad Jennings of the Journal News notes.
March 14th, 2011: Padres Return George Kontos To Yankees
The Padres announced that they returned Rule 5 draft pick George Kontos to the Yankees.
Might as well lump all the Rule 5 Draft guys together. The Yankees selected Fish and Turpen in the Rule 5 Draft that offseason and neither made it through Spring Training. They combined to allow nine runs in 8.1 innings in camp. Neither reached the big leagues and they’re both out of baseball now. Turpen at least spent a few years in Triple-A.
Kontos was coming off Tommy John surgery in 2010 so it was no surprise he didn’t stick with the Padres in camp. He had a 2.62 ERA (3.89 FIP) in 89.1 innings for Triple-A Scranton in 2011, made his MLB debut in September, then was traded for Chris Stewart at the end of Spring Training 2012. Moral of the story: most Rule 5 Draft picks are duds, especially pitchers.
March 15th, 2011: Release Candidate: Sergio Mitre
Some scouts are “convinced the Yankees are going to release Sergio Mitre,” reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post. The club has two open rotation spots and one long relief job, which could go to Freddy Garcia, Bartolo Colon, and Ivan Nova in some combination.
Mitre in 2010: 3.33 ERA (4.69 FIP) in 54 innings across three starts and 24 relief appearances. That’s … not terrible by swingman standards? The Yankees were thin on starting pitching and releasing a possible starter, even if he was only No. 7 or 8 on the depth chart, seemed a little weird. Then again, it was Mitre. No one expected him to be good.
March 15th, 2011: AL East Notes: Martinez, Crawford, Sanchez
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports hears that Yankees right-hander Romulo Sanchez has been impressing scouts (Twitter link). The out-of-options 26-year-old could fit on a team looking for relief help, according to Rosenthal.
Romulo! I totally forgot about him. The Yankees got him a minor trade in May 2009 — they sent current Korea Baseball Organization stud Eric Hacker to the Pirates — and Sanchez had a 4.31 ERA in 64.2 innings for Triple-A Scranton in 2009, then a 4.31 ERA in 104.1 innings for the RailRiders in 2010. Romulo came up in September and allowed one hit in 4.1 scoreless innings. The Yankees cut him loose at the very end of Spring Training in 2011 so he could sign with a team in Japan. Romulo was still active last season; he allowed two runs in nine innings with a team in Mexico.
March 16th, 2011: Felix Hernandez’s No-Trade Clause
Mariners ace Felix Hernandez can block trades to ten teams, and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports learned eight of them: the Yankees, Mets, Red Sox, Cubs, Angels, Dodgers, Rangers, and Phillies. Morosi adds:
Felix had just signed a five-year extension prior to the 2010 season, so there was no logical reason for the Mariners to consider trading him. He was only 24 (!) at the time and the return would have had to have been massive. Unrealistically massive. Anyway, notice Hernandez had nothing but big market clubs on his no-trade list. That’s because those are the teams that would be most willing and able to compensate him for waiving his no trade clause. Felix could have demanded a big extension in exchange for approving a trade to New York. It’s all about leverage. He didn’t necessarily not want to go to those teams.
March 16th, 2011: Yankees Watched Millwood Pitch
7:53pm: The Yankees were the only team to watch Millwood today, according to Sherman (Twitter links). The Yankees clocked his fastball at 85 mph and say they’ll only offer a minor league deal. However, Millwood still wants a Major League contract.
PitchFX says Millwood’s average fastball was 88.9 mph in 2011. The Yankees did get him to take a minor league deal later in March, and Millwood eventually exercised an opt-out clause in May. Inconsequential move.
March 21st, 2011: Yankees Have Some Interest In Oliver Perez
Here’s one for the back pages and talk show hosts. The Yankees have discussed Oliver Perez as a potential cheap addition, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (on Twitter). However, GM Brian Cashman doesn’t seem enthused about the 29-year-old left-hander.
Oh lordy. Perez was entering the final season of his three-year, $27M contract, but he was so bad (6.81 ERA and 6.64 FIP from 2009-10) the Mets released him in Spring Training. They released him that day, actually. March 21st. The Yankees could have signed him for the league minimum and carried him as a depth arm given the state of their rotation. They never did. Perez hooked on with the Nationals, spent 2011 in Double-A (4.04 ERA in 75.2 innings), then resurfaced with the Mariners as a reliever in 2012. He’s been quite effective since. But back then? Yeah, no one wanted him. The Yankees needed arms but they weren’t that desperate.
March 23rd, 2011: New York Notes: Posada, Cano, Mets
Jorge Posada told Kevin Kernan of the New York Post that he hopes to re-sign with the Yankees after the season, when he hits free agency. If the Yankees don’t want him back, he would consider playing elsewhere, even though he doesn’t want to sign with another team. “I would [leave], if it’s the right situation,” he said. “It’s got to be the right situation.”
The David Ortiz situation applies here: Posada’s contract was up after the season and he was angling for a new deal. Unlike Ortiz, Posada did not produce in 2011, so finding a new job was tough. He announced his retirement following the season. I miss Jorge. He’s on my very short list of all-time favorite Yankees. Switch-hitting catchers with power and patience are my jam.
March 23rd, 2011: Minor Deals: Raynor, Ortegano, McCulloch
The Braves lost a second player on waivers today, when the Yankees claimed left-hander Jose Ortegano. The Yankees optioned the 23-year-old to Triple-A, according to Marc Carig of the Star-Ledger (on Twitter). In 131 minor league innings spent mostly at Triple-A last year, Ortegano posted a 5.98 ERA with 6.8 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9 as a starter.
Ortegano was kinda sorta a prospect even though he had a 5.98 ERA in 131 innings at Double-A and Triple-A with the Braves in 2010. The Yankees claimed him off waivers in March and he almost immediately got hurt. Ortegano never pitched again. That 2010 season was his last in any league around the world. Rough. He’s still only 28 too.
March 24th, 2011: Yankees Notes: Colon, Garcia, Molina, Pitching
Brian Cashman tells Chad Jennings of the LoHud blog that he’s received a few calls from other general managers in regards to the extra pitchers in New York’s camp. “It’s been very quiet for the most part….Everybody’s just picking the phone up and checking in with each other, myself included,” Cashman said.
It was funny to hear the Yankees had “extra” pitchers in Spring Training that year because the exact opposite felt true. How were they going to get 162 starts out of those guys? Bartolo Colon was throwing well but Freddy Garcia got hammered in camp (4.91 ERA) and inspired zero confidence. The Yankees also had Mitre, Sanchez, and Steve Garrison in camp as extra arms, and they later added Silva and Millwood. Somehow it all worked.
March 25th, 2011: Brewers Acquire Sergio Mitre
The Brewers have acquired Sergio Mitre from the Yankees for Chris Dickerson. The move provides the Brewers with the pitching depth they coveted and opens up a spot in the Yankees bullpen, possibly for Freddy Garcia or Bartolo Colon.
I was a Dickerson fan and I wish the Yankees would have given him an opportunity over some of the fifth outfield dreck they cycled through from 2011-12. Guys like Greg Golson, Dewayne Wise, and Melky Mesa. Dickerson could hit righties a bit, he could run, and he could play defense. Alas, it never worked out. He landed with the Orioles in 2013 and has been bouncing around from team to team since.
March 26th, 2011: Quick Hits: Rangers, Astros, Reyes, Burrell, Belt
As Danny Knobler of CBS Sports reminds us, chances are that back-of-the-rotation won’t be the one the Yankees finish the season with.
The rotation to open the 2011 season was, in order, CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Phil Hughes, Ivan Nova, and Freddy Garcia. The Yankees used off-days to push Garcia’s first start back as much as possible. (He didn’t start until Game 13.) By the end of the season, the rotation was Sabathia, Burnett, Nova, Garcia, and Colon. Hughes had a back issues and wound up in the bullpen down the stretch. So technically, yeah, the back-of-the-rotation the Yankees started the season with was not the one they finished with, but it was close enough. Somehow Sabathia, Burnett, Nova, Garcia, Colon, and Hughes accounted for 157 of 162 starts. What a time to be alive. (Hector Noesi and Brian Gordon made two spot starts each and Dellin Betances started the meaningless Game 162.)
March 27th, 2011: Astros Return Lance Pendleton To Yankees
The Astros have returned Rule 5 pick Lance Pendleton to the Yankees, tweets Astros’ director of social media Alyson Footer. Pendleton cleared waivers and will be assigned to New York’s minor league camp (Twitter link).
Pants Lendleton! He actually ended up pitching for the Yankees a little bit in 2011 — he allowed 14 runs in 18.2 mop-up innings at midseason — before they dropped him from the 40-man roster in September. The Astros claimed him, he allowed nine runs in 4.2 innings, and he never pitched in the big leagues again. Pendleton had a 5.02 ERA in 129 Triple-A innings with the Rays in 2012, his final season as a player. These MLBTR posts bring back the ghosts of DotF past, eh?
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