Noah Syndergaard Archives - River Avenue Blues

Wednesday Notes: Andujar, Sanchez, 60-day IL, Britton

February 13, 2019 by Mike

Baseball is in the air. Pitchers and catchers reported to Tampa today and Spring Training has begun. Position players are due in camp Monday and the Yankees will play their Grapefruit League opener one week from Saturday. Hooray for that. Anyway, make sure you check out Matt Foley’s piece on Adam Ottavino’s makeshift training facility in Harlem. Here are some other notes to check out.

Marlins wanted Sanchez and Andujar for Realmuto

According to Ken Rosenthal (subs. req’d), the Marlins wanted Gary Sanchez and Miguel Andujar during J.T. Realmuto trade talks earlier this winter. The deal might’ve been expanded to include utility man Miguel Rojas and possibly another Marlins piece as well. Rosenthal says the Yankees wouldn’t trade Sanchez for Realmuto straight up because he’s younger and under control twice as long. Sanchez and Andujar? Nah.

The Marlins traded Realmuto to the Phillies last week for a three-player package that included top pitching prospect Sixto Sanchez and big league catcher Jorge Alfaro, which is decidedly less than Sanchez and Andujar. Rosenthal indicates the Yankees wanted to acquire Realmuto and flip him to the Mets for Noah Syndergaard, which is something we heard back during the Winter Meetings. Talks never gained traction though. Sounds like the Yankees wanted to do all that while subtracting as little from their MLB roster as possible.

Disabled list is now the injured list

The disabled list has a new name. It will now be known as the “injured list” at the suggestion of advocacy groups for the disabled. MLB never did formally announce the change, but teams are using “injured list” in press releases, and it doesn’t get more official than that. There have been no other changes to the DL IL as of now. The MLBPA is pushing to go back to a 15-day IL to help curb roster manipulation. That could happen soon.

“The principal concern is that using the term ‘disabled’ for players who are injured supports the misconception that people with disabilities are injured and therefore are not able to participate or compete in sports. As a result, Major League Baseball has agreed to change the name ‘Disabled List’ to be the ‘Injured List’ at both the major and minor league levels,” said MLB’s senior director of league economics and operations Jeff Pfeifer to the Associated Press. An overdue change, this is.

60-day IL is now open

Quick procedural note: Teams can now place players on the 60-day injured list to open up a 40-man roster spot. I know this because earlier today the Diamondbacks put Taijuan Walker (Tommy John surgery) on the 60-day IL to make room for free agent signing Caleb Joseph, and the Athletics put Sean Manaea (shoulder surgery) on the 60-day IL to make room for free agent signing Brett Anderson.

The Yankees have two 60-day IL candidates in Jordan Montgomery (Tommy John surgery) and Didi Gregorius (Tommy John surgery), and potentially two more in Jacoby Ellsbury (hip surgery) and Ben Heller (Tommy John surgery). Next time they need a 40-man spot, I imagine Montgomery will be first to go on the 60-day IL. I should note that, if you put a player on the 60-day IL in Spring Training, the clock on the 60 days does not start until Opening Day. You can’t put a guy on the 60-day IL now and get credit for 40-something days during Spring Training.

Zach Britton is now Zack Britton

Here’s another name change: Zack Britton is now going by Zack with a K instead of Zach with an H. The Yankees announced it last week. “I was born Zack, with a ‘ck,’ but I didn’t know until I went to get a passport it was really with a ‘ck.’ My parents had told me it was with a ‘ch.’ I am blaming my parents,” Britton joked to Kristie Ackert. “The Orioles always just put the ‘ck’ on any legal documents and I went by ‘ch,’ with everything else.”

Ackert says the Yankees and Britton had to rewrite their contract this offseason to change Zach to Zack. Sounds like all his paperwork with the Orioles over the years was correct, but everyone around the league thought it was Zach, and it wasn’t until he signed with a new team that it came to light. Anyway, Britton says going by Zach never bothered him. So far DL/IL has tripped me up more than Zach/Zack, but dude, if you’re going to change your name, don’t change one letter. Go full Giancarlo.

Teams will wear MLB 150 jersey patches this year

Earlier this week MLB announced all 30 teams will wear an “MLB 150” patch on their sleeve this season to celebrate the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings, the first ever professional baseball team. They were the first team with an entire roster of salaried players. Teams will also wear the patch on the side of their caps on Opening Day. The patches are pretty snazzy. Here’s a look:

(@MLB)

“We’re excited to recognize the 150th anniversary of professional baseball by honoring our history while celebrating the game and the great players of today. The MLB 150 patch will be a continuous reminder on the field of the link everyone involved in the game today has with the storied history of professional baseball and MLB,” said commissioner Rob Manfred in a statement. Celebrating the first salaried team while clubs simultaneously work to suppress player salaries is something else.

Yankees, Mets, Marlins reportedly talking three-team trade involving Syndergaard, Realmuto

December 11, 2018 by Mike

Here’s a whopper of a late night rumor from the Winter Meetings. According to multiple reports, the Yankees are discussing a three-team trade with the Mets and Marlins that would send J.T. Realmuto to Flushing and bring Noah Syndergaard to the Bronx. The Yankees would presumably send prospects to the Marlins (and probably the Mets too?).

A week or two ago Brian Cashman categorically denied a rumor that he’d made an offer for Realmuto, though the Yankees were connected to the Marlins backstop, and this might explain why. They don’t want Realmuto for themselves — that Gary Sanchez guy is pretty cool — they want to flip him to another team for pitching. Huh. Here’s what we know:

The Mets are exploring multiple scenarios to land Realmuto and a three-team trade with the Yankees is “not among the strongest.” [Joel Sherman]
The Yankees have interest in Mets starters other than Syndergaard and are “pushing hard” to get a deal done tonight, but nothing is imminent. [Andy Martino & Sherman]
It’s still unclear what the Marlins would get in the trade. [Craig Mish]

Keep in mind Marlins director of player development Gary Denbo was the Yankees’ farm system head from 2014-17 and he is still familiar with the system despite being away from the team for a year now. That doesn’t necessarily make a trade more likely, of course. He knows the good and the bad, and the bad might outnumber the good at this point.

Also keep in mind Mets owners Fred and Jeff Wilpon would presumably have to sign off on any trade with the Yankees. I can’t imagine rookie GM Brodie Van Wagenen has the autonomy to do that on his own. There is a very real inferiority complex in place here and a trade that sends Syndergaard — or even Zack Wheeler or Steven Matz — to the Yankees might be too much for the Wilpons to stomach.

The Yankees don’t have nearly as many prospects to trade as they did a few months ago and I’m not sure they could get this trade done without giving up anyone from their MLB roster, specifically Gleyber Torres or Miguel Andujar. I love Andujar but Gleyber’s the keeper. I guess we’ll see. I’m not sure the Yankees want to subtract much from their MLB roster at this point (other than Sonny Gray).

Even after the James Paxton trade, the Yankees need another starter, preferably a very good one, and they missed out on Patrick Corbin. Syndergaard would be a monumental addition — Wheeler and Matz would be lesser upgrades but upgrades nonetheless — who might swing the balance of power in the AL East. If the Yankees can get him without sacrificing Torres or Andujar, it would be a massive win.

As always, I’m going to need to see the Wilpons sign off on a big Yankees-Mets trade to believe it. They might be the biggest obstacle here, not the general managers agreeing to terms. The Yankees and Mets haven’t made a player-for-player trade since the Mike Stanton-Felix Heredia swap in 2004.

Hot Stove Rumors: Diaz, Gray, Bumgarner, Syndergaard, Goldy

November 28, 2018 by Mike

The rumors are starting to come in steadily now, and, in fact, player visits are going down. Patrick Corbin visited the Phillies earlier this week — they had the obligatory scoreboard photoshop ready to go — and tomorrow he’ll be in New York to visit the Yankees, according to Joel Sherman. For what it’s worth, Andy Martino hears Corbin is not expected to drag out his free agency. He could sign sooner rather than later. We’ll see. Here are the latest hot stove rumors.

Yankees showing strong interest in Diaz

The Yankees were among the teams showing the strongest interest in Mariners closer Edwin Diaz, reports Joel Sherman. The Braves, Mets, Phillies, and Red Sox were also involved, though Sherman says everyone thus far has balked at taking on Robinson Cano to get Diaz. Presumably the more money you take on in Cano — he’s owed $120M the next five years — the less you have to give up in prospects to get Diaz. “What are those teams willing to part with in dollars to (get Diaz)?” a source said to Sherman.

Diaz, 25 in March, has four years of team control remaining and he is electric. This season he posted a 1.96 ERA (1.61 FIP) with 44.3% strikeouts and 6.1% walks in 73.1 innings. He is on the short list of the best relievers in the game. The Yankees are said to want two relievers and Diaz would certainly be an upgrade to the bullpen. With Justus Sheffield gone, I’m not sure the Yankees have the prospects to win a Diaz bidding war, not unless they put Miguel Andujar or Gleyber Torres on the table. Taking on Cano’s deal might be their only way to get Diaz.

Mariners wanted Gray in Paxton deal

Another Yankees-Mariners nugget. Been a lot of them these last few weeks. Anyway, according to Ken Rosenthal (subs. req’d), the Mariners wanted Sonny Gray in addition to Sheffield in the James Paxton trade. The Yankees balked because enough other teams are showing interest in Gray that they believe they can maximize their return by trading him and Sheffield separately. Obviously the two sides got the Paxton deal done without Sonny.

The Athletics, Reds, Braves, Padres, Rangers, and Twins have all shown interest in Gray this offseason. We can now add the Mariners to that list. Wouldn’t it be something if the Yankees could build an Edwin Diaz trade package — or even a Jean Segura trade package — around Gray and, say, Estevan Florial? Plus a secondary piece or two? I expect the Yankees to get a decent return for Gray. Using him to get a true impact guy like Diaz (or Segura!) would be an A+ move in my book.

Giants open to trading Bumgarner

According to Jon Morosi, the Giants are willing to discuss trade scenarios involving lefty Madison Bumgarner. The Yankees were not mentioned as a suitor — the Braves and Phillies are said to have touched base with San Francisco — but I’m certain they’ll show interest. They want another starting pitcher, and remember, the Yankees were “in the hunt” for Bumgarner at the trade deadline. I am a tad skeptical the Giants would actually trade a franchise icon, but it would make sense given their current situation and the fact he’s a year away from free agency.

Jeff Sullivan wrote a post this week detailing Bumgarner’s decline. He’s still quite good — Bumgarner did have a 3.26 ERA (3.99 FIP) in 129.2 innings around a fluke finger injury (hit by a comebacker) this past season — but his velocity, swing-and-miss rate, and walk rate are trending down big time. I mean, look at this. Yikes. Bumgarner is still only 29, but he has a lot of innings on his arm, and he might be entering his Felix Hernandez decline phase. That said, there’s only one year and $12M on his contract, and the Yankees wouldn’t need him to be their ace or even their No. 2 starter. Depending on the asking price, rolling the dice on one year of Bumgarner could make an awful lot of sense.

Yankees not in on Syndergaard

Mets righty Noah Syndergaard is available but the Yankees are not among the teams showing interest, reports Martino. Maybe the front office change in Flushing makes it possible, but a Yankees-Mets trade of this caliber? I can’t see it. For the Mets, trading Syndergaard to the Yankees would be an ownership decision, not a front office decision, and I can’t see the Wilpons signing off on that.

Hypothetically, I think Syndergaard is one of the few pitchers the Yankees would be willing to trade Andujar or Torres to acquire. Syndergaard has had some injury problems the last two years, but he has no-doubt ace upside, and those guys are extremely rare. Three years of control with that potential? Hard to pass that up, even if you have to give up an Andujar or Torres. You’ve gotta give something to get something, after all. Like I said though, I can’t see a Yankees-Mets trade of this caliber going down.

Yankees not pursuing Goldschmidt

Yet another contradictory Paul Goldschmidt rumor. Rosenthal (subs. req’d) reports the Yankees are not pursuing the Diamondbacks’ first baseman at this time. They prefer a lefty bat and don’t see first base as a top priority right now. A few weeks ago we heard the Yankees didn’t have interest in Goldschmidt, then, earlier this week, it was reported they pushed Sheffield in trade talks with Arizona. That was a secondhand report though. I’m inclined to believe the “they’re not really pursuing him” rumors.

It’s more interesting to me that the Yankees, at least according to Rosenthal, do not consider first base a top priority at the moment. Greg Bird stunk last year, and while Luke Voit was awesome, his track record is basically one month, and that month is September, when weird things happen. There are always cheap first base stopgap types available in the days leading up to Spring Training — what are the odds Lucas Duda signs before February? — so if the Yankees want some first base depth, they’ll be able to find it. Guys like Goldschmidt don’t become available often though.