Yankees Make Big Deadline Move, Call Up Luis Severino

If you were waiting around for the Yankees to make a move before 4 o'clock today, it didn't happen.  Maybe you were disappointed, maybe you weren't.  But this is the only news you needed today...The Yankees needed a front-end starting pitcher and they just got one.  The #1 prospect in the system, a guy who at the age of just 21 has flown up the minor league pipeline and has DOMINATED Triple-A since arriving there  to the tune of 7-0 with a 1.91 ERA and a .93 WHIP.

Now I don't expect this kid to come up right away and start dominating.  That would obviously be unfair.  But I don't think it's unreasonable to hope that he can dominate right away.  

We've seen it time and time again.  Kids come up with great stuff and pitch well right away.  Severino's stuff translates to the major league level.  Mid-90's fastball and a change-up drawing comparisons to that of a young Pedro Martinez.  That gets major league batters out.

I'm feeling pretty bold and optimistic over here so I'm going to go out on a limb and predict that Severino pitches well enough over the next two months to not only stick around but earn a start in the playoffs.  How do you like that?  Like I said, I'm not expecting it, but crazier things have happened.  

PS - I'm feeling so optimistic right now I'm starting to feel like Pineda's injury was a blessing in disguise.  Like the only way to bump CC from the rotation is if Severino pitches awesome and Pineda comes back.  Unless Nova implodes they'll have no choice at that point.

Yankees stand pat at the deadline

For what feels like the first time in forever, the Yankees and Brian Cashman sat idly by on July 31st and didn't do anything to make the team better.  Truth be told, there was really nothing that they could do here.  With Price and Hamels gone the market for a front-end starting pitcher was non-existent, as was that of second basemen. 

I guess in my heart of hearts I was just hoping that Cash could get creative and make something out of thin air today.  He's made a move on deadline day 11 times since becoming the full-time GM in 1998.  But it was not to be.  This team still has a chance to look very different come October.  Luis Severino has to get the call at some point.  He's now our best chance at filling the void Pineda left.  Rob Refsnyder can still find his way into the fold.  Perhaps the newly acquired Dustin Ackley will see a career resurgence once he feasts his eyes on the right field porch at Yankee Stadium.  And then there's always the possibility of making a waiver move before September (James Shields? Brandon Phillips?)

So while we might be disappointed today, let's remember that this is still a very good team with a comfortable division lead and a least a few more roster options to exercise before October comes.

Sheldon Richardson Arrested

Jets DL Sheldon Richardson was arrested in Missouri on July 14, per St. Louis FOX affiliate. Charged with resisting arrest. More to come.

— Manish Mehta (@MMehtaNYDN) July 30, 2015

Now I don't want to jump to conclusions because right now there are plenty of rumors going around.  Some people are saying he was going 143 MPH.  Others are saying there was a 12-year-old in the car.  Others are saying everyone in the car was high.  I don't know about any of that.  All I know is that Sheldon Richardson is an absolute fucking imbecile.  Keep your nose clean for me one fucking time Sheldon.  Jesus Christ you just threw away four games of this season cause you can't stop smoking pot.  Who knows what kind of time this guy is gonna miss now.

As much as I'd like to get riled up and angry, unfortunately this is just par for the course for the NFL and I can't say I'm surprised in the least.  And while Sheldon is on his way to torpedoing his career, Mo Wilk is just sitting in the corner, minding his own business waiting for Mikey Mac and Woody to take out the checkbook and sign him to the contract he deserves.  Spending a first round pick on a defensive lineman is looking smarter by the day.

Poor Joe B.  Oh the pain.

Joe's reaction to Sheldon Richardson news. pic.twitter.com/RcnLUk8EJC

— Brian Monzo (@BMonzoWFAN) July 30, 2015

Oh you got Tulo and David Price? Two words...Dustin. Ackley.

My man pots and pans.  And here I thought these were troubling times.  The Blue Jays making splash after splash.  Our pitchers dropping like flies.  And here comes Cashman with the move to end all moves.  Dustin Fucking Ackely.

I remember when this guy got drafted (2nd overall in 2009, one pick after Strasburg) and people were talking about him like he was going to be the next Tony Gwynn. 

Not exactly.  All in all this wasn't the worst move in the world.  He's 27.  He can play second base and the corner outfield spots.  He's a left handed hitter and there's always some promise with that.  All in all he's better than Stephen Drew and that's all you need to know.  And we gave up two quadruple A players to get him so it doesn't hurt.  All I know this better be an appetizer.  I don't expect Cash to address second base now but I'm expecting something more within the next day.  I'm not sure what I expect or what I want but there better be a new baseball player on this team by 4pm tomorrow.

Time to bring up Severino

 

So this is now official.  Given what happened last night I was holding out a little hope that this report was BS but I think I owe Francesa a little more respect than that.  The injury to Pineda is a lot like Andrew Miller's earlier this year.  Best case scenario, he's probably a little over a month away from his next start.  But if we've learned one thing since acquiring Michael Pineda it's that the best case scenario is never the actual scenario.  The shoulder surgery he had early in 2012 ended up costing him TWO full seasons.  The discomfort he had in his back last year turned into a shoulder problem and he missed way more time than originally anticipated.  Now this.  It would not surprise me in the least if he doesn't pitch for the rest of the year and it certainly wouldn't shock me if the words Tommy John start to get thrown around.

The good news is that Ivan Nova's situation isn't as bleak as it originally seemed.  He's still slated to make his next start so that's a plus.  But this day still sucks.  Going deep in the postseason this year is contingent on how well the top starters are throwing.  The hope was to have Pineda and Tanaka in top form come October and right now I really, really, really don't know if that's going to happen.

And the biggest kick in the dick is the David Price trade coming like two seconds before the Pineda news broke.  It would not surprise me in the least if in a knee-jerk reaction type move Cashman made a deal for Price right away.  Now that's off the table, so is Hamels, and there are no front-end starting pitchers left on the market.  What's the move?  Samardzija is probably off the table because the White Sox are back in the wild card hunt.  Bring in James Shields with his ridiculous contract?  Make a meh move for Mike Leake or Tyson Ross?  

There's only one sexy move to make and that's to bring up Luis Severino.   Between Trenton and Scranton/Wilks-Barre this year he's 9-2 with a 2.45 ERA with 98 Ks in 99.1 IP.  He struck out 10 in six innings last night and allowed one hit.  I know he's only 21 and there's this stupid mentality about ruining a kid's confidence but this is Major League Baseball in the year 2015.  Kids come up at ridiculously young ages and make splashes.  This team has an opportunity to do something special this year.  Get him to the bigs and let's fill this void from within. 

 

The Whole World Is Falling Apart

So Francesa just came on as a guest on his own show to talk about the Met trade debacle last night when all of the sudden he drops a BOMB about the Yankees and Michael Pineda/Ivan Nova.  His sources told him that Pineda is likely to be scratched tonight due to an elbow problem and he'll likely end up on the DL.  It also looks like Nova's arm problems might be more than just a little fatigue.  All of this happening like minutes after the Blue Jays make another splash and take David Price off the market.  

If all of this is true, and there's probably nobody I trust more with sources than Francesa, than this is FUCKED.  Between Tanaka looking anything like an ace last night and Hamels coming off the market, the front end of this rotation is in serious, serious trouble.  What's the solution?  Bring up Severino and hope for the best? Trade for fucking Mike Leake??  I don't know but Cashman better figure this shit out before tomorrow at 4 or we're well on our way to squandering a great opportunity for a deep postseason run.  Unbelievable.  24 hours ago we were riding high.  Everything was coming up pinstripes.  Now the world has been flipped upside down.  At least we're not the Mets???

Establishing An Ace

Nothing that the Yankees do from now until Friday at 4pm is going to drastically change the makeup of the starting rotation.  They're not going to get Cole Hamels, David Price or Jeff Samardzija because those guys are going to cost them the prospects that they refuse to part ways with, not to mention the fact that there are a bunch of other teams out there vying for the same guys with deeper and richer farm systems.

It's time to forget about those guys and start watching the guy on the mound tonight because he's going to be the one taking the hill in Game 1 of the World Series.  There were times this year where it looked like Michael Pineda was going to step in and become the ace of the staff but he has not taken to that role.  On his best day he may be just as good as Tanaka but he has far too many shaky ones.  Masahiro is the head honcho here.  I'm just going to take that little piece of information in my brain that knows his arm is hanging on by a thread and I'm going to store it away until Thanksgiving because right now this guy is picking up a head of steam.  He's 3-0 in his last three outings and has gone at least 7 in each of them.  This is who he is.  In 33 career starts he's 20-8 with a 3.10 ERA.  When he's healthy he's one of the best pitchers in baseball and when he's on top of his game he can go bumper to bumper with anyone on this planet.

With about 9 weeks left in the regular season, this team is so very close to being the team to beat headed into the playoffs.  The Royals still have that tag, especially after the splashes they've made in the last couple of days acquiring Johnny Cueto and Ben Zobrist.  The Yankees can separate themselves from the Royals with the front of their rotation because when they're hitting their stride, a Tanaka-Pindeda 1-2 punch may be the best that the big leagues has to offer.

Bloodbath

Tonight wasn't just your average pummeling.  It was so much more than that.  This team didn't have to win tonight.  They have a nice cushy lead in the division.  They're playing really well these days and there's certainly no shame in losing a road game started by Chris Capuano when he puts you in a 5-0 hole before the first inning is even over.  But not a moment later, before you could even blink this team came right back and took a 6-5 lead the very next inning before they even recorded an out.  And of course it didn't stop there.  It was hit after hit and run after run.  It was merciless.  And lets not forget my fucking man Diego Moreno coming back after the 11-run inning to go 1-2-3 in the bottom of the second.  He took an opportunity tonight and grabbed it by the balls.  5.1 scoreless innings for the win after just getting the call up this morning.

 When a team has a special year in any sport there are always a handful of games you can look back on as turning points in the season.  For the 2015 Yankees, two of those moments might have just happened in the last four days.  A-Rod's three homer game on Saturday was one of the most memorable games I had ever seen and tonight just topped that.  I'm not saying the Yankees are the team to beat in baseball but I'm not not saying it.

Jenrry Mejia Suspended 162 Games For PEDs

Jenrry Mejia suspended 162 games. Second positive test. #mets

— Adam Rubin (@AdamRubinESPN) July 28, 2015

I know what everyone is thinking right now.  "What an idiot!  How can you get caught taking the exact same PEDs you just got suspended for taking not even a half a year ago???  This guy must be the dumbest motherfucker on Earth?"  But put yourself in a professional ballplayers shoes just for a second.  If I got busted for taking Stanozolol I'd probably just assume that I have a free pass for life once I'm done serving my suspension.  Like I missed half a season and can't compete in the playoffs but now I can take all the Stanozolol I want for the rest of my life.  That's sort of like double-jeopardy right?  I'm convinced that was his thought process only because there is literally no other explanation.  I bet you when Sandy Alderson walked into the locker room to break the news today Jenrry looked at him like he had ten heads.

Unfortunately for Jenrry ignorance is not a defense when it comes to MLB's banned substance policy and this probably means the end of his career.  Too bad.  He was such a bright, humble young man.

 

PS - I found this quote hilarious

"There's a tremendous amount of disappointment," Sandy Alderson says. "To some extent, anger. To some extent, amazement. And some sadness."

— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) July 28, 2015

Game 99, Back It Up A Bit

 

In the midst of a 10-day, 10-game road trip the Yankees have decided to give everybody in the rotation an extra day of rest and hand the ball of tonight to Chris Capuano for the second game of a 4-game set in Arlington.  Capuano was miserable in three starts in May, going 0-3 with a 6.39 ERA before being sent to the bullpen where he wasn't much better (5.09 ERA in 12 appearances).  He'll square off against the 24-year-old lefty Martin Perez (0-1, 4.91) who's making his third start of the season after having Tommy John last year.  The Yankees have won five straight against lefties and are 17-11 overall after their win last night.
 

Hard to get excited about this start tonight.  Nobody wants to see fringe major leaguers making starts for you when you're trying to secure a division but the key word for this team from here on out is REST.  I hate babying players as much as the next guy but for the sake of a deep playoff run I'm willing to sit guys regularly to ensure that they're all upright come October.  Tanaka and Pineda are the two most important Yankees going forward.  If either one of them isn't right by the playoffs this team is going nowhere.

As for the position players...it cannot be overstated how much better Headley and Didi have looked this last month and how important they've been to the development of this team, not only at the plate but in the field.  The bottom of the lineup was abysmal for about three months this season.  Getting production after the 5-spot in the order makes this a completely different ball club.  They're still a piece or two away but if they can make a couple of moves before Friday, you might be looking at a team that could give the Royals a run for their money come October.

Lineup Tonight

Jacoby - CF
Gardy - LF
A-Rod - DH
Tex - 1B
Chris Young - RF
Headley - 3B
JR - C
Didi - SS
Brendan Ryan - 2B

Chris Capuano - SP