Mets have fallen further behind Yankees in this key area

I’m in 100% agreement on the importance of intellectual diversity. What I’m not so sure about is that the Yankees are necessarily ahead of the Mets based on these three guys. Don’t get me wrong, I like the hires for the Yankees. Without knowing all the voices in the Mets organization, however, it’s completely possible the Mets have as much diversity of thought as the Yankees.

The next step forward for Steve Cohen and GM Billy Eppler should be to add a person or people whose eyes are trained to provide deeply informed answers to questions like that. Intellectual diversity is one element that differentiates good front offices from great ones, and the Mets could stand to improve in this area.

The team has scores of terrific scouts, analysts and bright minds—longtime amateur scouting director Tommy Tanous, for example, remains a valued voice in the Cohen administration—but overall, the difference between the teams is notable.

Cashman not only has Naehring, a former MLB infielder, but ex-Chicago Cubs GM Jim Hendry, and the recently hired Brian Sabean and Omar Minaya—four people to the Mets’ zero to provide crucial balance and traditional scouting and player development skills.

Rosenthal: Think the Yankees are shifting away from analytics with new hires? Brian Cashman says otherwise - The Athletic

A lot of people are still stuck in the past’s false dichotomy between scouting and analytics. The best teams want the best analytics AND the best scouting. Great player evaluation is the foundation of success in MLB.

He does not buy the perception they are too analytically based.

“I know we’re not,” Cashman said. “I know that analytics are serving us well, just like our pro scouting serves us well, our international scouting serves us well, our international amateur, our domestic amateur. It’s one of many departments. But one that gets way too much scrutiny.

“… Ultimately, if you look at our cabinet, it’s a very diverse cabinet. I’ve always preached that I want to hire people and surround myself with people that are gifted and experts in very specific areas. That probably has more to do with my staying power in this industry than anything else. I’ve hired really well, surrounded myself with people I consider smarter than me with expertise in various aspects of our industry that we can benefit from.

“All I care about is making sure that when we go through our decision-making process, we have every tool in the toolbox. That’s the (phrase) I use all the time. That the information is there for us to digest and ultimately make a decision on. That comes from the scouting arena. That comes from the analytical arena. That comes from the technology and performance side, from the mental-skills side. We combine all that stuff.”

Yankees hire Omar Minaya in advisory role as front office refresh continues

The New York Yankees have added another veteran executive to their front office. The Yankees have hired former New York Mets GM Omar Minaya as an advisor to baseball operations, the team announced Thursday. The Yankees recently hired former San Francisco Giants GM Brian Sabean as an executive advisor.

Minaya, 64, grew up in Queens and got into scouting after his minor-league playing career ended in the mid-1980s. He started his front office career with the Texas Rangers before moving on to the Mets, the Montreal Expos, back to the Mets, the San Diego Padres, and then back to the Mets for a third stint. He served as Expos GM from 2002-04 and Mets GM from 2005-10.

Most recently, Minaya worked with Major League Baseball as a consultant for domestic and international amateur scouting initiatives. He has been credited with helping the Rangers unearth players like Sammy Sosa and Hall of Famer Ivan Rodriguez during his scouting tenure with Texas. Minaya is regarded as one of the most successful and respected scouting minds in the game.

Yankees appoint Brian Sabean as executive advisor to the general manager

The New York Yankees today announced that they have appointed Brian Sabean as Executive Advisor to Senior Vice President and General Manager Brian Cashman.

Sabean, 66, re-joins the Yankees after spending the previous 30 seasons with the San Francisco Giants. He spent the last four seasons as an Executive Vice President for San Francisco, working on strategic initiatives as a senior advisor and evaluator. Prior to that, Sabean served as the Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations from 2015-18 and as the Giants Senior Vice President and General Manager from 1996-2015. Under Sabean’s leadership from 1996-2018, San Francisco earned eight postseason births, claiming five division titles, four National League pennants and three World Series Championships.

During Sabean’s tenure as GM, the Giants were named the Topps “Organization of the Year” in both 2009 and 2011 and the Baseball America “Organization of the Year” in 2010. He was also named Major League Baseball’s “Executive of the Year” by the Sporting News in 2003 and by Baseball America in 2003 and 2012_._

Carlos Rodon joining Yankees on 6-year, $162M deal, sources say

The New York Yankees and free-agent left-hander Carlos Rodon have agreed on a six-year, $162 million contract, sources familiar with the deal tell ESPN’s Jeff Passan.

The agreement was first reported by New York Post.

Rodon set a career high for wins with the San Francisco Giants in 2022 in going 14-8 with a 2.88 ERA and made his second All-Star team. His 31 starts and 178 innings were a career high, and followed a 2021 season in which he went 13-5 with a career-best 2.37 ERA for the Chicago White Sox.

Yankees expected to make formal Carlos Rodon offer very soon

Of course, seven years at $1,000,000 per year is an offer, so the info is meaningless.

The initial indication is that Rodon seeks seven-plus years at $200 million plus, and while the Yankees seem reluctant to go to that length, they also seem very serious and hopeful about this pursuit.

Ken Rosenthal on Twitter: “Deal is pending a physical.” / Twitter

Judge gets PAID!

Deal is pending a physical. https://t.co/ptJ08JyrGU

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 7, 2022

Sources: Tommy Kahnle, Yankees reunite on two-year deal

Right-hander Tommy Kahnle and the New York Yankees are in agreement on a two-year, $11.5 million contract, sources familiar with the deal told ESPN’s Jeff Passan.

Kahnle pitched for the Yankees for four seasons (2017-20) and underwent Tommy John surgery in August of his most recent season with the team. A hard-throwing reliever, Kahnle struck out 88 in 61⅓ innings and walked 20 while posting a 3.67 ERA in 2019, his last full season with the Yankees.

Yanks re-sign Brian Cashman to 4-year deal

The New York Yankees on Monday announced that the club has re-signed Brian Cashman to a four-year contract through the 2026 season to continue serving as Senior Vice President and General Manager.

Cashman, 55, is the longest-serving Yankees General Manager in franchise history and has the longest tenure among current Major League general managers. The Yankees have earned postseason berths in 21 of his 25 seasons as GM (1998-2007, ’09-12, ’15, ’17-22), claiming 14 Division titles, six American League championships and four World Series titles. Since 1998, the Yankees’ 21 postseason berths are the most in the Majors — five more than Atlanta (16) and St. Louis (16), who are tied for second in that span. The 21 playoff appearances are also eight more than any other American League team (Boston-13). Cashman’s feat of reaching the playoffs in each of his first 10 seasons (1998-2007) remains unmatched in Baseball history.

Aaron Judge rumors

IT’S BEEN REPORTED!

The Yankees have indeed upped their offer to the face of their franchise. According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan (subscription required), New York has offered Judge a contract “in the neighborhood of eight years and $300 million and could increase it, depending on how far the San Francisco Giants—the other top suitor—are willing to push the market.”

An eight-year, $300 million deal carries an annual average value of $37.5 million, which would be the highest in the sport for any position player. Mike Trout currently holds the top spot with an AAV of $35.5 million.

The Athletic: MLB investigating whether Mets, Yankees communicated improperly about Aaron Judge: Sources [$]

Major League Baseball is investigating whether comments attributed to Mets sources about the team’s reluctance to pursue free-agent outfielder Aaron Judge constitute a violation of baseball’s collective bargaining agreement.

An article published on the Mets’ television network’s web site Nov. 3 said the Mets would not bid against the Yankees for Judge. Details in the story caught the attention of the Players Association, which asked the Commissioner’s Office to investigate whether improper communication occurred between the respective owners of the clubs, according to sources briefed on the situation….

Recent CBAs specifically prohibit the sharing of information on player contracts, saying, “Players shall not act in concert with other Players and Clubs shall not act in concert with other Clubs.” The league in its investigation is expected to request that Mets owner Steve Cohen and Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner provide records of any phone, text and email conversations that took place between them during the period in question.

Source: Yankees re-signing Anthony Rizzo on multi-year deal

Anthony Rizzo is re-signing with the New York Yankees on a multi-year deal, a source told ESPN’s Jesse Rogers on Tuesday.

Rizzo had become a free agent after declining his $16 million option with the Yankees for 2023.

Acquired from the Chicago Cubs at the 2021 trade deadline, Rizzo returned to New York for the 2021 season on a deal that paid $16 million this year.

He hit 32 home runs for the fourth time in his career—he has never hit more—and had 75 RBIs in 130 games despite a .224 batting average. The 33-year-old was sidelined between Aug. 31 and Sept. 18 by back pain and headaches from an epidural injection to treat his back.

Anthony Rizzo truly enjoyed being a Yankee, and getting $20 million a year to stay—$17 million each of the next two years, plus a $6 million buyout on a 2025 option—keeps him in the Bronx.

Worth noting: Rizzo has grown very close with Aaron Judge over the last two years.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) November 15, 2022

Yankees interested in Japan’s Masataka Yoshida as Aaron Judge complement

The Yankees are showing interest in outfielder Masataka Yoshida, an outstanding hitter with a career slash line of .326/.419/.538.

Yoshida would fit the Yankees as he is a left-handed hitter and the type of contact hitter they prefer. Think Andrew Benintendi with much more power.

“I’m aware of him,” was all GM Brian Cashman would say about Yoshida. But another Yankees person said they are indeed interested.

The Yankees’ top outfield target is obviously Aaron Judge, but they’d like two outfielders, with the second one (assuming they can re-sign Judge) preferably left-handed. Yoshida, 29, drew attention with a .447 on-base percentage this past season.

“He’s as legit as they come,” former MLB outfielder Joe McCarthy, who played in Japan, told the Post’s Joel Sherman. “He didn’t slump for five months. He can go gap to gap. He just constantly barrels up pitches.”

Sad Yankees media session shows need for free-agent urgency

Heyman often makes me chuckle on MLB Now. He often breaks signings. His baseball analysis should never be implemented.

Yankees Expected to Retain Aaron Boone, Brian Cashman, per Report

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and team manager Aaron Boone are expected to be brought back to the organization next season, SNY reports.

Cashman has been with the organization since 1986 when he began as an intern. He’s worked as the general manager and senior vice president since ’98. His contract is up now that the Yankees’ season is officially over.

According to SNY’s report, Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner is expected to bring Cashman back, meaning team manager Boone will most likely return as well.

Boone just finished the first year of his three-year deal though he has managed the team since 2018. He took the team to the ALCS this year before the Yankees were swept by the Astros.

Astros win ALCS 2022

Congratulations to Astros fans! Yankees fans, well, this is going to be another torturous off-season.

A frustrated Aaron Boone blamed the open roof for crucial Aaron Judge fly-out in Houston

It was a tough night for the New York Yankees and their World Series hopes. After a 3-2 road loss at the hands of the Houston Astros, the Yankees are now in a deep 2-0 hole in the American League Championship Series.

And it all almost changed on one key Aaron Judge at-bat in the eighth inning. With one man on base and New York trying to rally from that very same one-run deficit, Judge launched a nice shot to right field. It certainly looked like it had the distance … until it fell safely into the glove of Kyle Tucker. Threat over, and the Astros would leave the inning unscathed.

In the post-game, Yankees manager Aaron Boone asserted that Judge’s fly-out might have been a two-run homer if not for the open roof at the Astros’ home stadium.

"I think the roof open kind of killed us. I think it's a 390' [foot] ball."

Aaron Boone thinks the roof open at Minute Maid Park tonight played an impact on Aaron Judge's flyout in the 8th inning pic.twitter.com/ouhUcgIqwN

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) October 21, 2022

MLB made a bad situation worse with Yankees-Guardians delay decisions

The Yankees and the Guardians were fully motivated to get the game in, and to preserve the off-day afforded the winner to travel to Houston and prepare for Wednesday’s opener of the ALCS. Marinak said the plan was for starting pitchers Jameson Taillon and Aaron Civale to begin warming up around 8:30, and then to get underway around 8:45.

“But then a second pocket of rain that had not been on the radar popped up,” Marinak said. Suddenly the first pitch looked like it wouldn’t be thrown until after 10 p.m.

“We felt that was the time to call the game,” Marinak said. He called that unexpected wave of showers “the final straw.”

Fine. Professional weather forecasters get paid a lot of money to get it wrong all the time. The Yankees and Guardians wanted to play, MLB tried to thread the needle by radar, and everyone went home the loser. Those in charge of the sport had a plan, but as Buck Showalter loves to say, if you want to make the baseball gods laugh, tell them about your plans.

MLB could certainly use marquee team in Yankees advancing to ALCS

If they can beat Cleveland on Monday night, the Yankees have a date with hated Houston. Of the teams that despise the Astros, the Yankees are probably first on that list, making for a great storyline. An Astros-Guardians series wouldn’t bring nearly the same buzz.

The upstart Guardians are a nice story, sure, especially for hardcore fans. But to draw in the casual fan, the historic franchise is a near necessity. Folks either love the Yankees, or love to hate them. Indifference is no option.

One positive sign: The Yankees’ confidence never seemed to waver, even after the walk-off defeat Saturday night that pushed them to the cusp of elimination…

This isn’t always said aloud. But as far as the country is concerned, it’s enough already. The Guardians, while deserving of our admiration for getting this far after trading off a trio of stars (including Mr. Smiles himself, Francisco Lindor), can remain mostly anonymous for another year.

The nation wants to see the Yankees back in the World Series, where they belong but haven’t been since 2009, when CC Sabathia was their ace, all-time winner Derek Jeter was seeking a fifth ring and Alex Rodriguez was only a one-time drug loser. The Yankees have won a lot of games in the 12-year interim, just not the right ones. Deciding games will determine their fate.

Yankees set ALDS roster, make big DJ LeMahieu decision; Scott Effross out, needs Tommy John surgery

With no-show reliever Aroldis Chapman home in Miami presumably stewing and probably gone for good, the Yankees still had big decisions to make before turning in their American League Division Series roster.

The biggest was deciding what to do about infielder DJ LeMahieu, who recently returned from a toe injury that hasn’t healed.

The final verdict didn’t go LeMahieu’s way.

The way the Yankees saw it, LeMahieu’s swing is still compromised by his injury, so they left him off their 26-man ALDS roster.

Another surprising omission from the Yankees’ roster is rookie reliever Scott Effross, who was a top option to close out games before Tuesday’s reveal by YES Network’s Jack Curry that he needs Tommy John surgery.

Effross’ injury opened up a spot for righty reliever Miguel Castro.

Aroldis Chapman off Yankees’ ALDS roster after blowing off workout

Aroldis Chapman’s unpredictability on the mound already had his playoff chances in jeopardy, but he made sure he wouldn’t be on the ALDS roster when he blew off a team workout on Friday.

The Yankees’ veteran left-handed reliever was supposed to throw live batting practice on Friday in the Bronx but missed it with “not an acceptable excuse,” manager Aaron Boone said Sunday.

GM Brian Cashman said he fined Chapman, who posted a 4.46 ERA during the regular season and was no guarantee to make the playoff roster even if he showed up to Friday’s workout.

“There’s some questions about whether he’s been all in or not for a little while,” Cashman said.

Chapman is currently in Miami after the Yankees asked him to stay away from the team for now.

Barry Bonds Reveals How Close He Was to Joining Yankees

Bonds shared the eyebrow-raising story on ESPN’s KayRod simulcast during the Yankees’ matchup against the Red Sox on Sunday Night Baseball. Speaking with hosts Michael Kay and Alex Rodriguez and fellow guest Roger Clemens, the 14-time All-Star revealed he considered the Yankees, albeit for a brief moment, after Kay asked if the deal was close to happening when Bonds was a free agent in 1992.

“It was very close, for about 15 or 20 minutes,” Bonds said. “Because, what happened was, and I tell people the true story, the Yankees offered me the same contract I think Ryne Sandberg had at the same time, or a little bit more than that. And, unfortunately, they said you have until 2 o’clock this afternoon to make a decision and my agent said, ‘I’ll get back to you about it.’”

Startled by New York’s urgent timeline, Bonds said he then went to grab lunch, thinking to himself, “Wow, that was kind of strange,” but insisted he thought nothing else of it. But, as luck would have it, Bonds’s agent called him back shortly thereafter to tell him a better offer had come across the table.

“By the time I got to the place to get something to eat, my agent called me back and the San Francisco Giants offered a higher contract and I said, ‘This is great, I want to go home.’”

Pirates add Miguel Andújar after Yankees designate former Rookie of the Year runner-up for assignment

Andújar, now 27, not so long ago looked like an important long-term piece for the Yankees. In his rookie season of 2018, Andújar as a 23-year-old put up an OPS+ of 130 and tallied 27 home runs, 47 doubles, and 302 total bases in 149 games (and finished second in Rookie of the Year voting behind Shohei Ohtani).

However, since that high point Andújar has struggled badly and battled major shoulder and wrist problems. Since the start of the 2019 season, Andújar has played in just 105 games at the MLB level, and over that span he’s batted .228/.255/.318 (55 OPS+) with eight home runs. In between stints with the Yankees, he’s managed solid to good numbers in the minors, but his inability to rediscover the skills he showed as a rookie ultimately spelled an end to Andújar’s time with the organization.

The Pittsburgh Pirates claimed Andújar off waivers Sunday, the team announced. The Pirates only have nine games to play this season, so the claim was likely made with an eye toward the 2023 roster. Pittsburgh has not had a set DH since trading away Daniel Vogelbach at the deadline. Andújar could fill the role next season at a low cost.

Yankees call up prized shortstop prospect Peraza

Coming off a disappointing West Coast swing, the Yankees will provide shortstop Oswald Peraza with an opportunity to spark their drive toward the postseason, beginning with this weekend’s series against the Rays at Tropicana Field.

The Yankees announced on Thursday that they are promoting the 22-year-old Peraza as one of their September callups. Peraza is rated as the Yanks’ No. 3 prospect by MLB Pipeline. He’s No. 53 on the Top 100 Prospects list.

Peraza hit his 19th home run of the season on Thursday for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in the first game of a doubleheader. He was removed from the game after four innings, receiving congratulatory hugs in the RailRiders’ dugout from his teammates.

Set to become the first Yankees big leaguer born in this millennium (June 15, 2000), Peraza is touted for an enticing blend of power at the plate, speed on the basepaths and smooth glovework in the infield.

New York Yankees retire Paul O’Neill’s No. 21; GM Brian Cashman, owner Hal Steinbrenner booed by fans

Eight years ago, Paul O’Neill was thanked by the New York Yankees for his contributions to their dynasty with a plaque in Monument Park.

On Sunday, the Yankees retired his No. 21—making him the 23rd player or manager in the franchise’s history honored in such a way.

The ceremony was drastically different from others, not only because O’Neill isn’t vaccinated against COVID-19 but also because the Yankees entered Sunday with 14 losses in their past 18 games. Frustrations are high to the point that there were noticeable boos for managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner and general manager Brian Cashman during the 33-minute ceremony.

New York’s first jersey retirement ceremony since 2017, when Derek Jeter’s No. 2 was honored, had the usual video tributes and messages, gifts and an acceptance speech.