The most wonderful time of the year is here. Yes, the holidays equal family time and higher meanings beyond, but this is also when the biggest blockbuster moves get made in the sporting world’s greatest off-season – baseball’s hot stove.
General managers that get it right might feel a bit like Clark once his lights finally kick in with the whole Griswold clan watching.
Arguably the biggest and certainly (as of this blog entry’s creation) the latest huge move had Wil Myers moving again, this time from Tampa Bay to San Diego as part of a three-team, 11-player deal. Myers, you may recall, endured a difficult first season in the IL in 2013 before he straight crushed the RailRiders over two series from May 24-26 and May 31-June 3. He hit .438/.441/.906/1.347 with three homers and 12 RBIs in seven games against SWB to ignite his rise. As of June 18, he was in the bigs to stay the rest of the way and became the AL Rookie of the Year.
The third team in this trade was Washington and 2014 IL MVP Steven Souza, who led the IL in batting average (.350), OBP (.432) and SLG (.590), is now property of the Rays. Souza, for what it’s worth, did not play well against the RailRiders (.200/.333/.440/.773).
The RailRiders have added another utility man who recently played for Tampa’s team in the IL. Cole Figueroa spent the last three seasons in the Bull City of Durham and got big league time last season. SWB beat man Donnie Collins gave his reaction to the move and highlighted some of the others that may affect NEPA’s team including the re-signing of pitcher Jose Campos, the arrival of free agent catcher Juan Graterol and the earlier additions of the versatile Nick Noonan and Jonathan Galvez. Collins’ predecessor, now on the Yankees beat in the bigs Chad Jennings, gave his views while River Ave Blues examined Noonan’s numbers and threw out the possibility of a Yangervis Solarte comparison.
The Rule 5 draft came and went with zero impact on the Yankees. Nobody added, nobody lost.
MiLB.com released its list of Yankees minor leaguers who had the best 2014 seasons by position and five of the 12 honorees saw extended time with SWB including first baseman Kyle Roller:
In terms of pinstriped moves, the Yankees biggest recent splash had them inking Chase Headley to a four-year, $52-million contract. What does that mean for the young guys like 2014 RailRiders Rob Refsnyder and Jose Pirela? Joel Sherman gave his take in the NY Post while River Ave Blues calls it a positive for the up-and-coming prospects.
Per Yankees GM Brian Cashman, there’s no concern about a position battle at third base. A-Rod is now a full-time DH.
Cashman offered some other insights recently like: the Yankees don’t believe Didi Gregorius is a finished product and stated, “I don’t think Yankees fans will be looking at Max Scherzer”. Cashman also demonstrated complete confidence in first baseman Mark Teixeira.
One of the game’s great guys, SWB alumnus Dellin Betances, keeps on giving back to the community and spoke about the possibility of closing games for the Yankees.
The Yanks added some starting depth by signing Chris Capuano to a one-year deal.
What do these moves mean? Jennings gave his best guess with this organizational depth chart.
YESNetwork.com’s Lou DiPietro tossed out his ideas on possible trade chips that rest on the farm.
LINE OF THE WEEK: Braves GM John Hart has riled up some fans of his club by breaking them down to build them back up. His reaction to the criticism was blunt:
- “Let’s be honest: This team finished 29th in offense,” Hart said. “It’s not like I’m breaking up the ’27 Yankees.”
Read more care of Mark Townsend and Yahoo!’s Big League Stew blog.
Considered by some the greatest team in the history of the franchise, “Murderers’ Row” inspired a funny tale by one of the game’s true legends in Tommy Lasorda:
Best of luck to a name that still resonates in NEPA, Jimmy Rollins. The Phils traded him to Lasorda’s longtime club, the Dodgers.
As far as some other moves involving SWB alums: Scott Sizemore has signed with the Marlins while Antoan Richardson has joined the Texas Rangers.
Another excellent Breakfast with Santa took place at PNC Field last weekend. Several hundred folks made their way to the Mohegan Sun Club for food and pictures with Jolly Old St. Nick himself. Check out the pictures on our Facebook page.
Please follow us on Twitter and spread the word of PIP far and wide. Have a safe, happy, healthy holiday season and we will talk to you again in 2015.
