December 21, 2024

29 thoughts on “Yankees.com: Yanks add electric arm to bullpen”

  1. Guessing it’s a move based in large part on faith in Blake’s magic (c).
    And if Blake can pull it off – this time with a guy who really has stuff – it could prove a truly great move.

    1. Yeah, the way Blake has spun shit into gold, giving him a dude with one of the best strikeout pitches in baseball, but with a lot of other issues, should be fascinating. This might be the Yankees closer of 2026-27 here.

      It all turns on whether a Cruz can be taught. Some guys are just hopeless.

  2. Looking forward to Cruz adding 3 mph, being one of the best relievers in the league, blowing out his elbow on June 28th, and rehabbing the subsequent year and a half.

    Hope I’m wrong.

  3. I’m coming around to Alex Jackson as the backup. He’s righthanded, he’s a good defensive catcher without any concerns about his ability to throw out runners, he actually HAS had success as a hitter in the minors (he’s just been godawful in the Majors) and Wells is going to play four out of five games anyways, so it’s not like he’s going to play often.

    Meanwhile, they can use this time to hopefully develop JC Escarra or Jesus Rodriguez into the next backup. If Ben Rice could transition back to playing catcher, fair enough, but, well, come on, there’s no way that dude is ever returning to being a catcher.

    1. if Rice can’t hit then it doesn’t matter but why can’t he catch and play first?

      he has literally twice as many games at C in the minors. I am taking nothing away from the difficulty of the position but they can at least give him a healthy dose of innings behind the plate in spring to see if he can give Wells a break once or twice a week, and same with Goldie.

  5. At the moment, the 13-man pitching staff is:

    1 Cole
    2 Fried
    3 Gil
    4 Schmidt
    5 Rodon
    6 Stroman
    7 Williams
    8 Weaver
    9 Cruz
    10 Leiter Jr.
    11 Cousins
    12 Hamilton
    13 Effross

    Loaisiga to join later on. You figure they’re trying to trade Stroman right now, with presumably Brubaker or Beeter getting his spot as the long man. They might NOT be bringing Kahnle back. I bet they still make a move to bring back Hill, though. He’d be their only lefty (Williams and Weaver are fine against lefties, but it’s always nice to have a lefty). And in that case, do they move Leiter Jr.? Cousins? Hamilton? Effross can be optioned to the minors, but they’ll need his spot for Lo, anyways, so they’d still need ANOTHER spot for Hill.

    Tricky times.

    1. I’d be shocked if Stroman makes it to ST on the Yankees.

      On the other hand not thrilled about the SP depth without him.

    3. Yeah, a really nice rotation and what’s looking like a great bullpen.

      Clay is right, though, that once Stroman is gone, Warren is next man up, and he was so bad last year.

      Maybe Brubaker?

    1. MLBTR: That’s not to say that talks between the clubs on Arenado are finished. The Yankees still have needs at both corner infield positions. Feinsand, Denton and Hoch report that they’re showing increased interest in Paul Goldschmidt at first base. They write that signing Goldschmidt might make Arenado more likely to waive his no-trade clause to join his former teammate as a corner infield tandem in the Bronx.

  8. The Yankees have agreed to a one-year, $12.5MM deal with Paul Goldschmidt. Jack Curry of YES Network was the first to report that the two sides were in agreement, while Bob Nightengale of USA Today added the dollar value of the contract for the Excel Sports Management client.
    Two years older than Rizzo.

    1. ‪@pinstripealley.bsky.social‬
      If you’re looking for some hope on the Paul Goldschmidt signing:
      – Above-avg. oppo rate could lead to some shots into the Short Porch from the right side
      – Bounced back in the 2nd half with a .271/.319/.480 with 19 doubles, 9 homers, and a 120 wRC+ in 62 games

    3. River Ave. Blues
      ‪@riveraveblues.bsky.social‬
      Blah. Lot of arrows pointing down here. He’ll be better than what they had at 1B last year, but that’s not a high bar. Lot of RHB with high K rates in the lineup now. They need someone who can really hit at 2B/3B.

  11. It’s not hyperbole to suggest Cruz has one of the best pitches in baseball. His splitter generated the fourth-highest whiff rate among all pitches last season, according to Statcast data, evading more than 59% of the swings taken against it. Predictably, the opposition didn’t fare well when they did manage to put lumber on Cruz’s splitter, either. They batted just .116 with a .149 slugging percentage; believe it or not, that was an improvement over the .094 average they posted against the splitter in 2023.

    One of the top pitching philosophies these days implores hurlers to spam the opposition with their best pitch, no matter if it’s a fastball, a breaking ball, or something else categorized as offspeed. Cruz has taken that instruction to heart, upping his splitter usage rate to nearly 42% in 2024. Could he chuck his splitter even more often with the Yankees? It’s possible. Free-agent reliever Tommy Kahnle achieved a 73% usage rate on his changeup with the Yankees in 2024, culminating in him tossing it more than 56 consecutive times during the postseason.
    2. Other low-hanging fruit

    You might be wondering about the disconnect between the grand quality of Cruz’s splitter (and the resulting 37.8% strikeout rate) and the dismal state of his ERA. That disparity can be explained by his substandard command.

    Cruz has walked more than 11% of the batters he’s faced during his big-league career. Worse yet, he served up nine home runs in 66 innings last year, or about one for every seven frames. Cruz’s strikeout rate is such that he’s able to withstand handing out more free passes than the average pitcher; the key, then, is for him to find a cure for his gopheritis.

    It wouldn’t surprise us if the Yankees already have a remedy in mind in the form of culling his arsenal. To wit, Cruz has surrendered 15 home runs over the last two seasons; of those 15, nine have been launched against his cutter, a tertiary offering that too often finds the middle of the plate.

    We can envision the Yankees asking Cruz to make two obvious tweaks to his gameplan: first, throw even more splitters; and second, do it at the expense of his cutter. That way, Cruz is emphasizing his best pitch and minimizing his worst. Would those alterations fix his control? No, but they may put him in a position to overcome it better.

    https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/why-yankees-fernando-cruz-acquisition-could-be-a-winner-for-american-league-champions/

  12. This is fine for a year. If Goldschmidt bounces back, great. If he truly can’t hit righties anymore, he still makes a decent platoon 1B (presumably with Rice) and PH. Then next winter you let Goldy go, and try to sign Vlad Jr. as the long-term 1B, at which point the fair thing to do to Rice is to trade him.

    Meanwhile, agree with knuckle curve that Rice should get reps as BUC. Wells needs more than a day off per week, and Alex Jackson should not be asked to bat, ever, but especially not more than one day a week. And if you’re thinking of trading Rice when you sign a long term 1B then you might as well add to his value by letting him be a proven two-position guy.

  17. I was just developing my obsession with baseball when Rickey came to the Bronx. He was clearly head-and-shoulders above his contemporaries, and as I read more it was clear he was among the best ever to play the game. But I was too young to realize or appreciate that I might never see another player like him. In the 35 years since he left, I still haven’t, and I don’t think I ever will.

    I know Rickey’s slated to start upstairs next year, but I wonder whether the Yankees can still trade for him since they still need a leadoff guy. Maybe send LeMahieu and cash considerations?

  18. I wasn’t a huge baseball fan as a kid but I was excited about Rickey stealing all those bases. I remember Sparky Anderson saying the record didn’t mean anything because most of the steals didn’t affect the outcome of the game. I wonder what he said about Pete Rose and the hit record.

  19. the thing is that last year i didn’t think they did enough to address their flaws, specifically bringing in another impact bat (besides the lack of depth in the pen).

    this year i am reallllly excited about these moves. i love the addition by subtraction. soto was a god at the plate but his routes plain sucked. i loathed watching gleyber. the lineup, defense and pitching are so much better.

    one more position to go at 2b or 3b and i FOR ONCE can’t complain about the FO outside of Boone.

    i’m excited for the season. feels good man.

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