Will American League hitters be seeing Manny Banuelos coming at them before the season is over?
For the first time since 1999, the New York Yankees watched from the sidelines as other teams made trades at a break neck pace. Oh sure, Yankees GM Brian Cashman kicked the tires on some clunkers, and asked what the price of the Ferrari (Felix Hernandez) was, but in the end decided the best deal for the Yankees was the one they didn’t make.
You can’t really blame Cashman. This wasn’t a very good market for available starting pitchers. The Indians paid significant prices for Ubaldo Jimenez as did the Detroit Tigers for Doug Fister. Wandy Rodriguez, Brett Myers, Aaron Harang, and Matt Garza just did not appeal to the Yankees, and certainly not for the asking rate this year at the trade deadline. Asked about it, Cashman responded, “I was very involved with it. I explored every opportunity. It just didn’t lead to anything that was of comfort from my perspective, whatsoever. I didn’t feel like I got close on any of it. I think the positions that were presented to me were easy to say no on.”
Could there still be a deal? This is the New York Yankees; anything is possible. They will have to wait to see who is put on the waiver wire, and most likely they will have to see who clears waivers. “It doesn’t mean we’re done shopping,” said Cashman. “It doesn’t mean we’re done looking. We’ll see where it takes us.”
So where does this leave the Yankees for now? Here’s a look at the players who need to perform and a couple players from the farm system who may be called up to fill some needs:
C.C. Sabathia – SP
Sabathia is 16-5 with a 2.55 era and a 1.12 whip in 176.2 innings. He’s got a great 8.25 k/9 and 2.29 bb/9 to go with it. The 31 year old has 3 complete games this year and anchors this staff.
AJ Burnett – SP
Burnett is 8-9 with a 4.23 era and a 1.29 whip. He’s served up 20 hr’s in 138.1 innings in 2011. His 7.81 k/9 is decent, but the 4.10 bb/9 is not. He needs to step it up if he is to help the Yankees and to keep his roster spot. The Yankees put Burnett on waivers today. It’s doubtful anything will come of this, but there is the point that they are less than satisfied with the $16.5 million they are paying him for this brutal effort. He did go 8 innings giving up 5 hits and 2 walks while striking out 10 against Baltimore on Friday night, however the same sour theme was present – giving up 4 runs.
Phil Hughes – SP
Talk about someone who needed to get back on track. Hughes pitched 6 innings in a rain shortened affair against the Chicago White Sox last night, and picked up the win striking out 4 and walking none while giving up no runs on 3 hits. He stands at 2-3 with a 6.93 era and 1.67 whip. His 4.55 k/9 and 3.69 bb/9 have got to improve or he will find himself out of the rotation sooner than later.
Bartolo Colon – SP
The 38 year old Colon has been one of the biggest comeback stories in baseball this season. He’s 8-6 with a 3.39 era and a 1.23 whip over 109 innings. Few people thought he would make it this far, and certainly not with those numbers. The 8.09 k/9 and 2.39 bb/9 is very impressive.
Freddy Garcia – SP
Like Colon, Garcia is another big-bodied, older pitcher who is having a better than advertised season. He’s 10-7 with a 3.22 era and 1.30 whip. Over his last 3 starts, he’s pitched 20.1 innings, going 3-0 with a 2.22 era and a 1.18 whip. He struck out 18 and walked just 3 in that time. He’s been everything the Yankees could hope for.
Rafael Soriano – RP
Soriano just came off the 60 day DL last week. In a sense, it’s like the Yankees made a trade for free. On Saturday he pitched an inning giving up no hits or walks while striking out 2. That’s exactly what the Yankees need from him, as he was nothing short of horrible before going on the DL. He’s sitting on a 5.06 era and a 1.63 whip. He’s certainly much better than that.
Alex Rodriguez – 3B
Rodriguez went on the DL July 7th to have some torn meniscus repaired in his right knee. Reports say that he is set to start baseball activities on Thursday, while eyeing a mid-August return. The Yankees need his bat back in the lineup and need that knee healthy. He’s sitting on a .293 average with 13 hr’s, 52 rbi, 53 runs, and 4 sb.
Prospects to Watch
Jesus Montero – C
Montero is expected to be called up anytime now. It’s not certain where he will spend his time, at catcher or DH. Most likely it will be a pretty even split. What is important is that his bat will be in the lineup. He’s hitting .288 with 11 hr’s, 51 rbi, and 38 runs on the season for AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Montero checked in at #1 on our 2011 Top 100 prospects list.
Manny Banuelos – SP
Ah yes, the one you’ve been waiting to hear about. Instead of making a Yankees-like trade, they promoted Banuelos to AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Last night, he rewarded them for said promotion allowing 2 runs on 7 hits. He walked 3 and struck out 8. It is worth noting that the walks came early in the game. Once the nerves settle down, he was downright dominant. The 20 year old could find himself pitching on the biggest stage in baseball down the stretch. He has dominated left-handed hitters to the tune of a .229 BAA. He could end up as a starter with the Yankees if they do not pick up someone off the waiver wire and decide that they have had enough of Hughes or Burnett for the season. It’s very likely at minimum that he will see time in the Yankees bullpen in September. Before the promotion, Banuelos was 4-5 with a 3.59 ERA and a 94/52 K/BB ratio in 95 1/3 innings for Double-A Trenton. Banuelos checked in #14 on our 2011 Top 100 prospects list.
Joe Telegen
Aug 03. 2011
I’ll quibble with one part of the above commentary (which I mostly agree with): I wonder how much it really would’ve taken Cashman to do some rotation upgrading, had that been at all his intent.
Like any good Red Sox fan, I’ll cite Theo Epstein’s modest enough deadline behaviors:
First, there’s the deal that didn’t happen: Prospect Lars Anderson for Rich Harden. This one fell through due to Harden-health concerns (not very surprising), but the key point is that the Sox would’ve only given up a power-lagging 1st baseman, completely blocked from playing for the big club in Boston.
Then, there’s the one we did make. Firstly, I don’t believe (though I could be wrong) that we would’ve done the Bedard deal had the Harden deal gone through, so we can’t characterize the Red Sox as willing to gut their system.
Second, and more importantly, the cost we incurred to get Bedard was minimal. The quartet of prospects the Red Sox gave up were ranked #’s 18, 22, 32, and 44, respectively, in the BoSox system by Soxprospects.com. John Sickels? Marc Hulet? Jim Callis? Not one of the prospects in question scored a spot on any of their rankings.
Now, my point is not to treat any of these sources as infalliable, nor is it to insinuate that Cashman necessarily screwed up. I do, however, wish to suggest that Cashman intended to hang onto his farmhands FROM THE BEGINNING…which is perhaps a bigger story.
(Do see George’s review of the Bedard deal as well:
I’m planning on contributing to an article on how, exactly, the Dodgers have gotten so abysmal, so quickly).