THE YANKEES RELEASED SEVEN

(In photo: Teodoro Martinez)
Just a minor note, pardon the pun.  The Yankees have released 7 minor league players.

According to Baseball America, those players are:

(In Photo: Angelo Gumbs)
"...C Isaias Tejeda, 2B Angelo Gumbs, SS Bryan Cuevas, OF Jordan Barnes, OF Griff Gordon, OF Jose Infante, OF Teodoro Martinez.

Second baseman Angelo Gumbs, a 2010 second-round pick out of high school who signed for $750,000, topped out at high Class A Tampa in each of the past three seasons, but the four-time Yankees top 30 prospect hit just .208 in 678 at-bats in the Florida State League."

We hat BYB just wanted to keep you in the loop.

Carry on ladies and gents.  It's almost time for baseball.



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COULD ROB KAMINSKY BECOME A YANKEE?

I hate stories about guessing and speculation, but I couldn't let this one get by.  I had always felt that the Yankees made a mistake when they passed up young lefty pitching stud Rob Kaminsky in the first round of the draft this season for a third baseman in Eric Jagielo.  I think almost everyone thought the Yankees would sign Kaminsky, including Kaminsky's family. He was one of the best pitchers in the round... but they didn't go after him, they chose Jagielo. 

No offense to Jagielo, he's great and I'm happy he's with us, but me seeing Kaminsky fire it in in North Jersey for St. Joe's, I could see something real special in that kid.  In fact, I was sold, many of us were and  he needed to come to the Bronx. My mind was made up.

Kaminsky went to the Cards and eventually I got over it, after I had written SIGNING AARON JUDGE & THINKING ABOUT ROB KAMINSKY in June. After that, life went on... until now.

Jim Bowden of ESPN had a Tweet about Cardinals GM John Mozeliak and it got me thinking again (I hate when that happens.)

Mozeliak made it clear to us this morning that he'd like to trade a young "starting pitcher": for a "young controllable shortstop" XM 89
— JIM BOWDEN (@JimBowdenESPNxm) November 10, 2013

Now, you can read that Tweet and think, "Who the hell do the Yankees have that's a young controllable shortstop?"  Maybe Cito Culver, or maybe someone else, who knows. My point is about Rob Kaminsky though.  Look, I've seen the kid pitch, he's incredible and knowing all I know about the guy, I can't help but wonder whether the Yankees should pursue a stud like this, I mean, they have a second chance. Would the Yankees try and flip for him? Is a stud like Kaminsky even available? Again, it's me talking out loud, that's all.

(In Photo: Cito Culver)
And what do the Yankees have in return? I mentioned Cito Culver and to be honest, I'd like to see what the kid has in pinstripes before we ship him off. After all, he's talented enough to succeed anywhere, but would the Yankees do that knowing that the days of Derek Jeter are over? What back up security at short do we have? Who else is in the mix at short for the Yankees in the future?  Do we have the pieces to flip for Kaminsky?

We have Angelo Gumbs, but he's a second baseman.  Is he a guy the Cardinals can convert to shortstop?  Do we make a phone call and try to flip someone else to the Cardinals? An outfielder, a third baseman? Do we even bother?

Look, I'm a believer in the youth movement of the New York Yankees...after all, it's time!  There are guys like Dante Bichette Jr, Mason Williams, Ty Hensley and Tyler Austin that I believe they are our future. And not just in 7 years... very, very soon.  I believe the Yankees screwed up when they didn't sign Kaminsky. That's my opinion. I also believe that 1 player doesn't make a franchise. Now, is it a make or break moment and should we try and snag him now? I don't know.  In fact, I don't even know if the Cardinals would be willing to part with the guy, but that's why BYB exists.  As a fan, when my mind gets full.... I like to think it out and sometimes, I like to think it out loud.. like now.

Let's be honest, this post is all speculation and nothing more. It makes you think and it clears my brain.  But I will say this, pitching is extremely important and if the Cardinals are dangling a young pitcher, be it Kaminsky or someone else with potential... the Yankees should be listening... that's all I'm saying.

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HOW THE TRADE DEADLINE WENT DOWN FOR THE YANKS

The trade deadline came and went quickly. The Yankees are always tied to a lot of names, but this year it felt different to me. Maybe it’s because this year we weren’t chasing after a huge void on the team, or that front of the line pitcher. This year it was about the extra support, so that sounds easier to get, right? Well….there was a lot of hype right down to the wire but all the talk didn’t pan out to be as exciting. Check out some of the names and how it went down.

Casey McGehee: Welcome to pinstripes! The Yankees do get some infield help with McGehee, trading him to the Pirates in exchange for Chad Qualls. McGehee is a right-handed hitter who primarily plays 3rd base and hits with some power. His .230BA isn’t particularly impressive but, he has does have a nice .807 OPS against lefties this year, which will come in handy. He is a decent defender, and gives Girardi some extra versatility freeing up Jayson Nix to take some starts in left field if needed so Andruw Jones can take some more turns as a DH. McGehee is an upgrade over Ramiro Pena because he is a little more consistent offensively. He definitely gives the Yankees some more options, just don’t count on him stealing any bases, speed is not one of his strengths. Another positive to this trade is he is under team control and arbitration eligible through 2014.

This move definitely gives the Yankees more help in the infield, and frankly, I am surprised that the Pirates gave him up in exchange for Chad Qualls who had a 6.14 ERA during his brief role with the Yankees. In the end, Qualls would have inevitably been cut now that Joba has been activated from the disabled list so there is no down side to this move.

Carlos Lee: The Yankees checked in on Lee. With the uncertainty with Tex’s injury, I can see why they were talking to the Marlins. Lee has a no-trade clause, so when the Marlins asked him about him accepting a trade to the Yankees, he was quick to turn it down. I guess playing as a back-up to Tex wasn’t an option for him. This talk quickly went no-where and he is still in Miami.

Ryan Dempster: The one that got away. The Yankees expressed interest in him on Monday, and they were in heavy discussions with the Cubs. The buzz about this on Tuesday was crazy. Sources were reporting new information every hour. Dempster even said that he would be interested in waving his 10-and-5 rights to join the Yankees so it sounded promising, and who wouldn’t like to see a reunion between Larry Rothschild and Dempster in the Bronx? As the last hour of the trade deadline approached, it still sounded like both the Cubs and the Yankees were very far apart. The Cubs had interest in Angelo Gumbs and Dante Bichette Jr but the Yankees didn’t like the asking price. In the last 10 minutes a teaser was leaked saying that the Yankees “may have” acquired Dempster, but it was just that…a tease and he is now a Texas Ranger.

Shane Victorino: The Yankees were definitely interested in him before Ichiro. The asking price was too steep for us, but the Dodgers were willing to pay up.

Brendan Ryan: The Yankees made an offer to the Mariners, but they declined. Brendan would have been a nice upgrade over Ramiro Pena because he is one of the best defensive shortstops in the game. He is also arbitration eligible for one more year making him very affordable and his experience at also second and third base would have been a plus, but no such luck here.

The trade deadline has come and gone…but teams can still make some moves. It will be interesting to see what else develops over the next couple of weeks, and how teams benefit from these moves. The race to the postseason is here….can you feel it? Get ready; it’s going to be a fight to the finish!

The Waiver wires next...let's see what the Yankees do.

--Jeana Bellezza ,BYB Writer and Editor

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