THE YANKEES' WBC CONTINGENT IS ALIVE & WELL

Logan Bowles / USA TODAY Sports

As much as I'm down on the whole concept of the World Baseball Classic and wish the Yankees didn't participate, the fact remains six went. And while their reps in such a competition carry both greater risk and less value than the more controlled environment of spring games where they could be focusing on ironing out weaknesses and expanding their toolbox, it was very helpful to see NJ.com's Randy Miller provide a summary progress report this week on how they're all doing.

Koji Sasahara, The Associated Press

(Thankfully, no injuries appear in his report, unlike those on some other MLB contingents.)

"Dellin Betances, DR reliever

WBC stats: 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 3 games, 2 IP, 2 hits, 0 runs, 2 K, 3 BB...

Didi Gregorius, DH, Netherlands

WBC stats: .348 average, 23 AB, 8 hits, 4 doubles, 1 HR, 8 RBIs, 0 K, 5 games...

Tyler Clippard, USA reliever

WBC stats: 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 2 games, 3 IP, 0 hits, 0 runs, 5 K, 1 BB...

Tommy Layne, Italy reliever

WBC stats: 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 3 games, 3.1 IP, 4 hits, 0 runs, 4 K, 3 BB...

Donovan Solano, Colombia 2B

WBC stats: .267 average, 14 AB, 3 hits, 2 RBIs, 4 K, 3 games...

Giovanny Gallegos, Mexico RHP

WBC stats: 0-0, 4.50 ERA, 1 game, 2 IP, 4 hits, 1 run, 1 ER, 1 HR, 1 K, 0 BB..."

All but Solano are on the Yankees 40-man roster and are either starters or have an excellent chance to see playing time in the Bronx this season.

Gallegos has been optioned to Scranton-Wilkes Barre and will start the season with the Triple A RailRiders.

Solano, who was outrighted off the 40-man roster last winter following an impressive September call-up replacing an injured Starlin Castro and was re-signed to a minor league deal, is one of 15 infielders remaining on the spring camp roster after Wednesday's roster cuts.

Good stuff. I had to share it! Enjoy!

 --Barry Millman
BYB Writer
Twitter: @nyyankeefanfore

PAULIE'S NEPHEW, MICHAEL O'NEILL WAS RELEASED

Photo Credit: Pinstriped Prospects

There's a report coming from Pinstriped Prospects that's pretty interesting.  Turns out that Michael O'Neill may have been released by the New York Yankees.  They write that the Yankees...

"...released minor league outfielder Michael O’Neill from his contract.  The 24-year old hit .237 in 389 minor league games since being drafted in the third round of the 2013 draft.  This past season he reached as high as Double-A Trenton where he played 60 games and hit .233.  Before joining the Thunder, he hit .276 in 35 games for the Tampa Yankees in 2016."

In addition, the Yanks have re-signed Cito Culver.  He will be competing with Donovan Solano in the minors no doubt, but I'm glad at least they are holding onto Culver.

We had high hopes for both players. In fact, back in the day, Bleeding Yankee Blue interviewed both of them. Be sure to read:

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: MICHAEL O'NEILL

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: CITO CULVER

Good stuff.

Good luck to both of these kids. Solid athletes looking for a solid opportunity. Hopefully it all works out for both of them.

LOOK AT THAT! SOLANO IS BACK!

(Sept. 24, 2016 - Source: Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images North America)

Donovan Solano was a utility infielder and was called up in September last season when Starlin Castro got hurt.  When he arrived, he was fun to watch for the short time he was on the big team and in pinstripes.  But when the season ended, he elected to be a free agent, and so... he left.  We wrote about it here on BYB. Read DONOVAN SOLANO GONZO! for a recap.

Now it turns out he's back, signing a minor league deal with the Yankees.

And literally... that's the whole story.

Enjoy that.

DONOVAN SOLANO GONZO!

Donovan Solano was successful for the Yankees this season and played the majority of his Yankee career in the minor leagues.  We saw him a bit in the Bigs near the end of the season and now that the season is over, the Yankees outrighted him to Scranton Wilkes-Barre.
 

That in turn allowed Solano to say, "You know what? No..." and he's elected to be a free agent... his right. He should have an opportunity to play in the Bigs and not go back down yet.  Let's see what happens with the guy! 

So yeah, according to several sources here... but we'll go with MLB Trade Rumors on this one:

"The Yankees also announced that Solano has elected free agency, as he was expected to do...  Solano, a longtime infielder for the Marlins, appeared in just nine games with the Yankees and hit .227/.261/.455 with a homer and a pair of doubles in 23 plate appearances."

So there you go.

Good luck to Solano. He was fun to watch for that short amount of time in the Bronx. 

Good stuff.

HOPE!

If we don't make the playoffs with the youth we have this year, it will be crushing.  But hey... no one expected us to be good this year after our slow start, and so, we won't get too crazy. But can you imagine if we could pull it off? I mean, just to make it to the playoffs with all the turmoil this season would be my World Series.  Then we can look ahead to 2017.

Gary Sanchez is an animal. He's unbelievable. 2 more home runs tonight... 5 RBIs.  19 homers so far this season and he's only been to a major league plate 162 times.  That's the most ever in history for a kid his age (23). But it's not just youth that did damage tonight. 

Brian McCann, who feels absolutely zero pressure because of Sanchez in the spotlight, went 4-5 tonight and he's literally promoting Sanchez in the post game show!  Mac is just giving kind compliments about just how special Gary is.  I have tremendous respect for McCann. He is a class act and I love that he's not a selfish player.

And how about this; Donovan Solano had 3 hits tonight with a double and home run.  Think about it... a few days ago, Solano was with the RailRiders. The Railriders won a championship last night without the kid. Today though, after congratulating his former AAA teammates he came up big in the majors.  I guess God felt bad for him missing out and gave him the night of his life.  Whatever it is... it's something special all around.

Right now the Yankees in the Wild Card race look like this:

Long shot? Sure.

Hope? Yes... absolutely.

Final: Yankees 11 - Rays 5

Go Yanks!

YANKEE INJURY REPORT & THE SEPTEMBER LIMP

The Yanks are like the guy that tries to crawl over the finish line in a big race. I call it the September limp.  They always seem to be in this spot, year after year.  Yes, there was hope with the youth movement this year, and it's been very exciting. But in reality, I just don't know if we can get to the playoffs this year.  I mean, we're back to wishing we can sneak into the playoffs with the Wild Card after being swept by the Red Sox this past weekend. But here's the reality, and listen up folks; even if we make it, The playoffs will feature a series like the one we just played in Fenway. That's right, very good teams are in the post season and so, while I love the idea of making it, let's be honest... do you expect much? I don't. I'm Sorry. I hope we make it, I really do, but the walls are closing in.

Anyway, this wasn't supposed to be a rant piece, just alttle commentary on the Yankees and their limp in September and an update on a few Yankees who were and are injured.

We all know about Jacoby Ellsbury.  He was suffering from that bone bruise on his knee.  We all thought it was worse, but the good news is Ells is now gonna return to the lineup today... so we got that going for us.  I kid, but the reality is, Ellsbury has been doing good things for us lately so I'm hoping it continues.

Starlin Castro is done for 2016. We saw the hammy pull and many are disappointed about it; I know I was.

MLB.com writes: "Yankees believe that Starlin Castro's first season in pinstripes could be over after he was diagnosed with a Grade 1 strain of his right hamstring, sustained in a 6-5 loss to the Red Sox on Saturday at Fenway Park."

If anything changes, we'll let you know, but we doubt it.

Chase Headley is out.  Donovan Solano is in. Remember that stiff back thing and Headley and it's something he's been battling for much of his career lately.

Well, that's lingering again, and the Yanks brought up minor leaguer Solano to replace him.  Who knows if Headley will be back this season. I know... many of you don't care if he is.  Whatever the case, we wish the guy well. I hate to see players injured.

That's the report from BYB.  Enjoy that.

Go Yanks!

IT'S NOT A DEMOTION. IT'S JUST 'MORE TIME TO WORK'

Look, if you know anything about the Yankees, you know they don't just force their youth up to the Bigs right away.  They try and mold them. They try to make sure they're extra ready.

And when it comes to the cuts, or the new assignments of the youth after their time in Spring Training, they're not out of work or anything. They just need to keep working. They know it and understand it.

James Kaprielian was "disappointed" with his move back to the minors but he is about setting goals just like so many of these kids.  Brendan Kuty of NJ.com has some quotes from him:

"...he was grateful for the experience.

'It was an unbelievable time over there,' he told reporters at the organization's minor league complex Monday, while those in major league camp were off. 'I was really fortunate and thankful for the chance to get to go over there in the first place.'"

Kap was sent to the minors a week ago.  Read YANKEE CUTS ARE HERE!

(In Photo: Ben Gamel)
The Yankees made a second round of cuts too.  The seven that went down this time are Ben Gamel,  Mark Montgomery, Vinnie Pestano, Tyler Cloyd, Richard Bleier, Donavan Solano and Jonathan Diaz.

But look, there is no question the Yankees are liking what they see from guys like Kaprielian and Gamel.  So, don't consider these demotions... they're more like "more time to work".

I predict we see a few of these guys this season at some point.  It's the Yankee youth movement... and it's exciting.


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THE YANKEE BENCH ISN'T COMPLETE

" The Yankees aren't totally convinced the man who will fill their final bench spot is in camp. " --Brendan Kuty, NJ.com

That's the first line to Kuty's article on the Yankees and the trade market HERE. And what it means is the Yanks are not done.

According to Kuty: "...Cashman said he'll keep up with other clubs, searching to make sure he can't find something better than what he's already got. 

'A lot of meetings with the staff, a lot of discussions of ways to go,' he told the YES Network's Meredith Marakovits on Saturday afternoon. 'Engaging other clubs about potential castoffs...'"

Sound good? I think so. There should always be the intent to upgrade.

The biggest concern right now is the back up at 3rd base.  They are not 100% sold that Headley can handle the entire season at 3rd. Plus, that same player would need to be ready for ANY spot in the infield when called upon.  Citing Kuty here, "Refsnyder appears the leader for the spot, Girardi has also named Ronald Torreyes, Pete Kozma, Jonathan Diaz and Donovan Solano as possible solutions."

We'll keep an eye on this for you.



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THE YANKEES 'LITTLE' MOVES ARE ADDING UP

(In Photo: Tyler Olson)
The Yankees have made a bunch of under the radar, unimpressive moves over the past couple of weeks leading to some of us fans cracking jokes at their expense. Comments like "Another game changer" or "Look out, the Yankees are making moves!" have come up. I'd have my fair share of laughs reading some of these comments, which are mostly made in fun, but what they are doing is beneficial to the organization as a whole.

(In Photo: Kirby Yates)
The Yankees made trades to obtain LHP Tyler Olson and utility man Ronald Torreyes from the Dodgers and RHP Kirby Yates from the Indians, plus signed RHP Anthony Swarzak, INF Donovan Solano and Jonathan Diaz to minor league contracts. They even snagged Lane Adams.

(In photo: Anthony Swarzak)
I honestly had never heard of any of these guys! But what they do bring is depth to minor league system. Plus you never know, one of these guys could be a diamond in the rough! I'm not holding my breath but you never know!

(In Photo: Donovan Solano)
As important as it is to obviously add depth to the Major League roster, it's equally as important to add depth to the upper echelons of the minors. By doing so they can leave some of the younger players still developing at the level they belong rather than promoting them out of necessity.

I know it's tough for us to swallow as Yankees fans that they aren't making blockbuster deals day in and day out. In the back of our minds we are awaiting the breaking news of the blockbuster trade or the big time free agent signing but that's not the way they are operating now. I've mentioned in several other pieces that we very well may have to wait a year or two for the large contracts to begin to expire.

With that being said, there are still several free agents that could fall into the Yankees laps. Justin Upton and Yoenis Cespedes, for example, remain unsigned and teams seem unwilling to offer them long-term deals. Several outlets have speculated that they could be signed for a one-year deal with the hope that next year's slimmer free agent class would allow them to earn their pay day.

So for you fans hoping for that big name to come through, there is still hope!!!

What Brian Cashman has done however is created one of the league's best bullpens, added a young Aaron Hicks, who has some big upside, brought in some young power arms to the minor leagues via trades and not spent much money at all. These moves will all allow the organization to continue to get stronger as a whole, even though the Big League club shows modest improvement from last year, minus Aroldis Chapman and Hicks.

I am excited for the future and also excited to continue to watch the youth movement develop. The off season is not over and I'm sure Brian Cashman is still taking calls regarding trades. Maybe they'll surprise us, maybe not.

But all in all, these little moves add up and the Yankees organization, from top to bottom, is stronger now than it was this time last year.

As I wait out the winter, I'll (impatiently) take it.

 
 --Dan Lucia
BYB Senior Writer
Twitter: @DManLucia




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THE YANKEES SIGNED SOLANO. LIFE IS GOOD.

Quick note about a Yankee signing that you need to know about.  The Yankees have signed infielder Donovan Solano to a minor league deal and an invitation to spring training.

According to El Heraldo, Solano is 28 and would be the first Colombian player on the New York Yankees.  Interesting nugget... I did not know that. There's more and sorry for the bad translation... that's on me. El Heraldo writes:

"The Yankees have offered a minor league contract and an invitation to spring training for the 2016 season to Solano... For Colombian baseball, it is a historical fact that never before has baseball had a Colombian player don the pinstripes...

(In Photo: Donovan Solano)
Jhonatan Solano, brother of Donovan, also received a minor league contract and was invited to spring training with the Washington Nationals. The Solano brothers were part of the Miami Marlins oraganization before these moves."

Just wanted to keep you in the loop.  Sure, it's a minor story and a minor signing, but we gotta let you know what's happening. That's what we do here at BYB... we keep you fed.





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