MORE PITCHING! YANKEES ADD INTERESTING DEPTH PIECE

You can never have enough pitching, right? The Yankees just signed Long Island, New York native Nick Tropeano to a minor league deal. Looks like Tropeano is leaving the west coast and is coming home.

Okay, West Islip isn't the Bronx but he's close by. It's an interesting move. Tropeano has signed a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training according to Newsday HERE. He was originally drafted by the Houston Astros in the fifth round of the 2011 draft and later traded to the Angels in November 2014. He has made 42 appearances throughout the course of five seasons and his best season was with the Angels in 2016, where he started 13 games with 68 strikeouts and a 3.56 ERA. But since 2016 he has struggled with the Angels and last season he pitched to a 9.88 ERA over 13.2 innings in the majors. He was demoted to Triple-A Salt Lake but didn't fare much better and he pitched to a 5.87 ERA over 79.2 innings. Obviously, we hope he turns things around with the Yankees.

But performance isn't the only concern here. The right-hander has also dealt with injury issues during his career. He did miss all of 2017 due to Tommy John surgery and shoulder issues in 2018 ended his season in early September.

It will be interesting to see how he fits into the Yankees strategy. We still have J.A. Happ in limbo. We are waiting to see if the Yankees do trade him before the season starts. The Yankees also have Luis Cessa who is also out of options so Tropeano could just be depth down in Triple-A or could be an emergency spot starter or bullpen piece if the Yankees have a lot of injuries to deal with. Obviously we hope that doesn't happen, last thing we want to have happen is the Yankees have to deal with a lot of injuries like last season. The Yankees have a lot of arms thankfully and it will be nice to have Jordan Montgomery back this season and we have Mike King, Deivi Garcia, Jonathan Loaisiga to use as needed.

We all like extra depth. It's nice to have more arms and who doesn't like the story of the local kid coming back to his home state? Maybe he just needs a change of scenery. Either way, it won't hurt to give him a chance. So welcome to the Bronx kid! This isn't Suffolk county, but you are home!

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa
BYB Managing Editor
Twitter: @nyprincessj 

YANKEES ARE EYEING HOWIE KENDRICK

News from Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com says that the Yankees like Angels second baseman Howie Kendrick.

Heyman writes: "The Yankees and Blue Jays are among teams that have called about Kendrick...The Yankees have long liked Kendrick, a noted Yankee killer, and have issues at second base, shortstop and third base. But at present the Angels, who have already done a lot of work this winter, acquiring pitching prospect Nick Tropeano and lefty reliever Cesar Ramos, still believe they are more likely than not to hold onto Kendrick."

You gotta wonder what the Yankees will do at second base.  Kendrick is 31 and makes sense for the club, but don't forget, Rob Refsnyder has received much praise and the Yankees at one point announced they'd like to see Refsnyder possibly play second next season.

Here's the thing, there is also a ton of chatter from BYB's source that suggests that Refsnyder could be on a list of prospects drawn up by the Rockies to swap for Troy Tulowitzki. Read SOURCE: ROX WANT "A LOT" OF TOP PROSPECTS FOR TULO for more on that.

You also have to wonder if someone like Kendrick is even worth it. After all, Martin Prado can play second base as well.

Bottom line, there's a whole lot going on right now... no easy solution for any of this. But it is the Hot Stove season... you gotta wonder when things are going to go down.

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