Good afternoon everyone, it’s time to dive back into the mailbag and answer some of your questions. Remember to send in your questions for our weekly call by e-mail to pinstripealleyblog [at] gmail [dot] com.
qmerkel asks: What do you think the Yankees will do with Luis Gil? Keep trying to develop him as a starter, move him to the bullpen, or trade him?
For now they’ll likely keep Gil stretched out as a starter down in Triple-A, since he’s the primary depth for the rotation should an injury occur to any of the current guys. Once Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón are back and fully built up to their regular workload, then perhaps the organization could consider utilizing Gil as a reliever, but with his current velocity issues that might not be a feasible transition to make. The only thing I’d rule out in the immediate is a trade, as the team would be selling on Gil for pennies on the dollar — perhaps he can rebound and remain useful to the team, or at the very least find enough of his old form to be of value in a trade, but at the moment it doesn’t seem worth it to give up on him for the equivalent of a lottery ticket or two.
Jmack175 asks:Still early to think about the deadline, but outside of 3B/SS, the most obvious upgrades are in the bullpen — if we stay atop the East, do you think Cash will go all in and get some lock down late inning guys, and if so, who might be realistic?
I think the answer to the bullpen is two-fold: Cashman will inevitably perform some remodeling and grab a handful of relievers to shake things up, but he also won’t go for the flashiest, high-priced closers. David Bednar was a solid grab last year, but the Yankees managed to nab him at an affordable price that set him well apart from the other closers that changed teams over the deadline. Now that his performance has waned (or more accurately, just become too stressful to trust on a day-to-day basis), they may look for another closer to pass the baton to, but an easier get would be a suitable set-up level reliever that could be trusted to get elevated into the closer’s role if need be. Then the rest of the work can focus on retooling the bottom of the ‘pen, finding better answers than Camilo Doval or Jake Bird to bring in for the middle of games that can still swing in their favor. Admittedly, this area is the one they could most likely support from within the organization with their extended rotation depth, but the Yankees are always hunting for the next hidden gem of an arm and I’d be shocked if they didn’t try to pluck one out from under another team again this year.
SHSBN26 asks:With Stanton making his usual return to the IL, why does the Martian (and more perplexing Schuemann) get the call before Spencer Jones?
Max Schuemann is more or less just a stand-in while they wait for Anthony Volpe’s rehab to conclude, as they don’t want to call up a reliever just to send them back down and potentially need them back on the roster a couple of days later only to be blocked by the minimum amount of days they’d need to stay in the minors before their next call up. I’d be shocked if he’s around for much longer, and that shock would have more to do with whatever they’d decide to do with Volpe rather than reinsert him to the 26-man roster.
Jasson Domínguez, on the other hand, got the promotion ahead of Spencer Jones for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, he has already been a major leaguer, giving him familiarity with the team that would help in filling a short-term need while not having to worry about a rookie being unprepared for the biggest stage. On top of that, Domínguez has looked much more competent against lefties than he did last season which bodes well should he be filling in Stanton’s spot at DH. Domínguez’s defense may still be suspect, but if they don’t need to play him in the field then his bat can be a boon for this lineup. His recent hit-by-pitch throws this all into a bit of doubt, as Domínguez himself may need to follow Stanton onto the IL if it’s serious, but a fluke injury is no cause for concern regarding whether he should’ve been the one taking the at-bat in the first place.
