Brian Cashman has clearly decided that if he can’t find value in the bargain bin of the American League, he’s going to go mining in the Rocky Mountains. It’s becoming a bit of a pattern, isn’t it? On Wednesday, the New York Yankees reached back into the Colorado Rockies’ discard pile, claiming outfielder Yanquiel Fernández off waivers.
This move is just the latest in a bizarrely busy pipeline between the Bronx and Denver. Just a few days ago, we saw them flip minor league first baseman T.J. Rumfield for Angel Chivilli, a righty who throws 97 mph but somehow owned a 7.06 ERA last year. Before that, it was Jake Bird. Now, it’s Fernández.
The Allure of the Mile-High Projects
To make room for the new guy, the Yankees had to shove right-hander Dom Hamel off the 40-man roster. Hamel has been playing musical chairs with the waiver wire for months, bouncing from the Mets to the Orioles to the Rangers and now into the Yankees’ DFA limbo. He might have better control than most, but the Yankees obviously think a 23-year-old lefty power bat is worth the roster crunch.
Yanquiel Fernández is the definition of a “Savant” darling that hasn’t quite figured out how to play baseball yet. His bat speed is close to 75 mph, which puts him in the upper echelon of the league. He swings the stick hard. He also has a cannon for an arm.
Power, Whiffs, and Coors Field Lies
The problem is the actual production. In Triple-A last season, Fernández slashed .284/.347/.502, which looks great until you realize he was playing in the Pacific Coast League where everyone hits like prime Barry Bonds. His wRC+ was actually a 98—two percent below league average. When he got to the majors, things got ugly.
He posted a 55 wRC+ across 52 games with a strikeout rate pushing 30 percent. You can’t survive in the Bronx hitting .225 and swinging at everything that moves. But the Yankees are betting on their “Lab.” They think that if they can get him to stop chasing and use those 110 mph exit velocities on balls in the zone, they have a monster.
The Risk and the Scranton Reality
Is he going to start in right field on Opening Day? No, absolutely not. The outfield is already a crowded house with Jasson Domínguez and Spencer Jones knocking on the door, and that’s before we even talk about the veterans. Fernández is a depth piece, a low-risk lottery ticket that Cashman is hoping turns into a winning scratch-off.
If he clears the upcoming hurdle of being useful in Spring Training, he’ll head to Scranton to work with the hitting coaches. The Rockies are an organization in flux, recently overhauling their front office, and it seems they just didn’t have the patience to fix a kid who strikes out this much. The Yankees, for better or worse, always think they’re the smartest guys in the room when it comes to refining raw tools.
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