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Chance Adams

Chance Adams, An Example of the New York Yankees Holding On

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New York Yankees, Chance Adams

It’s the 2017-2018 offseason, and Brian Cashman has Neal Huntington on the phone. The conversation was regarding Gerrit Cole, who the New York Yankees hoped to acquire to make a World Series run. The Pirates wanted Miguel Andujar, Clint Frazier, and Chance Adams. The Yankees simply didn’t want to have to give up three talented prospects and would’ve made the deal most likely if Adams was not part of the demands. The Yankees would come to regret that decision, even though they have Cole now, they could’ve had him a while ago. Why was Adams so highly valued?

A Hot Start

Chance Adams had posted a sub 3.00 ERA in every season of his minor league career up to 2017. In 2017 he posted a 15-5 record with a 2.45 ERA in 150.1 innings with a 1.078 WHIP in his career. He was dominant, and being 22 years old meant that the Yankees assumed he was going to be in the rotation in either 2018 or 2019. He was a very valuable piece for the Yankees, a diamond in their embarrassment of riches in the farm system. The diamond turned out to be a fake, however.

Starter? Not a Chance

The New York Yankees had high hopes for Adams, however in 2018 he struggled in Triple-A, and when he was promoted to the MLB, he posted an ugly 7.04 ERA in 7.2 innings. He finished his Triple-A season with a career-worst (in the minors) 4.78 ERA win 113 innings. In 2019 things only got worse, as he posted a 4.63 ERA in Triple-A and then in 25.1 MLB innings posted a putrid 8.53 ERA. Chance Adams seemed to be done for, and the Yankees agreed.

New Year, New Team

On December 23rd, Chance Adams was traded away to Kansas City for 21-year-old Christian Perez, an infielder with a weak bat, posting a .631 OPS in his first 4 minor seasons and a career .319 SLG percentage. The Yankees made this move after DFAing him, so they were set on getting rid of Adams. This was a move to make space for none other than Gerrit Cole. The Yankees would love to be able to turn back the clock and pull the trigger on the Cole deal, but maybe the change of scenery will do well for Adams.

Kauffman Kills Hitting

Kauffman Stadium is well regarded for deep fences that make it a pitcher-friendly park. This could benefit the young righty as to be able to find some form of success that could give him confidence. This could lead to Adams finding footing, consistency, and most importantly, a job in the MLB. Adams will probably never be the sub 3.00 ERA guy again, but he could be a mid 3.00 ERA guy. At age 24 the Royals have a controllable young starter who can perhaps turn a corner but had no future in New York.

How will Chance Adams’ career end up? Will he succeed for the Royals or will he fade away into irrelevancy?

New York Yankees get Infielder in Trade With Royals, Sending Chance Adams to Kansas City

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New York Yankees, Chance Adams

New York Yankees minor league pitcher Chance Adams has been sent to Kansas City in a trade with the Royals that brings Christian Perez to the Bronx.

Adams played out the 2019 season at Scranton Wilkes/Barre while making his major league debut he went 1-1 with a save and an ERA of 8.53.  Adams was a  two-time Baseball American minor league all-star.  In the trade, the Royals will send Christian Perez, a 21-year-old infielder that hit .252 last year with Class A Wilmington.

The Royals drafted Perez in 2015. The Venezuelan shortstop throws and bats right-handed.   He was activated today with the Tampa Tarpons so that the trade could take place. The Yankees sent him to the minor league Rail Riders.  The Yankees may look to use him at some point as a back up to Gleyber Torres at shortstop in addition to Thairo Estrada.

News Around The New York Yankees Empire

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New York Yankees, Aaron Boone, Gerrit Cole

If you’re aNew York Yankees fan, things have been more busy the last 48-72 hours. So here’s a quick rundown on everything that happened in that time span:

Welcome to New York New Guy!

Gerrit Cole was officially introduced today. A lifelong Yankee fan, he seemed to understand all that was to be expected of him, and seemed to relish at the prospect of pitching meaningful games in September/October. Oh, and it was revealed that he was going to wear 45.

Honor Thy Brother

So what does that mean for Luke Voit, the Yankees first baseman who wore 45 the last year and a half? He announced on social media that he was going to change to 59. The significance? That was the number his brother wore playing football for West Point.

Second Chance Elsewhere

In order to make room for Gerritt Cole, Chance Adams was designated for assignment. Not to kick a guy when he’s down, but a career minor leaguer who’s been mediocre at best on the big league level (1-2 with an ERA over 8 on the big league schedule, as opposed to 39-16 with 3.12 in the minors), he was an obvious choice. Now, if only they can only move JA Happ with some expediency, all would be right in the world.

Hello Old Friend

The New York Yankees have resigned Adam Warren for his third go around in the Bronx. He hasn’t started much since 2015, but he’s a long inning reliever with a history of starting games. Stretching him out in spring training would be no problem whatsoever.

Oh The Trade Rumors

It’s hard to keep in check the number of trade rumors and free agent signings the Yankees are involved in. So a brief rundown of the rumors involving the Yankees:

Francisco Lindor is still linked to the New York Yankees in trade rumors. The package that the Yankees would need to surrender for Lindor would be astronomical.

Brock Holt is rumored to be in talks with the Yankees. The free agent utility player would be overkill for a team already with Thairo Estrada and Tyler Wade.

The Yankees are still in talks with the Brewers over Josh Hader. You know my stance. Next.

The Rangers are interested in trading for Miguel Andujar. The Rangers have no one to offer. If you decide to trade Andujar, wait for the deadline.

And that’s a quick rundown of all the things happening in the Yankees universe.

New York Yankees: Too Many Long Relievers And Not Enough Space

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The New York Yankees have a surplus of arms in the bullpen, and that is super beneficial when it comes to injuries. But, the team may have too many long relievers and not enough space for all of them.

Get Rid Of Cessa And Adams

Luis Cessa and Chance Adams are starting pitchers turned long relievers, but over the last few seasons the once highly touted prospects have not lived up to expectations.

Cessa has a career 7-12 record with a 4.50 ERA over 232 career innings. He has always struggled to perform under pressure and his best outings are always in low leverage situations. The 27 year old righty out of Cuba has spent part of four seasons on the 25 man roster, and spent the entire 2019 season in the MLB. He was one of the few Yankees to stay healthy all season.

Chance Adams has a much smaller Major League sample size compared to Cessa, but hasn’t performed well recently at any level. Adams kinda leveled out in AAA, and may be nothing more than a minor league pitcher. He has a 1-2 record with an 8.18 ERA in 33 major league innings.

Both players hurt the Yankees and need to let them go.

Enter Jordan Montgomery

With the starting pitching situation, Jordan Montgomery will likely shift into the long reliever role. The team will for sure have Masahiro Tanaka, James Paxton, Luis Severino, and JA Happ as starting pitchers if they all stay healthy. They may have Domingo German if he isn’t banned, and they will likely sign a pitcher in free agency.

Montgomery came back in late 2019 after Tommy John Surgery, only starting six games in 2018. He had a 3.88 ERA in 29 starts in 2017, his rookie season.

Jordan Montgomery has a great arm, and the Yankees should push him into the long relief role and push Luis Cessa and Chance Adams out of the picture.

New York Yankees: Severino Impresses in Season Debut

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New York Yankees, Luis Severino

Luis Severino, a starting pitcher for the New York Yankees, shows his ace-like stuff in a win against the Los Angeles Angels, on Tuesday night.

Severino was activated off of the 60-day IL last weekend, after being sidelined with right rotator cuff and right lat injuries. He has not appeared in a game in 344 days, his last appearance came in Game 3 of the ALDS last year against the Red Sox (MLB.com).

His outing consisted of 4 innings of two-hit ball, on 67 pitches, and nine swings and misses. His repertoire consisted of 96.6 average MPH on 37 fastballs, 19 sliders, and 11 changeups (MLB.com). Severino, Loaisiga (winning pitcher), Gearrin, and Adams combined for a six-hit shutout. This gives the Yankees their 99th win of the season. Aaron Boone and the Yankees front office are making a smart move in easing Severino back into the rotation.

How Effective can Severino be in the Playoffs?

With 10 games left, Severino should be expected to make two more starts. Increasing his pitch count in each outing, he will ultimately be prepared for the postseason. He will be a big boost for a slowly improving rotation.

The ideal spot in the playoff rotation for Severino would most likely be to start game two. Paxton has been one of the best pitchers in the league for the past two months and should be rewarded with being on the bump in game 1 of the 2019 American League Divisional Series. Tanaka, with his experience and track record in the playoffs, should get the nod in game 3 on the road.

The Yankees look to achieve 100 wins on the year and clinch the division by the end of the series, with the magic number at just two. A World Series win would make a great headline, with all the injuries this team has endured. The baseball world is seeing similar signs of Yankees’ past World Series runs, like the ones in ’98 and ’09. Fans can only wait and see what this team brings to the table in the postseason.

New York Yankees Rained Out Against Royals

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New York Yankees, Aaron Boone

Game one of a three game set with the Kansas City Royals has been rained out for the New York Yankees, and the teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday.

The game was called due to rain in the forecast. The Yankees were actually taking batting practice with no rain when the game was called.

Saturday’s games will be on a day-night doubleheader schedule. First pitch is scheduled for 2:05PM (ET) for game one, and 8:05PM (ET) for game two. Reminder, Kansas City is in the central time zone, throwing off start times in the east coast.

Who will pitch this weekend?

JA Happ will be pitching the afternoon game Saturday, while Domingo German will pitch on Sunday.

Saturday evening’s starting pitcher has not yet been released. There is speculation that it could potentially be Chance Adams. Adams was scheduled to start Friday night for the Railriders, and was scratched minutes prior to first pitch. He would be the 26th man.

The other option would be doing a bullpen game. Since Thursday’s game was in the afternoon, the bullpen will be fully rested and could do the bullpen game if needed. The only fatigue would be from the afternoon game, unless you pitch Happ in the evening and do the bullpen game in the afternoon.

If a bullpen game would be in order, it would likely still be Chad Green opening. Luis Cessa would likely follow, or Adams if it indeed is him that is the 26th man.

No matter who ends up pitching, the Yankees need to escape Kansas City with a sweep before a big homestand that includes the Boston Red Sox.

New York Yankees: Aaron Hicks Activated, Loaisiga To The IL

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New York Yankees, Aaron Hicks

Prior to Monday evening’s scheduled game against the Baltimore Orioles (weather dependent), the New York Yankees announced a series of roster movements. Aaron Hicks was activated from the IL, and Mike Tauchman was sent to AAA. Additionally, Jonathan Loaisiga was placed on the IL, and Chance Adams was recalled from AAA.

Healthy Hicks

Aaron Hicks is healthy and ready to go on Monday. He is batting leadoff and playing center. Hicks picked up three hits, including a home run in his final rehab game on Saturday for Scranton. He was scheduled to play Sunday as well, however that game was rained out.

As expected, Mike Tauchman was sent to AAA as the corresponding move for Hicks. Tauchman, bat .213 over 89 at-bats for the Yankees. He drove in 12 runs and went yard four times. Tauchman also drove in the Yankees first run in the team’s 7-1 victory over the Rays on Sunday with a double off the wall in center. He now joins the likes of Tyler Wade, Mike Ford, and Nestor Cortes Jr. as recent travelers on the “Scranton Shuttle”

Down goes Loaisiga

Jonathan Loaisiga was expected to pitch on Monday against the Orioles, but was placed on the 10-day IL with a shoulder strain. Instead, Luis Cessa will “start” Monday, and team called up Chance Adams and is in the bullpen. I quote the word “start” because it may be possible the Yankees are doing a bullpen game.

Hopefully, they don’t have to deal with this for very long and Paxton can be back soon. He resumed baseball activities just days after he was injured, so hopefully he can be on the mound again soon.

3 Keys to Success for the 2018 New York Yankees

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New York Yankees, Aaron Judge

Started From the Bottom Now We’re Here:

Prior to the start of the 2017 season the New York Yankees were a young team in unfamiliar territory; they were supposed to be rebuilding. A team on the verge of competition but not quite yet ready to contend. However, how wrong those “experts” were, the 2017 New York Yankees came within one game of reaching the World Series.

So we turn the page to the 2018 season for the New York Yankees to continue their success from 2017, and go even further in the upcoming 2018 season.

These are the top 3 keys to that success:

  • Consistency

The key to any winning season in baseball does have an element of luck to it. There’s the old idiom that sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. And for the Yankees first baseman Greg Bird, he has been extremely unlucky during his brief Major League tenure.  If Bird can stay consistently healthy in 2018, he will have an opportunity to have a huge impact on the Yankees chance at a World Series win.

Gary Sanchez has done a wonderful job during Spring Training of providing consistent defense, namely blocking balls in the dirt. Blocking balls was the one part of Sanchez’ game that plagued him last season.

Sanchez put in work this off-season to become more flexible to assist him with this defensive lapse from last season. So, if Gary can continue to put the effort toward his journey to improvement, we could see a drastically different catcher behind the plate, defensively.

All rise the honorable Aaron Judge is now presiding over his court!

Aaron had an incredible and historic rookie campaign. He dealt with the peaks that allowed him to dine with Zeus in Olympus and the pits that saw him battle with Hades in Hell.

This season, Aaron looked more determined than before. In the Spring of 2017 Judge came in battling for a job with the inscription of his .179 batting average as motivation. This spring, Judge remains motivated by the six weeks that costed him the opportunity to be not only the unanimous selection for Rookie of the Year, but also MVP, along with his personal desire to not be a one hit wonder.

If Judge can find that happy medium from his highs and lows of 2017, there’s only one thing to say, quoting the retiring Yankees commentator Kenny Singleton “LOOKOUT.”

  • In Cashman We Trust

In following up the 2017 campaign, the Yankees will no longer be sneaking up on teams as a underdog story. The rest of the world is now aware of what the entire Yankee Universe already knew, and that’s that the New York Yankees do everything better than the rest of baseball.

The Yankees “rebuild” lasted all of 6 months (maybe). When the Yankees began to “sell off” players during the trade deadline of 2016, everyone thought that this would be the time the Bombers reset and journey through what the Chicago Cubs or the Houston Astros endured, a full tear down and reset. But the Yankees magical wizard of a General Manager Brian Cashman had other plans.

Cashman stock piled top echelon talent very quickly taking a farm system ranked 21st by Baseball Prospectus back in 2015. Now with having graduated talent to the Major Leagues, the Yankees are still the number six farm system according to MLB Pipeline.

Cashman has also been able to provide the Yankees with real talent for not a real devastating cost. Cash recently acquired Brandon Drury in a deal eerily similar to the deal that brought us Didi Gregorius several years back. Cashman and his lieutenants have been able to bring the organization to a level of real sustainability without overpaying for talent.

Which brings us to the final key point of the Yankees ability to be successful in 2018.

  • Dominance in Development

As previously stated, Cashman and his team have been able to draft and trade for some very high level talent. Talent that will ultimately help the team in one way or another.

There are three camps in the Yankees Universe, there are your “George-ian Candidates” who say trade every prospect to bring in high priced established veterans who can provide consistent year in and year out numbers.

There are the “Prospect Huggers” that don’t want to spend on any free agents that may block the kids. And lastly there are the “Cashman-ites” (credit to Mike Calendrillo of YGY for this name) who believes that the “Cream of the Crop” (using my best Macho Man Randy Savage voice) top prospects will stick and some of the others will be used in trade.

No matter what camp you fall into there’s no denying that the following prospects will have an impact on the Yankees World Series aspirations in 2018 and beyond. (The players below will be ranked based on their MLB Pipeline rankings).

  1. Gleyber Torres
  2. Estevan Florial
  3. Justus Sheffield
  4. Miguel Andújar
  5. Chance Adams (6th overall behind RHP Albert Abreu)

Another guy who is no longer a prospect but who’s development will determine his place on this team in 2018 and going forward is Clint Frazier. Frazier plays will a lot of fire and intensity, some of his behaviors/mannerisms rub people the wrong way, but I believe that if Frazier can stay hungry and humble he can be an incredible player in Pinstripes.