Thursday, December 10, 2015

It's never a good thing when you lose two guys in the Rule 5 draft

This morning, the Yankees lost two prospects in the mysterious MLB Rule 5 draft, an event that nobody but lawyers understand.

We lost Jake Cave to the Reds, and what stings more deeply is that he was the second player picked, which means he was probably a goner from the gitgo. Cave looked like a nice, up-and-coming outfielder, and it's rare for the Yankees to have enough of them to be worth protecting.

Later, the Braves took LHP Evan Rutcky, one of the Cecil B. DeMille cast of thousands who patrolled the Yankee farm system's bullpens. I figure that's an outgrowth of Gordon Blakely, a former Yankee scout, who moved to Atlanta last year and has steadily acquired ex-Yankee bodies (Adonis Garcia, Zolio Almonte, Manny Banuelos.)

Obviously, other teams saw something in these players.

Now, you could argue that the headline up top is wrong: It's good when other teams covet our prospects. Plus, there is no guarantee the Yankees will lose either guy. Both must last the full season with their teams, and I'm not sure either is ready.

Ivan Nova was once drafted by San Diego, but they had to return him, because he couldn't throw strikes.

Trouble is, both the Reds and Braves are so bad that if they see anything, they might keep these guys just to build for the future and stick to the goddamm Yankees.

Monday... December 7, 2015... was a day that will live in infamy. We traded Adam Warren. Today, eh, not good... but maybe not so bad.

8 comments:

ceeja said...

Boy. I sure hope their scouts saw something in those two AAA starters. This Wilson trade makes no sense -- unless it was a simple dump to make room for Yankee kids to play. This last point gives me hope -- maybe they really will play the kids for a change. Doesn't help poor old Refsnyder, but Castro is a kid himself.

If this is the case, then dare I hope for the dumping of Beltran to the Mets? Please, oh lord. I can't bear to see that shuffling husk of a has-been chase fly balls like a fourth outfielder in the beeper league. If only Beltran would just leave. Then we can see Judge or Heathcott or Austin or Hicks take his innings.

JM said...

I now distrust this organization so much...or perhaps so confidently trust it will do something stupid...that even if they could move Beltran (why on earth would the Mets want him?), they'd replace him with some Palooka who's either another over-the-hill star or some journeyman whosis. The latter got us Swisher, so maybe that wouldn't be so bad if they could ever do something like that again. But Judge, Slade and the other kids better get used to those comfy bus seats, or at most the big league bench (for one of them).

Me, I always liked Cervelli and wish they had just tried giving him the job instead of signing "Mr. Framing" McCann. This team seems to be allergy to any excitement at all. Bland and uninteresting, that's the ticket.

Leinstery said...

The Wilson trade is very baffling. Neither of the guys they got will amount to anything, and in the extremely rare event that they do, they won't ever get a chance to play. Cashman traded one of the more reliable relievers for absolutely nothing. If it really was a way to cut 1.5 million in salary, then Hal really is the cheapest motherfucker around.

And I have to agree with you John, Cisco the Kid was a good player when here. He always seemed to be at the beginning or in the middle of a late inning rally. Sadly we forget this because none of those rallies ever amounted to anything because Jeter would immediately tap out to the pitcher. The only problem with Cisco was every time he was handed the job, whether it be due to merit or a longterm injury to someone else, he got injured. He could never stay on the field long enough to convince the idiots in charge that he could be an everyday player. Love the guy, and I'm glad he's doing well in Pittsburgh.

Now that I think about it, He either started or finished off 3 rallies against the Mets this year. He is a good late inning hitter. I guess that didn't make it into the binder when they got rid of him.

Anonymous said...

MY MIND KEEPS TELLING ME, "THEY DIDN'T GET RID OF JUSTIN WILSON JUST TO SAVE $1.3 MILLION DOLLARS, DID THEY?...IT CAN'T BE?....COULD IT?" ......AND IF BY SOME CHANCE THAT IS TRUE, HOLY SHIT!!!!..... THIS NEW YORK YANKEE HIERARCHY IS WILLING TO SACRIFICE BIG LEAGUE WINS BY LETTING A VALUABLE, YOUNG (ONLY 28 YEARS OLD), TALENTED, HARD THROWING LEFT HANDED BULLPEN PIECE WHO HAS ALREADY PROVEN HIMSELF ON THE BIG STAGE IN NEW YORK, GO???.....TO SAVE A PALTRY $1.3 MILLION BUCKS????????? ...IF THIS IS THE CASE MY FRIENDS.....WE ARE ALL F-CKED.

Ken of Brooklyn said...

I'm with you all, the Wilson trade is bonkers, he was the surest thing we had to an effective bridge with this starting rotation!

Alphonso said...

And what executive decision caused the Yankees ( of all teams) to lose two prospects? I mean, we hardly have any to begin with.

Are we ever on the " right side" of these things?

And I really liked Jake Cave, if for no other reason than his name.

This is bad news.

Parson Tom said...

this sucks

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