Via Chad Jennings comes news that the Yankees will be adding 5 minor leaguers to the 40-man roster, protecting them from being drafted by other teams in the upcoming Rule V Draft. The 5 are RHP David Phelps, RHP DJ Mitchell, 2b David Adams, 2b Corban Joseph, and OF Zoilo Almonte. Several of these guys could have a role on the 2012 Yankees, while the others had enough value as prospects that there would be some concern about another team poaching them.
The addition of David Phelps and DJ Mitchell, two advanced AAA pitchers, is a no-brainer. Both could play important roles for the Yankees this season as starting pitching depth, and would likely be taken by another team looking for a young, cheap arm to compete for a rotation spot. With his placement on the 40-man, Phelps likely becomes the first callup in the event of an injury to a starter (assuming Hector Noesi ends up on the major league roster again), and Mitchell could be in line for an emergency start or bullpen role (where many people think he projects best).
None of the three position players protected figure to see any significant time in the major leagues before September (unless disaster strikes in the form of multiple injuries). Adams might be the most attractive option to a team looking for a 2nd baseman with advanced hitting ability, though he missed significant time to because of an ankle injury last season. Joseph is also a solid hitter who may not project as well defensively as Adams, but an interested team could still take a flier on him. As for Almonte, he restored his prospect status last year with a strong season between Tampa and Trenton. Like Melky Mesa last year, he is far from being major league ready, but his tools and ability could cause a team to have interest in him.
I have no quibbles with any of these additions, and don’t see any major exclusions that would bother me. There will likely still be dead weight on the 40 man like Kevin Whelan or Colin Curtis, who the Yankees could afford to designate for assignment in the event that a roster spot is needed for another addition. By adding all of these players to the roster, the Yankees are not only improving their depth in the event of injury, but also, maintaining a stash of trade chips that could be useful to the team this offseason, at the trade deadline, or going forward.
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
3 Responses to Yankees make 40-man additions
Leave a Reply
TIQ IQ
Was so hoping Venditte would have been protected but it’s been evident for years what the FO thought his ceiling was. Regardless it should be interesting to see if another organization disagrees, or just wants a novelty to fill some seats. Bummer.
I can’t see anyone taking Venditte and if some teams wants to take him as a simple novelty, more power to them. He isn’t worth a 40 man roster spot, and I highly doubt he ever actually makes it to the major leagues. He has below average stuff from both sides, and his left handed stuff is almost laughable with a fastball in the mid to upper 70 MPH range. He’s a cool story, just not a legit major league ball player.
If they had to protect five, I guess that these are the right five. I don’t really like that they only have 1 spot left on the 40 man though with the need to still add a couple of starters, a couple of bench guys and possibly a reliever or two.
There are a few guys that I guess they could cut loose leading with two or even three of the OFers who will be out of options (Maxwell, Golson, Dickerson) and Whelan (although I think he could be useful). I suppose Melky Mesa could be designated too given his lack of progress last year. Pedro Feliciano and Joba will open two more spots up at the beginning of the season when they can be put on the 60 day DL but that doesn’t help until the start of the season. I think it would probably be foolish to cut Colin Curtis unless it’s to replace him with a better OFer because they need his depth in case of injuries and Golson/Maxwell/Dickerson are gone unless they make the team where Colin Curtis still has options.
Strategically, I think you are more likely to lose a marginal guy by adding him to the 40 man and then having to remove him and pass him through waivers than you are just exposing him to Rule V so I wonder if it was really worth it to protect all five. Maybe Cashman wants to make sure these guys are available for trades or is planning to open spots for new signings through trades.