Yankees Notes: Hernández, Snell, Schmidt

Utility participant Enrique Hernández signed with the Dodgers earlier this week after having reported curiosity from golf equipment such because the Giants, Angels, Twins, and Padres. Hernández spoke to Foul Territory about his free company (video hyperlink by way of X), including that the Tigers had been additionally however that it got here all the way down to the Dodgers and Yankees on the finish.

The curiosity from the Tigers was not beforehand reported, nevertheless it appears truthful to imagine it got here earlier than they signed one other utility infielder, Gio Urshela. That the Yankees had been on the desk is just not one thing that was beforehand reported and would appear to counsel they’re open to including one other utility participant to their roster.

There are a couple of other ways Hernández may have been helpful off the bench for the Yankees. The membership is ready to have veterans DJ LeMahieu and Anthony Rizzo on the infield corners, each of whom are actually within the mid-30s and struggled with accidents final yr. He may have given them some additional cowl at these spots whereas additionally maybe moving into the outfield combine in a platoon capability, pairing with lefty Alex Verdugo.

Hernández hits from the proper facet and has a profession slash of .257/.343/.458 in opposition to southpaws, adequate for a 115 wRC+, in comparison with a line of .228/.290/.377 and 80 wRC+ in opposition to righties. Verdugo’s profession splits are .290/.346/.461 and 115 wRC+ in opposition to righties however .259/.315/.350 and 80 wRC+ versus lefties. Left-hander Trent Grisham can also be within the combine however he has reverse splits.

The Yankees challenge to have a bench of Jose Trevino, Oswaldo Cabrera and Grisham in three spots. That leaves one spot open, which may go to Oswald Peraza, however he has an possibility and might be higher served getting common reps within the minors versus sitting on the large league bench.

The membership’s curiosity in Hernández suggests they may signal a veteran to plug into their bench, although there aren’t many confirmed infield/outfield sorts unsigned. Donovan Solano hasn’t performed the outfield since 2012 whereas guys like Elvis Andrus or Jonathan Schoop by no means have. Free agent outfielders like Tommy Pham, Adam Duvall or Michael A. Taylor can’t assistance on the infield. The Yanks simply claimed Jahmai Jones off waivers, who has expertise on the grime and the grass and is out of choices, so maybe they may simply flip to him or another claimee to fill out their bench.

Elsewhere in Yankee tidbits, the membership continues to be tied to Blake Snell because the lefty lingers available on the market. Current reporting has instructed Snell could comply with Cody Bellinger in pivoting to a short-term cope with opt-outs and excessive common annual values, although this wouldn’t work properly for a membership just like the Yankees. They’re already over the fourth and remaining tier of the aggressive stability tax and face a 110% tax on any extra spending. RosterResource places their CBT quantity at $307MM, already $10MM over the $297MM prime line.

Hypothetically, if Snell wished the identical $30MM wage as Bellinger this yr, the Yankees would additionally need to pay $33MM in taxes to present it to him. Snell additionally rejected a qualifying supply, so the Yankees must give up their second- and fifth-highest picks within the upcoming draft and $1MM of worldwide bonus pool area to signal him. Brendan Kuty of The Athletic seemed on the state of affairs as we speak and reported that it stays unlikely the 2 sides will get one thing performed for these precise causes.

So long as the Yankees don’t signal Snell or some other pitcher, then Clarke Schmidt tasks because the quantity 5 behind Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón, Marcus Stroman and Nestor Cortes. Kuty spoke to supervisor Aaron Boone about Schmidt, with the skipper highlighting the sturdy end to his season. “He by no means misplaced confidence,” Boone stated. “He by no means misplaced focus. Then he put collectively a extremely sturdy 4 1/2 or 5 months — after Gerrit, he was the man we may type of dangle our hat on. Hopefully there’s one other step in that.”

In his ninth begin of the season, Schmidt allowed seven earned runs in 4 2/3 innings in opposition to the Rays and had a 6.30 earned run common at that time. However he put up a 4.08 ERA the remainder of the way in which, permitting him to complete at 4.64 for the season total. The Yanks will likely be hoping the 28-year-old can take one other step ahead right here in 2024, as they traded away a lot of their rotation depth within the deal that introduced over Grisham and Juan Soto.