Sunday Roster Moves: McCarthy In, Nuno And Soriano Out

Germany or no Germany, I couldn't very well let the Yankees make a slew of early roster moves today without my 2 cents.  It started when they called up Bruce Billings as a fresh arm for tonight's game, it continued when they announced that they had traded Vidal Nuno to the Arizona Diamondbacks for right-hander Brandon McCarthy a few hours ago, and it got real a few minutes ago when they announced that Alfonso Soriano had been designated for assignment to open a 25-man spot for Billings.

On the McCarthy move, it's a good one.  He's an upgrade over Nuno and will help give a little more length from the back end of the makeshift rotation, although not the type of upgrade the front office was hoping to get from somebody like Jeff Samardzija or Jason Hammels.  Personally I think the value of adding McCarthy gets limited a bit by having to give up Nuno for him.  I think Nuno was a better fit as a multi-use lefty reliever and not being able to move him into that role to help the 'pen is a bummer.

As for Soriano, it was a long time coming and last night's 0-4 game with 2 more strikeouts and a dropped foul pop up was the last straw.  He was a great half-season pickup last year and looked genuinely re-energized playing back in New York, but the Father Time clock struck midnight this year and he never found his game at the plate, whether he was getting regular ABs or not.  Hopefully that roster spot gets used for somebody better than Billings down the road.  Like an actual right-handed power bat.

Quick Hit: Chris Stewart Traded

Well I guess that interest in Chris Stewart that was reported over the weekend turned out to be true after all.  As first reported by Buster Olney, the Yankees agreed to trade Stewart to the Pirates earlier this morning.  Jon Heyman confirmed the details of the trade, which will include a player to be named later coming back to the Yankees, and the team has already issued a press release formally announcing the trade.

This move was a pretty obvious one given the current 40-man depth the Yankees have at catcher.  The writing was on the wall for Stewart the minute the team signed Brian McCann.  If the Yanks didn't move him in a trade today he would have been non-tendered.  The PTBNL most likely won't even be a fringe prospect, the real goal here from New York's side was to open up another spot on the 40-man.  That's what was done and kudos to the Yankees for at least getting something back for Stewart.

Yankees Acquire Dean Anna From San Diego

(Courtesy of Val Valdez Photography)

It's not in the same universe as trading for Chase Headley, but the Yankees and Padres hooked up for a small trade yesterday that does bring a little more infield depth to the Yankee roster.  The Yanks acquired MiL infielder Dean Anna from San Diego in exchange for High-A pitcher Ben Paullus.

Anna is a 26-year-old, lefty-swinging utility infielder who has most of his experience at second base and shortstop.  He had been in the SD system since 2008 and worked a slow and methodical climb up the ladder until he reached Triple-A last season.  In 582 PA there, Anna hit .331/.410/.482 (.400 wOBA) with 9 HR, 38 2B, 90 R scored, and solid BB and K rates (10.5% and 11.2% respectively).

He's never been much of a power guy and will likely be even less of one at the Major League level, but Anna does appear to be a step up from Corban Joseph, the player whose spot he essentially took on the 40-man roster.  He can play more positions defensively, and the fact that shortstop is one of them suggests he's got a better arm than CoJo.  While I wouldn't anticipate Anna seriously factoring into any 25-man roster competitions, he's a nice utility piece to have on hand in case of injuries.

Yanks Cover Their Shortstop Bases By Acquiring Brendan Ryan

(Courtesy of the AP)

In a move that doesn't speak positively to Derek Jeter's physical status or Eduardo Nunez's general status as a quality Major League shortstop, the Yankees traded a PTBNL to Seattle for utility infielder Brendan Ryan last night.  Jeter has been in a "holding pattern" since leaving Saturday's game with pain in his surgically-repaired ankle and Nunez still can't figure out how to be an even remotely serviceable backup shortstop defensively, so once again the Yankees found themselves without a replacement option for The Captain.  The decision was made to find a defensive upgrade over Nunez and that's exactly what they're getting in Ryan.

Yanks Closing In On Soriano

It's not a blockbuster move by any means, but it's more than the small, replacement-level moves the Yankees have been making all year, so that's something.  According to George King of The Post, the Yankees are close to finalizing a deal with the Chicago Cubs for outfielder and former Yankee Alfonso Soriano.  The Cubs are reported to be paying almost all of Soriano's remaining salary through next season so as not to affect the Yankees' 2014 payroll plans and New York is expected to send back a mid-level prospect in return.

I wrote about Soriano way back in December and touched on him again in February and nothing has really changed since then.  He's hitting .256/.286/.471 (.323 wOBA) with 17 HR this season and has been really hot in the month of July.  He still registers as an above-average corner outfielder and he hits left-handed pitching (.346 wOBA/116 wRC+ in 118 PA against LHP this season).  With the Yankees still starving for righty power, this is a move that makes sense.  It's also one that does little to elicit any real emotion.

On the one hand, the Yankees sound like they're close to addressing a major need and I look like I'm going to be right with at least one of my predictions from last week.  On the other, they'll be adding another 30-something guy on a multi-year deal who's basically a glorified platoon player.  That sheds a little light on what their strategy might be heading towards the deadline and it's not exactly an inspiring move.

What Can Reid Brignac Do For You?

In their now never-ending quest to upgrade their infield depth, however so slightly, the Yankees acquired Reid Brignac from Colorado on Friday for $75,000.  This was the second time they went back to the Rockies well in a few weeks after acquiring Chris Nelson.

As for what he can do, the honest answer is not much.  At least not offensively.  Brignac is a career .228/.270/.321 lefty hitter with a BB rate under 5% and a K rate just less than 25%.  He was only slightly exceeding those career lines in 53 PA for the Rockies, so the Yankees didn't purchase him for his offense.  What he can do is play shortstop better than anybody the Yanks have right now, and he's also useful at second or third base.  If Eduardo Nunez is going to miss another week or so, and signs point to that happening, he could be a SS platoon option with Jayson Nix.

Brignac is basically a slight upgrade over Alberto Gonzalez, and if the Yankees can slightly upgrade at a position of need for such a minimal cost then they should do it.  Gonzalez was DFA'd to clear a roster spot, and Brignac was scheduled to be the starting shortstop this afternoon, so the Yankees seem ready to put him to work and see what they can get out of him for the next few weeks.

Yanks Trade For A Little More Infield Depth

In their efforts to patch up the leaky infield situation, the Yankees made another small trade yesterday, adding Alberto Gonzalez from the Cubs for another PTBNL or cash.  You might remember Gonzalez from his days in the Yankee system from 2007-2008 and not much has changed since then.  He's still a good field/bad hit right-handed utility type who can play all four infield positions if needed.

Gonzalez won't be added to the 40-man roster.  Instead he'll be assigned to Triple-A SWB where he'll serve that utility bench role for the RailRiders and be available for call up if the injury problems continue.  Not a major move by any stretch of the imagination, but with Youkilis and Nunez still hurt, Jayson Nix still being Jayson Nix, and Chris Nelson not providing much in his playing time since being acquired, more depth isn't a bad thing.

Yanks Acquire IF Chris Nelson From Colorado

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

This story came out yesterday, but in case you missed it and AB4AR is your number one source of Yankee news, here's the deal.  The Yankees acquired utility infielder Chris Nelson from the Colorado Rockies in exchange for either cash or a PTBNL yesterday.  Nelson, 28, is a former top prospect who had been on the Yankees' radar before.  The present situation in the infield made another righty utility guy a necessity, and that's what Nelson will be brought in to be for at least the next couple weeks.

Mike Eder of IIATMS/TYA broke down Nelson's game in great detail on Monday, but the long and short of it is Nelson is an OK hitter at best (.279/.322/.416 career slash in 664 PA) and a below-average fielder at best.  As is the standard with most former Rockies, Nelson has a pretty big home/road split and defensive metrics have never rated him positively as a shortstop, second, or third baseman.  It is that positional versatility and right-handedness that made this trade happen more than anything Nelson has actually done.  With Youkilis on the DL and Nix and Nunez not doing much, the Yankees are painfully thin on the infield right now and even thinner at right-handed bench bats.  They called up Corban Joseph initially to replace Youkilis, but his lack of skill at third forced the Yanks to look elsewhere.

As far as roster moves go, Francisco Cervelli was put on the 60-day DL to open up a 40-man roster spot, and it would make sense for CoJo to get sent back down to SWB so he can continue to play every day and get ABs.  It's not a flashy move, or one that will return too many dividends.  It's simply the Yanks putting a bandage on their infield wound for the time being.

Yanks Make Small Trade, Add A Bullpen Arm

It wasn't a move to re-acquire Jesus Montero as some people have suggested, and it wasn't the dream trade for Felix Hernandez that many still desire, but the Yankees and Mariners hooked up again today in a minor deal.  The Yankees acquired right-handed reliever Shawn Kelley from Seattle for MiL outfielder Abraham Almonte.

Kelley is 28 years old, has good size at 6'2"/220, and is actually a pretty decent relief pitcher.  In 44.1 IP last season over 47 appearances, Kelley pitched to a 3.25/3.55/4.20 tripleslash with a 9.14 K/9.  He's almost exclusively a fastball-slider pitcher, and can dial the heater up to mid-90s when he needs to.  Kelley spent small parts of the last 4 seasons in the Seattle 'pen, but could never break into a regular role.  He likely won't do that with the Yankees either, but he'll be right there with Cody Eppley as an early call-up candidate if he sticks.

Almonte was a fringe prospect at best in the Yankee system, and removing him from the outfield equation helps clear up a bit of the overcrowding problem that was creeping up in the Minors.  He didn't have much of a future as a Yankee, and may not have a much better chance of upward mobility in Seattle with all the OFers they've added.

Not a bad move for the Yankees, but if Seattle is interested in dealing it would have been better to try to make a run at Casper Wells.

** UPDATE 7:32AM- Neglected to mention this last night, but another added benefit of trading for Kelley is the years of team control remaining.  Kelley is a Super Two player and has 3 years of arbitration eligibility remaining.  If they want, the Yankees can keep him through 2015 before he hits free agency. **