SSTN Mailbag: Infield Configuration, Underrated Prospect, And Hal's Comments!

I genuinely believed it when I said last week that things would get back to normal once I returned stateside. Unfortunately, life has other plans sometimes. I've been sick as a dog (my condolences to the dog) all week, so my focus isn't quite what it normally is. Thus, the intro to this week's Mailbag will be a bit shorter than typical, but I did make an effort to produce my typical length and quality responses to questions that came in.

I'll leave you all with one thought: how are we less than two weeks away from pitchers and catchers?!?!? Every time I look at the calendar, I'm amazed at how fast this offseason has moved along. I miss baseball, and can't wait to see its return.

As always, thanks for the great questions and keep them coming to SSTNReadermail@gmail.com. In this week's SSTN Mailbag, we'll discuss the potential infield configuration, identify a prospect who is currently flying under the radar, and evaluate Hal Steinbrenner's recent comments to Meredith Marakovits. Let's get at it:

Anthony D. asks: I am at the point where I think the Yankees will do what they've done for the last few years and go into the season without a full roster of players. If that's true, how do you see the infield being configured and will it be competitive?

Like everyone else, I have very real concerns about the Yankees' infield at the moment. They are at least one infielder short of a championship quality infield. Most Yankee fans will be relieved to know that the team is planning to play Jazz Chisholm at 2B this season, despite his flip to 3B on the fly last season. I'm all for allowing your best players the opportunity to play their best positions on the defensive spectrum (Chisholm at 2B and Judge in RF, for example), but not without a legitimate plan for what happens elsewhere.

The reality is that the overall performance of the infield really depends on the growth of the last set of top-100 prospects the Yankees graduated in recent seasons: Anthony Volpe and Austin Wells. If Volpe and Wells take significant steps forward offensively and Goldschmidt and Chisholm produce reasonably well, the Yankees can afford to go defense-first at 3B. If Goldy's overall offensive decline was real last season and Wells and Volpe stall out, this could be a very poor performing infield.

Right now, I'm not sure how many realistic options are out there at 3B that represent a real upgrade for the Yankees. That's not saying much at all considering what the Yankees' internal options are at this moment, so I think all of us are hoping that someone will shake free that makes sense or the Yanks catch lightning in a bottle with a non-roster invite during Spring Training.

To answer the question more directly, I think that the only position up for grabs at the moment, if we take the Yankees' recent words at face value, is 3B. The candidates there are pretty clear: Oswaldo Cabrera, Oswald Peraza, and DJ LeMahieu. All have significant issues, but we know that already. Cabrera fits better as a super utility player than an everyday option; Peraza has failed to breakthrough despite his prospect pedigree, and we really don't know if he'll ever hit; and DJ LeMahieu might very well be cooked as a Major League caliber player. On the fringes of the discussion are JC Escarra and Jesus Rodriguez, both of whom are capable catchers in the minors, but also can play 3B, though I can't imagine that the Yankees would commit to either as an option at 3B to begin the season.

Of the above options, Oswaldo Cabrera is pretty clearly the best all-around option against righties. Cabrera is good defensively at 3B (though his arm was lighter than expected last season), and he was sneaky effective as a hitter when batting left-handed, batting .268/.320/.409 with 8 HR in 242 Plate Appearances, good for a 105 OPS+. As underwhelming as seeing Oswaldo Cabrera penciled into the lineup in 2/3 of games might seem, he actually might be a better option than almost everyone available in the non-Bregman category.

However, Cabrera needs a platoon partner, as he struggled mightily against left-handed pitching. That's where Peraza and LeMahieu come in. If Cabrera gets one half of a platoon, Peraza and LeMahieu should battle it out for the other, lighter half. We know that Peraza grades very highly defensively, and I'm sure he'd be excellent at 3B. His minor league stats also indicate that as recently as last season, he mashes lefties relative to his modest production against righties. Oswaldo Cabrera's stats from last season in all opportunities equate to a roughly 2.0 bWAR with a full season's worth of plate appearances. Peraza's defense with even slightly below-average performance offensively combined with Cabrera's likely strong overall performance against righties makes this platoon...surprisingly solid from a projection perspective. Keep LeMahieu on the bench and hope he has some health, which might just wake up his bat.

This isn't an exciting option, nor is it the one I wanted the Yankees to go into the season with...but I can squint and find a way to make it work. I've long been the low man on Peraza and the high man on Cabrera, so take the things I'm writing with a grain of salt, but maybe platooning these two wouldn't be so bad after all.

Brian asks: You haven't written about prospects in a long time and I've always liked reading your opinions about prospects not everyone knows about, like Caleb Durbin a few years ago. Can you name one under the radar prospect who might breakout this year? Or at least pop up [o]n prospect lists?

Yes! There's one guy I'm writing a longer post about, and I think he might have the best combination of stuff and pitchability in the Yankee system: Cam Schlittler. Many of the publicly available scouting reports on Schlittler are either well out-of-date or simply defy what is clear on video and with some basic statistics available through minor league Statcast, so I think Schlittler is a guy Yankee fans will learn a lot more about this year.

Without spoiling my post, here's the quick hit. He's very tall, but his delivery is that of someone much shorter, as he doesn't use his height to his advantage in his delivery. However, he has real swing and miss stuff, particularly his four-seam fastball, which is easily plus on stuff alone, but plays down due to his delivery. He needs to really refine his pitch mix and command, but he does appear to have a feel for spin and an arm slot that might be conducive to some tweaks to his current arsenal. I have a feeling that the Yankees will help Schlittler tweak his arsenal in such a way that his arsenal grades significantly higher than it does currently. Schlittler will almost certainly appear on top-20 and top-30 lists for the Yankees this year, but his true talent level is that of a top-10 prospect if he can maximize his potential. Schlittler is my pick for an under-the-radar prospect with upside.

David B. asks: Can you please let me know your thoughts about Hal's recent comments about payroll and the Dodgers?

I don't think I'm allowed to write my unfiltered thoughts in print on a family-friendly website, but I'll give it my best shot. Hal's comments are simply another point of evidence that proves definitively that Hal's core concerns about making a profit, not necessarily putting the best team on the field for the fans lining his pockets. He has proven that he is willing to spend significant sums of money, only to stop short due to arbitrary financial standards and restraints.

The Dodgers are now the Yankees of the previous half century, and good for them. I'll never have an issue with a team that spends to their fullest capability to put a winner on the field. The Yankees are sadly not in that category, and it makes me sad as a Yankee fan. As a result, I don't spend my hard-earned money to the extent I might supporting the team. If Hal can do it, so can I.