by EJ Fagan
December 2024
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NOTE: The following comes from EJ Fagan's substack page and is shared with permission. This was published a few days ago so the stats don't include the last few games.
Please check out EJ's substack page for more great articles.
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Merry Christmas! The Yankees traded Nestor Cortes and Caleb Durbin to the Milwaukee Brewers in return for Devin Williams.
It’s hard to imagine a trade where the Yankees improve their roster by this much without giving up a ton of the future. The Yankees needed a high leverage relief pitcher. Devin Williams might be the best relief pitcher in the world. Nestor Cortes did not have a spot in the Yankees rotation. They’re being paid similar amounts.
You might be concerned about Williams’ injury status. He had a serious back surgery before the 2024 season, missing four months. Then he came back and dominated:
Somehow, he got better after the injury. He threw his “airbender’ changeup a lot less than in 2023, but that doesn’t seem like a warning sign.
The Yankees bullpen is immediately transformed from a weakness to a strength. Luke Weaver moves down the depth charts. Between the two of them and the Hamilton/Cousins/Leiter group, the Yankees have lots of talent to support whatever projects Matt Blake figures out. They sure could use a lefty even beyond a Tim Hill resigning, but other than that are in excellent shape. They don’t need to go out and get a Jeff Hoffman or Tanner Scott, although they could if they want to.
They also trade Caleb Durbin. I’m very curious to see what Durbin does as a major league player. The Brewers aren’t dummies, so they must think he has some potential. But the Yankees clearly pumped him up as a potential starter in order to increase his trade value.
More importantly, losing Durbin opens up a spot in the infield. They now need to make at least one more move for a third or second baseman, on top of first base and outfield. We’ve heard lots of rumors about Kyle Tucker and Cody Bellinger, but nothing about 2nd or 3rd other than some vague interest in Alex Bregman. But I have a hard time seeing Cashman trade his Plan B if he didn’t have a good idea of what Plan A is going to be.
Now maybe lets extend Devin Williams!
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Bellinger and Lowe both suck. And too old. They move the needle zero percent.
Yes, Merry Christmas. Enjoy it now because with this offense the new year is gonna suck for the Yankees. And no, guys named Bellinger, Bregman, Santander, etc. will not make a difference. All because of the idiot GM who didn’t want to give up a mediocre starting pitcher and prospects who will likely amount to zero. Pathetic.
Let me first see first if Devin Williams a) is healthy, b) handles NY okay before offering him extension. But hasn't Luke Weaver earned an extension first, or at least alongside Williams?
Right now, I have Dominguez penciled in as the leadoff batter. I never liked Volpe as a leadoff hitter, even when he was in AA.
With Turang, Durbin, Chourio, Perkins in the lineup, the Brewers will have Murphy's Track Meet. Very different from when they had Harvey's Wallbangers 😀.