Yankees Find Jeter's Replacement: Hot Stove 12/6

News

Former pitcher Ryan Dempster, who last pitched for the Red Sox in 2013, officially retired after going 132-133 with a 4.35 ERA over his 16 year career with the Marlins (1998-2002), Reds (2002-2003), Cubs (2004-2012), Rangers (2012), and Red Sox (2013).

The Rays hired Kevin Cash to be their new manager.

Nationals outfielder Jayson Werth was sentenced to ten days in jail after driving over 100 miles per hour on I-495.

Free Agent Signings

Yankees signed Andrew Miller (5-5, 2.02 ERA, 0.80 WHIP, 1 SV, 2015 age: 30) to a four year, $36 million deal ($9 million per season).

Rangers resigned Michael Kirkman (0-1, 1.59 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 2015 age: 28) to a minor league deal.

Indians signed Adam Moore (0 HR, 1 RBI, .200 AVG, 0 SB, 2015 age: 31) to a minor league deal.

By picking up Andrew Miller, the Yankees got arguably the best left handed reliever in the game aside from Aroldis Chapman. Even if they don’t bring David Robertson back, a combination of Miller and Dellin Betances will do the Yankees just fine. Miller struggled as a starter from 2007-2011, and he didn’t quite get his career going until he transitioned to relief with the Red Sox in 2012. After two solid seasons in 2012 and 2013, he absolutely took off with an incredible 2014 season that netted him the largest contract ever given to a left handed reliever, $36 million (the previous record, held by Jeremy Affeldt, was $18 million over three years). While Miller was very good with Boston before the trade to Baltimore, going 3-5 with a 2.34 ERA and a 0.90 WHIP over 50 appearances, he was absolutely unhittable after the trade. In 23 appearances with Baltimore, the 6’7” UNC alum went 2-0 with a 1.35 ERA, a 0.60 WHIP, and 34 strikeouts in 20 innings. He was even better in the playoffs, tossing 7.1 shutout innings on just one hit and one walk over five appearances, bringing his total ERA with the Orioles down to 0.99 and his WHIP to 0.51 over 28 appearances. That’s crazy. If he can put up anything close to what he did in Baltimore, the Yankees will be very happy with their $36 million purchase.

Trades

In a three team trade, the Diamondbacks sent Didi Gregorius (6 HR, 27 RBI, .226 AVG, 3 SB, 2015 age: 25) to the Yankees, while the Yankees sent Shane Greene (5-4, 3.78 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 2015 age: 26) to the Tigers and the Tigers sent Robbie Ray (1-4, 8.16 ERA, 1.88 WHIP, 2015 age: 23) and minor leaguer Domingo Leyba (2 HR, 24 RBI, .323 AVG, 2 SB at Low Class A and Class A, 2015 age: 19).

The Yankees have acquired the guy they want to be the replacement for Derek Jeter. Didi Gregorius may not quite be the face of baseball, and he isn’t a perennial .300 hitter, but Gregorius will get the job done. Aside from having one of the best names in baseball (to make his name even cooler, his real first name is Mariekson), Gregorius is a slick defender with one of the best shortstop arms in the game. The native of the Netherlands is still just 24, so he will have plenty of time to grow into his role with the Yankees. Didi’s best season came in 2013, when he hit seven home runs while batting .252 and scoring 47 times with the Diamondbacks. Interestingly, this is neither Gregorius’ nor the Yankees, D-Backs, and Tigers’ first experience with a three team trade. Gregorius was shipped from Cincinnati to Arizona in the three team 2012 trade that saw Shin-Soo Choo sent from Cleveland to Cincinnati. Likewise, the Yankees, D-Backs, and Tigers all took part in a three team trade in 2009 that included Austin Jackson, Curtis Granderson, Max Scherzer, Ian Kennedy, and others.

The Detroit Tigers picked up a young, low risk starter in Shane Greene. Greene had a successful debut season with the Yankees in 2014, going 5-4 with a 3.78 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP over 15 games (14 starts). While being very hittable has been a problem for him, Greene will have a chance to learn to keep runners off base in Detroit while slotting into a rotation that might lose Max Scherzer. As of now, David Price, Justin Verlander, Anibal Sanchez, Rick Porcello, and Kyle Lobstein make up Detroit’s rotation, and Greene (as well as Drew VerHagen) will have a chance to knock Lobstein out. The Tigers have shown interest in trading either David Price or Rick Porcello, and the Greene trade enables them to do so even if they don’t resign Scherzer.

The Diamondbacks may have given up the heir to the Jeter thrown at Yankee Stadium, but they did get two solid prospects in return. Robbie Ray was not much of a prospect until a huge 2013 that saw him go 11-5 with a 3.36 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP for High Class A Potomac and AA Harrisburg. After that, the Nationals flipped him to Detroit in the Doug Fister deal, where he lost some of his glamour. He put up decent numbers at AAA Toledo (7-6, 4.22 ERA), but he couldn’t keep hitters off base (leading to a 1.50 WHIP) and he didn’t fare well in the majors. Between two separate call-ups, Ray went 1-4 with an 8.16 ERA over nine games (six starts). The Diamondbacks also got Domingo Leyba, a 19 year old second baseman who’s played extremely well in the little professional exposure he’s had. He batted .348 with five home runs and 16 stolen bases in 57 games for the Dominican Summer League Tigers as a 17 year old in 2013, then batted .323 with a pair of home runs in 67 games for Low Class A Connecticut and Class A West Michigan as an 18 year old in 2014. He does not strike out a lot and he won’t turn 20 until after the minor league season is over in 2015.

Waiver Claims

White Sox claimed J.B. Shuck (2 HR, 9 RBI, .145 AVG, 2 SB, 2015 age: 27-28) off waivers from the Indians.

Dodgers claimed Ryan Lavarnway (no hits in ten at bats, 2015 age: 27) off waivers from the Red Sox.

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HR: home runs. RBI: runs batted in. AVG: batting average. SB: stolen bases. ERA: earned run average. WHIP: walks/hits per innings pitched. K’s: strikeouts. WPCT: winning percentage

Zack Silverman