SSTN Mailbag: Trade Ideas, Bullpen, And Ben Rice!

I know a lot of Yankee fans in the Tri-State area that have zero interest in watching the World Series. Some of that is homer-ism, for sure; the Dodgers made the Yankees look bad in last year's World Series and the Blue Jays just straight outplayed the Yankees in the ALDS this year. There's also a prevailing sentiment around these parts that have made New York sports fans fair-weather followers: the second New York teams are out of it for the year, interest in that sport is non-existent. Maybe due to population density, it feels as though that sentiment is worse here than it is elsewhere. In any case, that general malaise about the World Series is real in this area, but you know what? This has been an incredibly entertaining World Series, and people who haven't tuned in have missed out.

Yamamoto proved his worth with a Complete Game masterpiece in Game 1, only to prove to the Dodgers that he was willing to risk it all the next day in Game 2 by going out to the bullpen to warm up should the Dodgers make it out of the 18th inning. Vladito has been an absolute monster all postseason, and he's really shouldered a lot for the Blue Jays throughout the season. Both teams have gotten good pitching performances, and though the Dodgers look diminished from last season, I think this has been a worthy installment of the World Series. I'm looking forward to Game 6 tonight, but I'm not looking forward to a long winter without baseball.

As always, thanks for the great questions and keep them coming to SSTNReadermail@gmail.com. In this week's SSTN Mailbag, we'll talk about some trade targets and the Yankees' internal roster dynamics, rebuilding the bullpen, and look closer at Ben Rice! Let's get at it:

Fantasyfb3313 asks: Skenes over Skubal is miles beyond obvious. that said, I think it is very possible detroit is going to be listening, likely more on Skubal, and Pitt is likely not listening to anything that is not a significant overpay.

the years is nearly the entire reason

I am curious about your statement that Skenes is the better pitcher. that is NOT to say I doubt it. i can see the possibility that Skenes is perhaps a future legend / HOFer and Skubal could be more like??? oh Johan Santana? someone who was very dominant for3-5 years but maybe only a borderline HOF

I probably should have just started with, I have not watched either one of them enough to pretend to be an expert

would you explain a bit more why you stated what you did?

related and maybe more to the point for a Yankee discussion- I am EXTREMELY curious that you include Jdom and not Jones in your proposal. I am not saying I would include both!! I am saying I am surprised about the one you chose!!

are you convinced that Jones is the better player?

1 I think Jones is and very well could always be the better defender

2 I think it is possible that Jones did figure something out this year and he will be able to hit

3 point 2 seems far from proven and I also think it is a VERY valid possibility that Jones will NEVER be a good MLB hitter

4 I think it is extremely likely that the ceiling for Jones as a MLB player is Joey Gallo. Gallo had some good years as an MLB player!! a player like that DOES have value!!! but I have to believe that any moderately intelligent person would trade 20 Joey Gallo's for Paul Skenes every day and double that on Sunday

regarding Jdom- you do not trust his future as a hitter?

1 he has ALWAYS been known to have power that is top of the charts. I believe that shows up in 2026

2 I believe given opportunity he becomes a good enough hitter from the RH side. MANY young switch hitters needed TIME to be good enough on both sides. I did not look it up, but I think even De la Cruz is quite bad from one side. the difference being they KNOW they are keeping him in the lineup no matter what!!

3 do you think he is going to stink forever defensively? there have been players who were once bad defensively and became good! I believe it is possible for Jdom. I also believe it is possible that he just improves enough to be considered an average defender

the conclusion being that I see Jdom as a far far safer bet to be a valuable MLB player and I am not sure the ceiling is that different from one player to the other. one player, Jdom, has a better floor and their ceilings are similar. I am curious what you see differently?

There's a lot to unpack here. It's really close, but yes, I believe that Skenes is a better pitcher than Skubal, but that's also like preferring Prosciutto di Parma to Jamon Iberico; you win either way. That said, both Skenes and Skubal are large bodies that appear built to handle innings and sustain huge stuff for years to come.

Skubal's fastballs and change-up are ridiculous, and he backs it up with good breaking stuff that would be someone else's go-to putout pitch. He doesn't allow hard contact with any frequency, and Skubal has really come into his own as a pitcher. He knows his stuff, he commands it brilliantly, and he sequences pitches expertly.

Skenes is younger, even more physically gifted, and has a similar feel for a much wider arsenal. Skenes' stuff is more physically devastating than Skubal's, and Skenes' larger, longer frame releases those pitches closer to home plate due to height and good extension. Skenes is still perfecting sequencing, but the upside with Skenes is, unbelievably, higher than it is for Skubal. Skenes commands 5 out of his 7 offerings at an above-average level. His slightly elevated walk rate has more to do with the extreme movement he gets on his pitches than it does with an questions about control. I have a very strong feeling that if you put Paul Skenes in front of an average defense, his numbers would look even better, making this argument less surprising. In fact, xERA believes that Skenes has been ever-so-slightly better than Skubal at run prevention over the last two years. Again, I'd take either guy in a heartbeat, but between the inherent talent and the added years of team control, I'll take Skenes.

Now, why did I include Dominguez in my mock entry proposal (which was, of course, too light, but it would get the conversation started) instead of Spencer Jones? It's really simple: Dominguez is an asset with far greater value at the moment. Yes, Jones had an impressive year down on the farm. Jones plays good defense in the outfield and has proven now that he can convert prodigious raw power into home runs in upper level games, but the significant pitch recognition and strikeout concerns have not yet been alleviated, and many doubt that they ever will. I am sure that there are organizations that would rank Jones in the top-35 prospects in all of baseball, but there are also those that see him as little more than a raw project. That's a wide array of outcomes.

Even the most sour of evaluators believed that Dominguez would hit from the left side of the plate, which gives him a floor for MLB value; Jones doesn't have that. Dominguez proved that he can hit MLB pitching over a full season at 22 years old. Though it felt like a disappointment to Yankee fans, the reality is that Dominguez's rookie season showed a fair number of positives. He controls the strike zone beautifully from both sides of the plate, makes plenty of impactful contact from the left side, very clearly has potential to add performance from both sides, and is an excellent baserunner and base-stealer. Again, those are things he's already proven at the big league level, largely justifying his consensus top-50 prospect ranking. Is he Mike Trout or Hank Aaron? No, but he still has significantly more value on the trade market than Jones.

I have always been the low-man around here on Jones. Before a back injury nuked his last month and change, I saw some positive improvements from Jones, but I also think that AAA pitching staffs are terribly diluted compared to 10 years ago. There remain huge holes in his swing, and I'm not convinced Jones will be successful at the MLB level. Joey Gallo was mentioned in the question above, but remember: Joey Gallo had a 3-4 year run as an All-Star caliber player, albeit one with significant flaws. Jones would be thrilled to have Gallo's peak.

Dominguez has already established that he is an MLB caliber player; Jones has not. I still very much believe in Dominguez's future as a baseball player. I still think he is going to produce commensurate with other All-Stars at his peak. We knew that his swing from the right side would take some time, and he made strides as the season went along. The Yankees really did not set Dominguez up for success in LF, so the disaster we saw out there isn't all on Dominguez. I also believe (and see evidence in the numbers) that Dominguez got better out in LF as the year went along. Remember, Dominguez mostly caught and played SS when the Yankees signed him as a teenager, and then he lost an entire year of games to COVID. Dominguez is as raw out there as any rookie in recent memory, yet he held his own. I strongly believe that his work ethic combined with his obvious natural talent will make him passable in the outfield eventually. That, combined with a bat that I think will work at the top of a batting order eventually, has a lot of value. Again, offering Dominguez instead of Jones in any hypothetical trade is more a recognition of the difference in their trade values.

Fuster asks: at the beginning of the season. Rodon and Cole may not be all that far behind

SO, given the ripening pitching prospects in the Yankee system. the organization is not forced to sign another big-buck free agent starter or forced to make a huge trade for one.

what they really do need to do is to restock the bullpen.

they can count on Bednar, Doval, Cruz

they have a few other reliever leftovers

and they have a large sum of money to spend. (figure ~ $25M)

how would you suggest that they spend it?

prospect or free agent reliever, how can they be sure that they enter the season with a fearsomely effective eight big bad bulls?

I think that money should be spent mostly elsewhere on the roster, as I don't see that many transformative options on the free agent market that will cost a lot of money to fill out the bullpen. To get themselves more firepower in the bullpen, I think the Yankees are going to need to utilize the trade market and convert some of their starting pitching depth in the minor leagues to the bullpen, at least temporarily.

I have long been very intrigued by the old school method of breaking in pitchers at the big league level. Traditionally, guys took a seat in the bullpen for a period of time before breaking into the rotation upon first reaching the Majors. Teams went away from that for a long time, but I think the practice has a lot of value. Pitchers learn how to sequence their best pitches to get outs when they pitch out of the bullpen. They learn how big league hitters will try to attack them. They learn what's missing from their arsenals in a more protected fashion while still helping the team. On that front, I think the Yankees have a few young starters who might be well served by breaking into the big leagues in that fashion.

Off the top of my head, here are the pitchers I would try to utilize in the bullpen at some point in the season's second half next year:

• Carlos Lagrange

• Ben Hess

• Bryce Cunningham

• Brock Selvidge

• Xavier Rivas

Lagrange, Hess, and Cunningham are all guys who throw very hard and have at least one secondary offering that would play up a half grade out of the bullpen. Selvidge and Rivas are both guys with stuff that might tick up a grade in short outings, which would make their stuff MLB-caliber. Each of these guys pitches with some fire on the mound and their demeanor would be conducive to short, pressure-packed outings. I really hope we see one or two of these guys get some bullpen time next year.

Otherwise, we have the trade market and overstock in the current rotation in the second half of next season (hopefully). I fully expect one of Luis Gil or Clarke Schmidt to find themselves in the bullpen by late August. That said, I foresee a trade or two coming for bullpen arms.

David G. asks: I've seen a lot of talk about potentially trading Ben Rice this off-season. What gives? Is there something I'm missing and is his performance likely to be a one hit wonder?

Teams across the league have been very interested in Ben Rice for a couple of years now, and the Yankees have consistently resisted calls asking for him in a trade. We see why: Ben Rice is now a legitimate middle-of-the-order threat from the left side, can at least moonlight behind the plate, and is improving at 1B. No, I don't believe Rice is a flash in the pan; to the contrary, I think there's evidence that he got unlucky this year and should have been even better.

I went to see Rice for the first time soon after he reached AA, and expected to say that he was a nice story that didn't have a big league future. I came away from that look with a changed mind, and I've believed in him ever since at the plate (though I don't believe he can catch more than once per week, and even that's stretching it).

Ben Rice has a lot of trade value, particularly for teams who believe he can catch. I'm not saying that I'd put Rice on the "no-trade" list, but the Yankees would need to be getting a generational piece in return (I'd imagine a trade like that would look like Rice plus a lot). That said, I'm hoping he keeps the pinstripes - I think he's a keeper.