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Kiss ‘Em Goodbye: Laffey, Proctor, Valdes

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The Yankees announced today that Scott Proctor, Raul Valdes, and Aaron Laffey have all been outrighted off the 40-man roster. Proctor and Valdes elected free agency rather than accept the assignment to the minors while Laffey was claimed off waivers by the Royals. The trio combined for 5.40 ERA in 28.1 IP late in the year, but that’s almost entirely due to Proctor.

The moves clear three 40-man spots, but as Joe explained earlier, there’s seven players due to come off the 60-day DL after the season.

ALDS Notes: Posada, Valdes, A-Rod, Dickerson

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The Yankees workout at Yankee Stadium was rained out this afternoon, or rather the workouts on the field were cut short. I’m sure they got their work  in under the stands indoors. They have not yet released their ALDS roster, but bits and pieces have trickled out this afternoon. Let’s recap…

  • Joe Girardi said that Jorge Posada, who has had a total of 38 plate appearances over the last 31 days, will be the DH against the Tigers right-handed starters. That’s all four of them. Posada has hit a respectable .269/.348/.466 against righties this year, but I really have a hard time seeing him catching up to the heat Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer will bring. (Mark Hale)
  • Despite rumors that he could earn a postseason job, Raul Valdes will not be on the  roster. There’s really no need for a second lefty because Detroit’s only significant lefty bat is Alex Avila, who has more than held his own against southpaws this season. Valdes will go to Tampa to stay sharp for a potential ALCS role. (David Waldstein)
  • Alex Rodriguez missed last night’s game because of some soreness in his surgically repaired knee, but Girardi said that his third baseman is healthy enough to play tomorrow and remain at third base throughout the postseason. (Chad Jennings)
  • Chris Dickerson will be on the playoff roster, presumably in that fifth outfielder/defensive specialist/pinch-runner role. (Jennings)
  • In case you missed it amidst the craziness last night, Girardi announced that Freddy Garcia will start Game Three behind CC Sabathia and Ivan Nova. Sabathia will start a potential Game Four on three days rest, Nova a potential Game Five on normal rest. A.J. Burnett will work out of the  bullpen.

And finally, MLB announced umpire assignments for the four LDS matchups. Gerry Davis will be the crew chief for the Yankees-Tigers  series, and will be joined by Tony Randazzo, Eric Cooper, Dan Iassogna, Ted Barrett, and Bill Welke.

Ryan Pope designated for assignment among flurry of moves

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Via Mike Ashmore and Mark Feinsand, the Yankees have cleared space on the 40-man roster for Jesus Montero and Scott Proctor by designating Ryan Pope for assignment and placing Justin Maxwell on the 60-day DL. Think about that, Pope got DFA’d for Jesus.

In other news, Chad Jennings and Joel Sherman report that both Lance Pendleton and Raul Valdes have been called up in addition to Brandon Laird, Chris Dickerson, Montero, and Proctor, so the Yankees have plenty of pitching available tonight. Jack Curry says Hector Noesi and Aaron Laffey are next line for a call-up, but they have to wait for the ten-day period to expire before coming back to the bigs. Montero, by the way, is in the lineup tonight. He’s batting seventh as the DH, and has already caught a bullpen session.

Two thoughts on the recent transactions

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Ewww, a former Met. (Photo from Flickr user slgckgc via Creative Commons license)

Despite being the payroll champions of baseball, the Yankees have turned to the waiver wire for a pair of pickups in the last week. First they claimed lefty reliever Raul Valdes off waivers from the Cardinals, then they claimed fellow lefty reliever Aaron Laffey off waivers from the Mariners. Two minor moves, certainly, but I think they tell us something about the team’s plans for next month.

The additions mean …

… that Manny Banuelos will not be called up September. A call-up was never really a sure thing to start with, especially given Brian Cashman’s comments earlier this week. Cashman told Jack Curry yesterday that Laffey will join the big league team today and that Valdes will come up in September to be a third lefty, giving Joe Girardi some “inventory” for matchups in the season’s final month. Banuelos is already at 116 IP on the season (a career high) and doesn’t figure to go much beyond 130-140 IP on the year, so he’d have to work out of the bullpen for the big league team if they were planning to call him up after the season ends. It’s possible they still might, but adding the two southpaws this week makes it seem less likely.

Gus Molina’s DFA’ing means …

… that Jesus Montero will be a September call-up. Molina was the team’s third catcher, the only viable alternative to Montero if the Yankees wanted an extra backstop. Third catchers are a rite of September, they’re always among the first guys called up. It’s very likely that Molina will clear waivers and return to the Yankees, so yeah they probably would still be able to call him up for September, but it seems very unlikely given the way they just took him off the 40-man roster. Rumors of an imminent Montero promotion have been circulating for weeks, and sacrificing Gus’ 40-man spot seems like another indication that the team’s top prospect will be with the big league club in a little less than two weeks.

Yankees claim Raul Valdes off waivers from St. Louis

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Via Bryan Hoch and Erik Boland, the Yankees have claimed lefty reliever Raul Valdes off waivers from the Cardinals. Jeff Marquez has been 60-day DL’ed to clear up a 40-man roster spot.

Valdes, 33, had been designated for assignment earlier this week when St. Louis signed Arthur Rhodes. You might have seen him pitch with the Mets last year, his first taste of the big leagues after spending a bunch of time in various independent leagues. His splits against left-handed batters are terrible (.327/.377/.602 against in 107 PA), which isn’t all that surprising as a high-80’s fastball/mid-70’s curveball guy. Valdes definitely has minor league options left, so I expect him to go to Triple-A.