Matt Harvey Archives - River Avenue Blues

2018 Trade Deadline Rumors: Tuesday

July 31, 2018 by Mike Leave a Comment

A lefty bat worth squeezing between Judge and Stanton. (Rob Carr/Getty)

The 2018 non-waiver trade deadline is 4pm ET today and wow have the Yankees been busy. The busiest team in baseball over the last week or so, right? Feels like it. The Yankees have completed six trades in the last six days, some more impactful than others. A recap:

Dillon Tate, Josh Rogers, and Cody Carroll for Zach Britton. (RAB post)
Brandon Drury and Billy McKinney for J.A. Happ. (RAB post)
Chasen Shreve and Gio Gallegos for Luke Voit and $1M in international bonus money. (RAB post)
Caleb Frare for $1.5M in international bonus money. (RAB post)
Adam Warren for $1.25M in international bonus money. (RAB post)
Tyler Austin and Luis Rijo for Lance Lynn. (RAB post)

Eleven players out, four players and $3.75M worth of international bonus money in. Know what the crazy thing is? I am not at all convinced the Yankees are done. They could still use another outfielder (because Aaron Judge is hurt) as well as a catcher (because Gary Sanchez is hurt). Plus more pitching. I’d rather have too much than not enough.

We’re once again going to keep track of the day’s Yankees-related rumors right here, so make sure you check back for updates. The Yankees have made so many moves already that I can’t promise many rumors today, they might in fact be done, but I am open to being surprised. Chat about all the day’s trade deadline rumors and activity here.

2:28pm ET: The Yankees will not be getting Cameron Maybin. He’s been traded to the Mariners. The Yankees reportedly remain in the hunt for a right-handed outfield bat, however.
11:10am ET: The Yankees want a right-handed outfield bat to help cover for Judge, though they were not in on Tommy Pham, who was traded to the Rays. They want someone comfortable with a bench role. [Joel Sherman]
10:49am ET: The Yankees have “zero interest” in Matt Harvey, and that was even before the Happ and Lynn trades. Not surprised. I couldn’t see the Yankees bringing him back to New York, especially since there’s little reason to believe he can pitch well in Yankee Stadium. [Andy Martino]
10:36am ET: You can stop fantasizing about Harper now. “Bryce is not going anywhere. I believe in this team,” said Nationals GM Mike Rizzo this morning. [Chelsea Janes]
10:21am ET: The Yankees have discussed Brad Ziegler with the Marlins. Unless there would be another deal coming a la Warren/Lynn, I’m not sure where he fits. Maybe they’re trying to drive up the price for the Red Sox, who have been connected to Ziegler. [Feinsand]
10:20am ET: The Yankees are expected to add an outfielder today. Expecting to add an outfielder and actually adding an outfielder are two different things though. [Ken Rosenthal, Feinsand]
10:09am ET: The Yankees have spoken to the Mets about Jose Bautista. The Mets don’t want to give him away though, plus the chances of a Yankees-Mets trade are always small. [Heyman]
9:30am ET: In case you missed it last night, the Nationals have made Bryce Harper available. The Yankees haven’t checked in as far as we know, but still, this is pretty noteworthy. [Mark Feinsand]
9:30am ET: The Yankees are among the teams with interest in impending free agent Andrew McCutchen. The Giants insist they’re not ready to sell even though they’ve fallen out of the race. McCutchen is definitely someone who could be on the move in August. [Jon Morosi]
9:30am ET: The Yankees have also checked in on Curtis Granderson and Cameron Maybin, so they’re casting a wide net for an outfielder in the wake of Judge’s injury. I’d be all for a Granderson reunion. The R2C2 podcast episode alone would make it worth it. [Morosi, Jon Heyman]

Reminder: Your trade proposal sucks.

Trade Deadline Notes: Harvey, Happ, Ross, Royals, Tigers

July 7, 2018 by Mike Leave a Comment

Later today the Yankees and Blue Jays will continue their three-game weekend series with the middle game. That’s a 4:07pm ET start. Here are some trade deadline notes to check out in the meantime.

Harvey “not high” on Yankees’ list

The kinda maybe possibly good again Matt Harvey is “not high” on the Yankees’ list of trade targets, reports Jon Heyman. Heyman says that, among other things, the Yankees are worried about a “potential circus” that would follow Harvey’s return to New York. Yeah, it sure would create a media frenzy. That’s for sure. I’m sure the Yankees would happily live with the headache if Harvey were still a no-doubt ace, but that is no longer the case.

Harvey owns a 4.91 ERA (4.67 FIP) in 80.2 total innings this season, though he’s been better since being traded to the Reds, pitching to a 3.86 ERA (4.20 FIP) in 53.2 innings. He’s been especially good the last three times out, allowing only three runs with a 14/2 K/BB in 18.1 innings against contending teams (Cubs, Braves, Brewers). Jay Jaffe had a good breakdown of Harvey’s revival. Strip away the name and I don’t think the current version of Harvey generates much buzz as a trade candidate. Meh.

Yankees are “main player” for Happ

According to Heyman, the Yankees are a “main player” for J.A. Happ and he’s either at or near the top of their deadline shopping list. The Brewers and Mariners are said to have interest as well, and I’m sure other teams will enter the mix before the trade deadline. The Yankees will get (another) firsthand look at Happ later this afternoon, when he takes the mound at Rogers Centre in the middle game of this three-game series.

The 35-year-old Happ is sitting on a 4.03 ERA (3.64 FIP) after getting clobbered for seven runs in 5.2 innings against the Tigers last time out. Prior to that he had a more palatable 3.62 ERA (3.58 FIP) in 97 innings. I think Happ is the best available rental in a pretty crummy market. A quality southpaw who is familiar with the AL East would be a welcome addition to the rotation. The trade that sent Scott Kazmir from the Athletics to the Astros in 2015 seems like a decent trade benchmark. The A’s landed two top 20 organizational prospects (Daniel Mengden and Jacob Nottingham) in that deal.

Yankees don’t have much interest in Ross

The Yankees do not have as much interest in Tyson Ross as they do other trade targets like Happ and Michael Fulmer, reports Lindsey Alder (subs. req’d). The 31-year-old Ross is on a dirt cheap one-year contract with the last place Padres and chances are he’ll be traded before the deadline. San Diego would be silly to keep him when they could turn him into a prospect or two. Rebuilding teams sign reclamation projects like Ross specifically so they can flip them for prospects.

So far this season Ross has a 3.78 ERA (4.31 FIP) in exactly 100 innings, though, like Happ, his last start was disaster (seven runs in five innings). Prior to that Ross had a 3.32 ERA (3.87 FIP) in 95 innings. His strikeout (21.4%) and ground ball (43.8%) rates aren’t nearly as good as they were before his 2016-17 arm problems. I see Ross as more of a secondary target a la Jaime Garcia last year. Someone to add for depth. Not someone you’re counting on to really make a difference, you know?

Reds, Tigers, Royals all scouting Yankees

The Reds, Tigers, and Royals have all been scouting the Yankees in recent weeks, according to George King. The Royals had a scout on hand Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday at Yankee Stadium while Reds had someone in the Bronx on Monday and Tuesday. Kansas City has also been scouting Double-A Trenton. The Tigers, meanwhile, have been covering the farm system thoroughly. Undoubtedly other teams are scouting the system as well.

I think it’s safe to assume the Tigers are doing their due diligence in advance of a potential Fulmer trade. The Reds have Harvey and Raisel Iglesias — would they move Luis Castillo? — while the Royals have Danny Duffy and Mike Moustakas, who I supposed could play first base. It might seem like a stretch that the Yankees would trade an MLB roster player(s) for any of those guys, but Jonathan Loaisiga started Monday and Domingo German started Tuesday. I don’t think the Yankees would make either off-limits. I’m not saying they should trade them. But they would in the right deal, for sure.

The Yankees reportedly won’t pursue Matt Harvey, and there are two reasons they’re smart to pass

May 7, 2018 by Mike Leave a Comment

Over the weekend the Mets made headlines when they cut ties with Matt Harvey, their former ace, and designated him for assignment rather than continue to try to get him right. Harvey allowed 21 runs in 27 innings before being designated, and since coming back from Thoracic Outlet Syndrome surgery last year, he has a 6.77 ERA (6.22 FIP) in 119.2 innings. Egads.

There is only one way this ends: Harvey will become a free agent. The Mets have until Sunday to trade, release, or waive him, but I highly doubt a team will trade something for him when they know he’ll be a free agent within a week. Either the Mets will release Harvey, or he’ll clear waivers — a near certainty given him $5.625M salary — and he’ll elect free agency. He’ll be a free agent able to sign with any team for the pro-rated league minimum.

Harvey, 29, refused a Triple-A stint before being designated. That is his collectively bargained right as a player with more than five years of service time. Whichever team signs Harvey will likely want him to make a few minor league tune-up starts, and agent Scott Boras indicated to Joel Sherman that Harvey is willing to pitch in the minors for another team despite refusing to do so with the Mets.

“(The Mets) wanted him to pitch in the minors. We agreed that was not the best situation to work again on a Major League level as a starter,” said Boras to Sherman. “Going into a new organization you can map out an approach. Once you are sent to the minors by the Mets, they have total control of how long you are there. There is no forecast. It is, ‘We will see how you do.'”

Given who he is and what he’s accomplished in his career — Harvey was a legitimate ace-caliber pitcher from 2012-15 — and the fact the Yankees could are in perpetual need of more pitching, it’s only natural to wonder whether Harvey could land in the Bronx. Don’t count on it though. Brendan Kuty hears it’s not going to happen. “Don’t bet on it,” heard Kuty from a source. Yeah. There are likely two reasons the Yankees won’t aggressively pursue Harvey.

1. He’s simply isn’t any good these days. Sad but true. Injuries have sabotaged Harvey’s career. He had Tommy John surgery and Thoracic Outlet Syndrome surgery, two procedures that are bad on their own, and nearly impossible to recover from when combined. Chris Carpenter is pretty much the only guy who’s come back from both surgeries to have success. Luke Hochevar had the same surgeries at the same time as Harvey and has yet resume pitching.

Harvey threw 216 innings during the Mets’ run to the World Series in 2015, the most ever by a pitcher in his first year back from Tommy John surgery. Since the start of 2016, he has a 5.93 ERA (5.02 FIP) with 17.1% strikeouts and 8.5% walks in 212.1 innings. Pretty crummy. Yes, Harvey is very naturally talented, but the injuries have made him unable to do the things he once did. There’s not much reason to believe the old Harvey is coming back after those injuries.

2. He comes with off-the-field baggage. Fair or not, the perception is Harvey’s a headache. He’s had a few off-the-field incidents — nothing serious like an arrest, he’s just a party guy — and it’s a distraction. Harvey went to a restaurant opening in Los Angeles when the Mets were in San Diego last week and it became a Very Big Deal. This is the way Harvey is covered. Everything is presented in a negative light and it hangs over the team.

Those headaches are something teams are willing to deal with when a guy is pitching like an ace. When he’s throwing batting practice like Harvey, it’s no longer worth it. The Mets know him better than anyone — they know his personality, his health, his work ethic, all that — and they decided to simply cut their losses and dump their erstwhile ace. An unceremonious end to what was a very exciting time in Flushing. The Yankees have a great thing going right now and they don’t want to bring in anyone who could disrupt the clubhouse.

* * *

Domingo German was great yesterday afternoon, but there’s no such thing as too much pitching, and the Yankees could use another starter with Montgomery out. Harvey is a big name and he does have pedigree, but injuries (moreso than the off-the-field stuff) have turned him into a shell of what he once was. It sucks. Baseball is cruel. Some team will sign him — an NL team with a big park always makes sense in these situation — because guys like Harvey always get second and third and fourth chances.

Keep in mind Harvey has a say in this process too, and while he grew up a Yankees fan in Connecticut, attempting to rebuild value in Yankee Stadium probably isn’t the best move at this point of his career. A non-contender in a big park who can run him out there every five days and let him take his lumps is the best spot for him. There is no such thing as a bad minor league contract and hey, maybe the Yankees will sign Harvey anyway. It just seems the potential reward isn’t very high at this point, and the potential headaches just aren’t worth it.