Yankees GM Cashman on Guzman, Devers, second base situation
By Sam Dykstra/MiLB.com
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — The story of the first day of the Winter Meetings has undoubtedly been the Yankees acquisition of National League MVP Giancarlo Stanton. The former Marlins slugger donned pinstripes for the first time in an introductory press conference Monday at the Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel, completing a deal that New York general manager Brian Cashman said wasn’t settled until that morning.
For those who follow the Minors, there was some intrigue than just the game’s reigning home run champion moving from South Beach to the Bronx. He is, in fact, not the first to switch sides between those two clubs this offseason.
No, this isn’t about Derek Jeter.
Under the Jeter ownership group, Gary Denbo left the Yankees to become Miami’s vice president of player development and scouting this winter. He also brought along Dan Greenlee to become Marlins director of player personnel. While negotiating with the Marlins and general manager Derek Hill, Cashman knew he’d be talking to people who had an intimate knowledge of his own farm system because just weeks prior, they had helped to run it.
The Marlins ended up taking hard-throwing right-hander Jorge Guzman and shortstop Jose Devers, along with Major League infielder Starlin Castro, in the deal that sent Stanton to New York. Particularly in the case of Devers —an 18-year-old shortstop who is considered an impressive defender but who hit just .246/.359/.348 with 15 steals over 42 games in the Gulf Coast League — Cashman saw Denbo and Greenlee’s influence in the acquisitions.
“Jose Devers is a young talent that someone like a Gary Denbo and a Dan Greenlee would know a lot about, moreso than anybody else around the game,” said the Yankees executive. “He has a tremendous upside. He’s far away, but he’s got tremendous upside. I think their knowledge of our system [had an effect]. We gave up talent that we didn’t want to give up, but obviously, you have to give up something to get something of Giancarlo Stanton’s situation.”
That said, Guzman is easily the better prospect included in Monday’s trade. The 21-year-old right-hander has become Miami’s №3 prospect because of his ability to hit triple-digits. He showed improved control this season at Class A Short Season Staten Island — something atypical of hard throwers — and finished with an impressive 2.30 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 88 strikeouts and 18 walks in 66 2/3 innings.
He remains a raw talent — that was career high for frames and he’s yet to pitch for a full-season affiliate. Those questions didn’t keep teams from calling about Guzman, according to his old general manager.
“The arm we gave up in Guzman is high-octane,” Cashman said. “I’ve been a GM now for 20 years. It’s unusual for having [that combo of talent and performance]. We got him as a second piece in the Houston Astros deal, but ever since we got him and ever since he’s been performing the way he was all through last year and getting better and better and better and adding the performance to match the talent. His name was being asked about at the deadline last year to this winter. He was a very highly sought-after player.”
While Castro is not a Minor Leaguer, his inclusion in the deal could have a direct influence on several pinstriped prospects, including the one at the top.
Cashman was asked Monday about the possibility of №1 overall prospect Gleyber Torres taking over at second base. That would be an intriguing way to get Torres’ special bat in the New York lineup while allowing Didi Gregroius to remain at shortstop. Torres made 10 starts at second base between Double-A Trenton and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre last season before undergoing season-ending Tommy John surgery on his left elbow in June.
Because the procedure was on his non-throwing arm, the Yankees aren’t too worried about Torres’ health, but it’s likely he’ll return to the International League for more seasoning. Still, Cashman didn’t immediately rule him out, naming Torres alongside Major Leaguers Ronald Torreyes and Tyler Wade and №16 prospect Thairo Estrada as potential Castro replacements.
“Our second base situation is going to play out one way or the other,” Cashman said. “We’ll see how our dialogue in the winter goes. We have players like a Gleyber Torres, like a Torreyes, Tyler Wade, Thairo Estrada. We have a lot of good, young, hungry players that, depending on how it looks in the spring and depending on how our conversations as we move forward this winter play out, clearly stay tuned. I don’t have, nor will Booney have, a clear second baseman we can name on Dec. 11.”
