February 10th, 2026: Goldschmidt, Non-Roster Invitees, Bido, Warren, Fallen Prospects
Today is the final day of this slog of an offseason. Pitchers and catchers report to Tampa tomorrow and position players will arrive Sunday. The first Grapefruit League game is a week from Friday. Max Fried, Cody Bellinger, Oswaldo Cabrera, Jasson Domínguez, J.C. Escarra, Spencer Jones, Aaron Judge, George Lombard Jr., Carlos Rodón, Clarke Schmidt, Anthony Volpe, Austin Wells, and Ryan Yarbrough are among the Yankees who have been spotted at the complex recently, per Erik Boland.
Aaron Boone will hold his start-of-spring press conference at 11:30am ET Wednesday (it’ll be on YES), then he and Brian Cashman will speak at 3pm ET as part of MLB’s Spring Training media day. I don’t believe that one will be televised, but if you’ve seen one of those things, you’ve seen them all. Everyone will say they’re excited about the season, everyone looks great, yadda yadda yadda.
Injury updates are the most important thing to come out of reporting day. Not just updates on the guys we know are rehabbing (Rodón, Schmidt, Volpe, Gerrit Cole). Who got hurt over the winter? We learned Clayton Beeter (shoulder) and Jake Cousins (forearm) were nursing new injuries on reporting day last year. When position players reported, we found out Giancarlo Stanton hadn’t swung a bat in several weeks because of his achy elbows, and Trent Grisham was coming off an offseason hamstring strain. Fingers crossed there are no surprise injury announcements this week.
On that note, thank you all enough for sticking with me through the winter and into another season. This will be my 20th season covering the Yankees via RAB. It’s incredible how quickly it goes by. Thank you for reading and your support over the years. Here’s to all the craziness the next eight months of Yankees’ baseball will bring. Let’s now get into today’s post.
1. Latest roster news and notes. This isn’t really roster news, but I don’t know where else to put it: Rob Rains reports the Yankees have hired Matt Slater as their new Global Player Acquisitions Supervisor. That sounds like it’s related to the international scouting overhaul? Slater is a veteran executive who’s held just about every front office role imaginable during a career that’s taken him from the Brewers to the Orioles to the Dodgers to the Orix Buffaloes to most recently the Cardinals. So, good hire? Good hire. Here now is the latest on the guys on the field.
Goldschmidt returns
Forget trying to beat the run-it-back allegations. The Yankees are leaning into them. Paul Goldschmidt is the latest 2025 Yankee to return. He re-signed over the weekend. It’s a one-year, $4M contract, plus another $2M in bonuses tied to plate appearances, per Joel Sherman. The deal is not official yet. That’ll happen soon. The Yankees will have to open a 40-man spot when it does. (Today is the first day you can put players on the injured list, so Clarke Schmidt to the 60-day IL is the easy 40-man move for Goldschmidt.)
I wrote about a possible Goldschmidt reunion last week. I don’t like it. We watched him go over the cliff in real time last season. His power vanished, his contact skills and plate discipline began to erode (23.4 K% and 4.8 BB% in the second half), and everything about his defense other than scooping throws in the dirt is slipping too. For only two months in the last two years has Goldschmidt been even a league average first baseman.
Beyond the decline in skills at age 38, I think a first base only guy is terrible use of a bench spot. Cody Bellinger is the best defensive first baseman on the roster and part of his appeal is his versatility, right? Now there’s no real path to him playing first base without injuries (there's a reason he played only 26.2 innings at first base in 2025). The Goldschmidt re-signing chips away at the value of Bellinger’s versatility. He’s not really needed at first now.
The better move would have been signing a right-handed hitting outfielder, someone who could step in for Trent Grisham (or Jasson Domínguez) against lefties, and using Bellinger as Rice’s late-inning defensive replacement. That’s easier said than done (the best available righty hitting outfielders are end-of-the-line guys like Randal Grichuk and Tommy Pham) but that gives you a better, more complete roster.
Reports prior to the re-signing said Goldschmidt was willing to accept a reduced role, which is a fine idea, but what is a reduced role to Aaron Boone? The Yankees face the Giants, Mariners, and Marlins to begin the season. They might only see one lefty starter (Robbie Ray) in their first nine games. Is Goldschmidt really going to start just one of the first nine games? I bet a shiny nickel the answer is no.
The contract is not the issue. One year and $4M is nothing. I just don’t like the roster fit, and I don’t think Goldschmidt has much left in the tank. You can hang your hat on his hard-hit ability being better in the second half than the first …
… and the idea that less playing time (i.e. vs. lefties only) will equal more production. I hope it happens and I look stupid for being unenthused, but I am unenthused. I see Goldschmidt as a player with more downside than upside, and a player whose limited role will, inevitably, cut into playing time for the team’s second or third best hitter (Rice). A righty bench bat was needed, but this one? I don’t like it.
The Yankees managed to raise their luxury tax payroll roughly $18M this offseason while adding nothing but project pitchers (Angel Chivilli, Ryan Weathers, Cade Winquest) to the group they had after the trade deadline last year. It was a good group! But is that really all they could do this offseason to elevate the roster? I guess it was. Blah.
Yankees get Max Sch…
I never know how I should feel when the Yankees pick up a lesser known player I acquired as part of the Offseason Plan. Should I feel good and validated because I was barking up the right tree? Or is it a bad thing that the Yankees are on the same wavelength as an idiot like me? Best not to think about it.
Anyway, the Yankees picked up utility man Max Schuemann in a minor trade with the Athletics earlier this week. He was indeed part of the Offseason Plan, which saves me some work. Here’s what I wrote then:
(The) righty swinging Schuemann hasn’t hit in his MLB stints (78 wRC+ in 672 plate appearances) but he gives you walks (10.3%), he gives you steals (21-for-23), and you don’t have to put up with excessive swing and miss (22.9 K% and 10.8% swinging strikes). You also get versatility. Schuemann’s played every position in the big leagues except pitcher, catcher, and first base. He’s started games at every position except those three and right field. The guy can play some defense, especially on the infield (video).
Schuemann, 28, is a personal favorite more than a hidden gem. The A’s DFAed him last week to open a 40-man roster spot for Andy Ibáñez, which tells you where Schuemann falls in the utility guy hierarchy. He has minor league options remaining though, and with Anthony Volpe set to miss the start of the season, adding another guy who can legitimately play shortstop is a sound move, even if it makes you yawn.
I definitely gave up more to get Schuemann in the Offseason Plan than the Yankees did in real life. I sent the A’s Triple-A depth arms Harrison Cohen and Bailey Dees. The real life Yankees sent the A’s righty Luis Burgos. Burgos, 20, had a 2.44 ERA (4.25 FIP) with 22.7 K% and 10.9 BB% in 51.2 Dominican Summer League innings last year while repeating the level. He wasn’t on the radar for my Top 30 Prospects List and you won’t find him on any prospect rankings anywhere. He’s a long shot lottery ticket.
Not much more to add here. Schuemann is a perfectly cromulent depth utility guy who gives the Yankees a little more middle infield depth while Volpe finishes his rehab, and they gave up nothing they’ll miss to get him. Onward.
Yankees announce NRIs
The Yankees finally got around to announcing their non-roster invitees to Spring Training last week. There are 27 of them:
Reminder: Players on the 40-man roster will be in big league camp automatically. That includes Spencer Jones and Elmer Rodríguez. Anyway, the NRI headliners are Hess, Lagrange, and Lombard, three of the best prospects in the system. Beck and Carr were among my Top 30 Prospects as well. I don’t think there are any glaring omissions prospect-wise. Every prospect who should be in big league camp will be.
Three players above were not in my NRI preview: Arias (I forgot about him, whoops), Cohen (I didn’t think he would be an NRI), and Luciano (wasn’t in the organization yet). Four players I had in my NRI preview aren’t NRIs, most notably fading prospects Roderick Arias and Eric Reyzelman. Both were NRIs last year but aren’t this year, which, ouch. I also missed on DJ Gladney, a depth guy yet to play above Double-A.
The most … curious? notable? significant? … omission is Nick Torres, the reigning Mexican League MVP. I assumed he is ticketed for Triple-A, and he might be, but usually Triple-A players get the invite to big league camp. Huh. Maybe the Yankees see Torres as a Double-A guy? That would be a step down from the Mexican League, which is generally closer to Triple-A caliber. Not sure what’s up with Torres. (So much for my prediction that he’ll be the guy who lights up the Grapefruit League.)
Beyond the prospects, I’m most interested to see the two Colemans. Carson was my No. 27 prospect a few years ago and he returned to the mound last year after missing 2023 and 2024 with injuries. Statcast had his sinker up to 97 mph during his brief Low-A stint last year. Dylan had injuries in Triple-A with the Orioles last season, but he’s hit 101.1 mph during offseason workouts. Safe to say he’s healthy now.
Here’s more info on the minor league contract guys. DeJong’s service time level means his deal automatically includes an opt out at the end of Spring Training. I’m guessing Brown, who got into 568 games with the Athletics from 2019-25, has an end-of-spring opt out too. How many of these NRIs will we see in the Bronx this summer? I assure you the answer is greater than zero.
Yankees claim Bido
Lo, another waiver claim. That’s six in the last 32 days. The latest: Osvaldo Bido. The Yankees are the right-hander’s sixth – sixth! – team of the offseason and already his fourth of 2026. Bido’s gone from the Athletics to the Braves to the Rays to the Marlins to the Angels and now to the Yankees this winter. You may remember him giving up the first of Jasson Domínguez’s three homers last May 9th (video).
Bido, 30, had a 5.87 ERA (6.97 FIP) with 18.7 K% and 9.6 BB% in 79.2 innings with Oakland Sacramento last year. In 2024, it was a 3.42 ERA (3.36 FIP) with 24.3 K% and 10.0 BB% in 63.1 innings, also with the A’s. Bido is a good reminder Statcast sliders aren’t always sticky. It's not hard to tell which one is 2024 and which one is 2025:
I don’t know if Bido had an injury or what, but his fastball velocity was down about 2 mph early last year. He did eventually get built all the way back up to his 2024 velocity levels, and, not coincidentally, he went from a 14.8 K% before the All-Star break to a 26.9 K% after. Bido works with mid-90s four-seamers and sinkers, an upper-80s changeup, and mid-80s sliders and cutters. When healthy, anyway.
Bido has gotten claimed so many times this offseason, including by some pretty smart teams, because he’s got a good arm and was an effective big leaguer as recently as 2024. Five pitches plus rotation and bullpen experience usually equals a waiver claim. Bido is out of options, meaning he goes right back on the DFA line, but perhaps this time he’ll clear waivers and stick around as a non-40-man player.
Miscellany
The Tigers signed Framber Valdez to a three-year, $115M contract last week. There are deferrals and an opt out after 2027. He’ll pair with Tarik Skubal this year and potentially take over as the ace next year if Skubal leaves as a free agent. Jon Heyman (subs. req’d) says that, before re-signing Cody Bellinger, the Yankees had sincere interest in Valdez and got far enough down the road that they reviewed his medicals. That doesn’t mean they were close to a deal, just that they'd advanced beyond the "checking in" stage … Heyman (subs. req’d) says the Yankees are keeping tabs on the lefty reliever market and have touched base with Jalen Beeks and Danny Coulombe. This late in the offseason, I wonder if they could be had on minor league contracts? … DFA of possible interest: Anthony Banda. I wrote about him as a trade target a few weeks back. He could be the second bullpen lefty and a bat-missing complement to Tim Hill’s ground balls, and the $1.625M salary means Banda might get to the Yankees on waivers … And finally, Braden Shewmake and Yanquiel Fernández were DFAed to open 40-man roster spots for Osvaldo Bido and Max Schuemann, respectively. Shewmake and Dom Hamel, who was DFAed for Fernández last week, have already cleared waivers. They’re still with the Yankees as non-40-man roster players and will be in big league camp as NRIs. Fernández is still in DFA limbo.
2. Three ways Warren can improve in 2026. All things considered, Will Warren turned in a successful rookie season a year ago. The 4.44 ERA (4.07 FIP and 4.57 xERA) falls into “serviceable No. 4-5 starter” territory, and he took the ball every fifth day without incident. Warren became the first rookie to make 33 starts since Nick Blackburn in 2008, and his +2.1 WAR was sixth among rookie pitchers.
“As starters, just being able to post every five days. Come out there and throw, eat innings, and go as deep as you can in a game and give (the team) a chance to win. I think I’m most proud of that,” Warren said following his final regular season start (video).
Now 26, Warren will report to Spring Training locked into a big league rotation spot for the first time in his career. He’ll look to build on his rookie season and cement his place in the rotation rather than serve as a back-end innings filler. How can Warren improve in 2026? Here are three possible ways.
Add a cutter
Or, more accurately, bring the cutter back. Warren threw a cutter earlier in his career, including during his MLB cameo in 2024, but he put the pitch on the shelf last year. Considering Triple-A players hit .361 and slugged .667 (.408 xwOBA) against the cutter in 2024, yeah, I get shelving the pitch. Warren could use a “bridge” pitch though, something between his fastball and that big ol’ sweeper.
Here are is Warren’s 2025 pitch movement graph:
Forgive my amateur photoshop skills, but that brown splotch near the middle is the league average righty cutter. Warren didn’t throw any cutters last year, but, if he did, the movement would put it in that vicinity. You can see how a cutter would fill that big gap between Warren’s average-moving fastball and extremely sweepy sweeper. His arsenal is so east/west. The cutter would add a different wrinkle.
The “bridge” aspect is not just about movement either. It can bridge velocity too. Warren typically works in the low-to-mid-90s (four-seamer and sinker) and upper-70s/low-80s (curveball and sweeper). The changeup is the only pitch he has in the mid-to-upper-80s range, and he doesn’t throw his changeup much (he doesn’t throw it to righties at all). The cutter means having to respect different movement and a different velocity range.
Cutters can be difficult to master and again, Warren has thrown one in the past, but it wasn’t effective. I’m not saying it will be easy to reintroduce the cutter and turn it into a reliable pitch. It’s just that, when you’re looking for ways Warren can fine tune his game, adding a cutter to be that bridge pitch is one possibility. That big empty space in his pitch movement graph represents opportunity.
Show lefties something inside
Lefties were a big problem for Warren last year. He was legitimately great against righties: .232/.283/.398 (.294 wOBA) with 29.2 K% and 5.7 BB%. Against lefties though, it was a .266/.350/.436 (.342 wOBA) line with 19.9 K% and 11.9 BB%. Here are Warren’s pitch locations against lefties (catcher’s view):
You will not be surprised to learn lefties hit .415 with a .659 SLG against Warren’s sweeper. He hung that thing over the plate consistently. It might be time to scrap that pitch against lefties all together. More than anything though, there’s not much inside. The sinker is away. The changeup is away. The curveball is away. (The four-seamer is not as elevated as it needs to be, which is another issue.)
A cutter would certainly help Warren pitch inside to lefties. I’d love love love to see more front-door sinkers to lefties, Bartolo Colon style. More of these, please:
Warren got the call there, but that’s the benefit of pitching to two of the best framing catchers in the game (J.C. Escarra and Austin Wells). Use them! Point is, Warren didn’t give lefties much of a reason to think inside last year. They could lean out over the plate, look middle and middle-away, and get comfortable.
The front-door sinker seems like low-hanging fruit. Warren faced 396 lefty batters last season and threw only 14 sinkers in the inner-third of the zone or off the plate inside. It’s not a video game. That’s a difficult pitch to command, but that front-door sinker would open up so much for Warren. A cutter would help him pitch inside to lefties as well. There’s a whole side of the plate waiting to be attacked.
Lean further into two-strike fastballs
Weirdly, Warren’s fastballs were among the best in baseball last year, per Statcast’s run values, while his secondary pitches were among the worst. I don’t know what to make of that. It goes against the scouting report. Warren doesn’t have big velocity but he does have ridiculous spin and movement on his breaking balls, yet the fastballs got better results than the breakers. Kinda weird.
Perhaps that explains his reliance on fastballs in two-strike counts? Warren threw a fastball 54.5% of the time in two-strike counts last year. That was the 14th highest rate among the 127 pitchers who threw 100 innings, and comfortably above the 42.5% league average. He got good results on those two-strike fastballs too:
AVG: .162 (MLB AVG: .181)
SLG: .220 (MLB AVG: .284)
xwOBA: .233 (MLB AVG: .255)
BABIP: .337 (MLB AVG: .298)
Swinging strikes: 12.4% (MLB AVG: 11.9%)
Hard-hit %: 46.7% (MLB AVG: 43.1%)
Barrel %: 11.1% (MLB AVG: 7.8%)
Warren did give up more hard contact than average on two-strike fastballs, explaining the high BABIP. So maybe I have this all wrong and he should cut back on two-strike heaters because the hard contact is a bad omen? It’s no secret Warren throws a lot of fastballs in two-strike counts. Perhaps then it’s time to zig toward breaking balls rather than continue zagging into heaters? Possibly.
Boost that two-strike fastball rate into the 60% range and that’s Drew Rasmussen, Joe Ryan, and Hunters Brown and Greene territory. Bryan Woo is at 65%, though Woo has an outlier fastball and isn’t a model just any pitcher can copy. It feels like there’s something here with Warren’s two-strike approach. I’m not sure if it’s more fastballs because he’s getting good results, or more breaking balls to be less predictable, but something.
* * *
I’m no pitching expert. Don’t take this as me saying Warren has to do exactly these things to improve. I’m just making observations and suggestions. Another suggestion: Aaron Boone keeping Warren on a tighter leash. He surrendered a .274/.338/.469 (.344 wOBA) line with 20.6 K% the third time through the order last year. Before that, it was a .245/.316/.407 (.315 wOBA) line with 24.8 K%.
That night's game and bullpen availability sometimes dictates leaving your starter in longer than what is ideal, but Warren faced about as many hitters the third time through the order as more accomplished pitchers like Jacob deGrom and Freddy Peralta last year. Tighten the leash a bit and you’ll likely get a more effective Warren. This is a Boone thing more than a Warren thing. He can only pitch when told.
Warren had some big time stinkers last season and can be frustrating with long counts and long innings, but a +2 WAR starter who never misses a start and makes no money is incredibly valuable. It feels like there is more in the tank too, enough to get Warren to +3 WAR in the near future. The Yankees can only help him so much. It’s ultimately on Warren to get better, and there are a few ways it can happen.
3. Fallen Top 30 Prospects. Last week I published my annual Top 30 Prospects List (and Not Top 30 Prospects) and 15 of the 30 were holdovers from last year. Half the list are new additions. The 15 newbies were not in last year’s Top 30 either because I didn’t consider them Top 30 caliber, or because they weren’t in the organization yet. Here’s what happened to the 15 players they replaced:
Graduated to MLB (3): OF Jasson Domínguez, RHP Cam Schlittler, RHP Will Warren
Traded (6): RHP Clayton Beeter (Amed Rosario), C/1B Rafael Flores (David Bednar), OF Everson Pereira (José Caballero), C Edgleen Perez (David Bednar), LHP Ben Shields (Jake Bird), RHP Gage Ziehl (Austin Slater)
Waived (1): RHP Yoendrys Gómez
Five others remain in the organization but fell out of the Top 30.
I explained where those (and many other) traded prospects would’ve slotted into this year’s Top 30 at the bottom of that post. We’re here to examine those last five prospects and why they fell out of the Top 30, and whether they can make it back onto the list at some point in the future. Let’s dig in now, shall we?
SS Roderick Arias (No. 4 in 2025)
Date of Birth: Sept. 9th, 2004 (age 21)Acquired: Signed Jan. 2022 out of the Dominican Republic ($4M bonus)
Going from No. 4 one year to out of the Top 30 (in a thin system) the next has to be a first for my rankings. I suppose the good (?) news is Arias was the very last cut. I was close enough to including him in the Top 30 that I wrote a blurb. Rather than toss it in the Content Graveyard, I’ll just run it here. Here’s what you need to know about Arias and why he went from No. 4 last year to out of the Top 30 this year.
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Background: Rod-A’s $4M bonus was the second largest given out during the 2022 international signing period behind the $4.925M the Nationals gave Cristhian Vaquero. Hand and wrist injuries dogged him throughout 2022 and 2023, but Arias has been healthy the last two years, and has tumbled down prospect rankings because he hasn’t performed and his skills haven’t improved.
The Good: At this point, the good amounts to solid hard-hit ability and pull power, especially from the left side of the plate, and a rocket arm that rates as one of the strongest in the minors. His better than league average chase rates point to some semblance of plate discipline. He also runs well even though he’s short of a true burner. Arias will play most of this coming season at age 21 and you can still squint and see a power-over-hit switch-hitter who contributes on the bases and in the field.
The Bad: There are no indications Arias can make adjustments. He repeated Low-A last season and was worse in 2025 than he was in 2024 (.233/.335/.393 and 111 wRC+), which is as big a red flag as it gets from a performance standpoint. His right-handed swing is pretty much unusable (all 29 of his pro homers have come left-handed) and his lefty swing only works when he gets something to yank on the inner half. This is 2025:
Arias has a tendency to take offensive struggles into the field and become error-prone. The Yankees slid him over to third base late in the year in deference to first round pick Dax Kilby, and that might be a better long-term fit given his arm. None of that stuff will matter unless Arias makes adjustments at the plate, particularly calming and smoothing out his swing.
2026 Outlook: A third year in Tampa won’t do Arias any good. He’ll go to High-A Hudson Valley to begin 2026 and figures to play the entire season there. A full-time move to third base is possible with Kaeden Kent, last year’s third rounder, also ticketed for the Renegades.
My Take: Even in this thinned out system, Arias was out of the Top 30 in early iterations. I ultimately decided to rank him because he is young and there are tools here, though the chances it works out are getting very small. Either Arias shows improvement in 2026 or he’s off the radar completely. It’s make or break time.* * *
Can he make it back into the Top 30? Sure. Arias is only 21, and he will play almost the entire season at that age. He’s younger than more than a few players who will be drafted in the first round this July. That said, it will take some pretty big gains for Arias to get back into the Top 30. The kinda gains he’s had to make three years running now, and hasn’t. Like I said, it’s make or break time.
RHP Sabier Marte (No. 19 in 2025)
Date of Birth: Feb. 10th, 2004 (age 20)Acquired: Signed May 2022 out of the Dominican Republic ($30,000 bonus)2025 stats: Did not pitch (injured)
What went wrong? He got hurt. Marte missed all of last season following elbow surgery. I don’t know if it was Tommy John surgery, the internal brace procedure, or something else entirely, but he had his elbow cut open and missed 2025. Marte had some mechanical flaws before the injury. Here’s what I wrote in the 2025 Top 30:
The Bad: The biggest red flag is Marte, despite being 6-foot-5, takes a short stride toward the plate (video). There has been research showing that your stride should be at least 80% of your height, and anything below that puts additional stress on your arm (because it has to rush to catch up to your lower half).
We don’t know for certain that Marte got hurt because his mechanics aren’t great, but the dots are there if you want to connect them. When healthy, Marte was mostly low-90s with a developing slider. The lack of development time contributed to falling out of the Top 30 as much as the injury itself. Pitchers, man.
Can he make it back into the Top 30? For sure. I’m not sure when Marte will get back on a mound, but if he looks promising when he does, he’ll be back in the Top 30. Ultimately, I went with healthy players at the bottom of this year’s Top 30, and Marte isn’t healthy, so he’s on the outside.
RHP Eric Reyzelman (No. 20 in 2025)
Date of Birth: June 7th, 2001 (age 24)Acquired: 2022 5th round, No. 160 overall ($340,700 bonus)2025 stats: 4.29 ERA (6.04 FIP), 23.9 K%, 22.3 BB%, 43.8 GB% (42 IP in AAA)
What went wrong? A lot. Reyzelman’s stuff was down all season. Mostly low-90s after living 95-97 mph during his breakout 2024, and his sweeper was soft too. He walked 42 batters in 42 innings before going on the injured list on Aug. 6th. Reyzelman had another back surgery soon thereafter, his fourth since being drafted in 2022. He’s expected to be ready fairly early this year, if not on Opening Day. Bottom line though, a reliever with an injury history got hurt again, and his stuff was down when he did pitch.
Can he make it back into the Top 30? Probably not. Non-elite relief prospects really aren’t Top 30 material to start with – I got out over my skis with Reyzelman’s ranking last spring – and we’re talking about a soon-to-be 25-year-old who’s been healthy and effective at the same time for three months in the last four years. That doesn’t mean Reyzelman can’t reach the big leagues and be effective. It’s just that he’s unlikely to be a Top 30 guy. (Lots of relievers reach the show without being touted prospects.)
2B Jorbit Vivas (No. 24 in 2025)
Date of Birth: March 9th, 2001 (age 24)Acquired: Trey Sweeney trade with Dodgers (Dec. 11th, 2023)2025 stats: .270/.389/.364 (110 wRC+), 4 HR, 13.9 BB%, 9.8 K% (459 PA in AAA)
What went wrong? Vivas made his big league debut last year and even hit a game-winning home run (video). It was more of the same in Triple-A though, meaning too much soft contact in the air (i.e. cans of corn) and second base only infield defense. Vivas is a good reminder that there’s more to life than K% and BB%. Yeah, he consistently walks more than he strikes out, but his contact isn’t very good, and there aren’t any secondary skills. He makes contact, he draws walks, and that’s it.
Can he make it back into the Top 30? It is almost literally impossible for Vivas to appear on another Yankees’ prospect list. He’s out of options, so either he makes the Opening Day roster or he goes on waivers. And, if he goes on waivers and clears, and stays with the Yankees as a non-40-man roster player, well that’s not a good sign. The entire league could have had a free Vivas, and passed. My guess is he’s no longer in the organization on Opening Day (or is sitting in DFA limbo on Opening Day).
C Engelth Urena (No. 28 in 2025)
Date of Birth: Aug. 17th, 2004 (age 20)Acquired: Signed Jan. 2022 out of the Dominican Republic ($275,000 bonus)2025 stats: .198/.318/.305 (85 wRC+), 9 HR, 13.3 BB%, 19.2 K% (290 PA in LoA, HiA)
What went wrong? You see that slash line? That’s a problem for any player, and especially for a bat-first player. That isn’t to say Urena is a terrible catcher. He’s just inexperienced. He was an outfielder as an amateur and is new to catching, and it shows. Urena started 68 games at catcher and 44 at DH last year in part because he does a lot of behind the scenes defensive work. He can catch only so much in games before his knees turn into jello. But yeah, Urena has to hit, and he didn’t.
Can he make it back into the Top 30? Yep. I mean, going from No. 28 to out of the Top 30 isn’t exactly a big fall, you know? Urena will play most of this season at age 20 and catchers are often late bloomers. Add in his inexperience, and Urena could be a very slow burn. He’s still a prospect, but for sure, 2025 was a rough year. Urena didn’t take any steps forward.
4. Rapid fire thoughts. Tarik Skubal beat the Tigers in arbitration last week and secured a record $32M salary. The Tigers filed at $19M. The $13M gap was the largest in arbitration history. Skubal’s $32M is the largest salary ever for an arb-eligible player, surpassing the $31M the Yankees paid Juan Soto two years ago. He also smashed the previous arbitration salary record for a pitcher (David Price’s $19.75M in 2015). Few players have Skubal’s credentials, but his win nudges the salary bar up for everyone. It really was a landmark case. Skubal will be a free agent after the coming season. Barring injury, I think he clears $50M a year (before any deferrals) … For all intents and purposes, the Red Sox have turned Rafael Devers into Caleb Durbin. Boston acquired Durbin, the prospect the Yankees sent to the Brewers for Devin Williams last offseason, in a six-player (plus one draft pick) trade Monday. Kyle Harrison, the headliner going to Milwaukee, came over from the Giants in the Devers trade. Rookie ball righty Jose Bello is the only player from the Devers trade still with the Red Sox, and Baseball America did not rank him among their top 30 prospects this winter. Durbin is a great fit for Fenway Park and the Red Sox would be wise to play him at second base rather than third, but going from Devers to Alex Bregman to Durbin is, uh, not ideal. The Brewers really moved quick and sold high on Durbin and Isaac Collins this offseason, eh? … The Rays released renderings of their proposed stadium on the Dale Mabry campus of Hillsborough College last week. That’s George M. Steinbrenner Field on the right, albeit depicted very inaccurately:
The Rays want to move right behind GMS Field and build up the area. All those buildings in the back are part of the proposal (restaurants, bars, shops, offices, etc.). Not for nothing, I feel like I’ve seen this exact rendering of a potential Rays stadium about a dozen times in the last 20 years. There have been an awful lot of failed proposals. Maybe the new owners will push this one across the finish line … And finally, the World Baseball Classic rosters were announced last week. The Yankees are sending 12 players: Brendan Beck (Great Britain), David Bednar (USA), José Caballero (Panama), Jazz Chisholm Jr. (Great Britain), Harrison Cohen (Israel), Camilo Doval (Dominican Republic), Paul Goldschmidt (USA), Aaron Judge (USA), Elmer Rodríguez (Puerto Rico), Fernando Cruz (Puerto Rico), Amed Rosario (Dominican Republic), and Austin Wells (Dominican Republic). Also, bench coach Brad Ausmus (Israel) and catching coach Tanner Swanson (Great Britain) are on WBC coaching staffs. To follow up on a mailbag question from last week, the Yankees do not have the most players in the WBC, or even close to it. The Mets lead the way 17 WBC players, per JJ Cooper, and 12 teams have 12 or more players in the tournament. The Astros and Nationals are the laggers with three WBC players apiece. The tournament begins Wednesday, March 4th, and the Championship Game will be played Tuesday, March 17th. Fun fun fun.
(Send your questions for Friday's mailbag to RABmailbag at gmail dot com. The random Yankee series is on hiatus, but feel free to send in requests for if/when it returns.)