MLB Trade Rumors | Steve Adams: In a surprise move, the Yankees traded two prospects, Josh Stowers and Antonio Cabello, to the Texas Rangers in exchange for striker Rougned Odor, who named the Rangers last week. Odor, still only 27, despite entering his eighth season, is under contract until 2022 (with a team option for 2023). Although he has not played well at all over the past few seasons, the left-handed second baseman undeniably has power with three 30+ HR seasons. Given the fact that the Rangers will pay almost the entire amount of his salary, the move looks like the interesting low-risk flyer that the Yankees have turned to gold in recent years, along with Gio Urshela and Mike Tauchman.
To make way for the 40-man squad, the Yankees appointed striker Thairo Estrada as commission.
FanGraphs | Devan Fink: Gary Sánchez has been a major talking point among baseball writers and fans since last season, and with good reason: his .147 / .253 / .365 dash was by far the worst in his career and among the worst in Major League Baseball . Fortunately for the Yankees, however, there is evidence that he is the result of positive regression. His BABIP of .159 (fourth lowest in baseball) was more than 100 points lower than would be expected based on his bat control (defined as ‘the standard deviation of a player’s launch angle on their balls’ and which corresponds well with BABIP) .
MLB.com | Sam Dykstra: MLB.com’s expert minor league assess how much each baseball team will expect this season to see their top 10 prospects contribute to the major leagues. With the entrees, Deivi García and Clarke Schmidt, expected to start more than a few times due to last year’s shortened season and Estevan Florial close enough to receive the call when outside depth is needed, the Yankees are firmly in the middle level (which calls the name ‘Healthy Stream Prospects’) along with the Houston Astros, Toronto Blue Jays, Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers, Cincinnati Reds, Colorado Rockies and Minnesota Twins.