Cashman not necessarily finished sculpting team
TAMPA — Until Manny Machado and Bryce Harper are wearing big league uniforms, the stud free agents will never stop being linked to the Yankees.
After talking about Luis Severino and CC Sabathia and before addressing why Jacoby Ellsbury was rehabbing a foot problem in Arizona instead of at spring-training camp, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman spoke about always being open for business and to concepts in the never-ending search to improve the team.
That led to Cashman being asked if he had made calls to or received calls from Machado’s and Harper’s camps.
“I wouldn’t say specifically but I would reinforce I am doing my job,’’ Cashman said. “Whether it is those two players or other players. The job at hand is to constantly be open-minded to ways to make this work.’’
The Yankees believe they improved the club after finishing second to the Red Sox in the AL East and getting punished by the eventual World Series champions in the ALDS last season.
That doesn’t mean, however, that the Yankees have removed their nets from the water.
“We like what we have done to this point, but we are never a finished product until at least Aug. 31,’’ Cashman said.
In most cases, injured players report to camp and get treated by team doctors and physical therapists. However, when Ellsbury came down with plantar fasciitis in Arizona while working back from hip surgery, the decision to let him remain at home was made by the Yankees’ medical department.
“We sent Mike Schuk, our physical therapist, out there and after the surgery everything was going well and the expectation that he would be here and ready to go and to compete,” Cashman said. “But as the winter progressed and he started doing more physical activity on his lower half he had the plantar fasciitis pick up so we focused on that.’’
Cashman said Ellsbury, who missed all of last season with several medical issues, is working 6-8 hours a day with a physical therapist in Phoenix.
Schuck visited Ellsbury recently and suggested one-on-one work in Phoenix would be the way to go instead of bringing the outfielder to camp, because he isn’t able to run on flat ground yet.
Cashman said Ellsbury, who has two years and $47 million remaining on the seven-year, $153 million contract he signed before the start of the 2014 season, likely will resume baseball activities in mid-tolate March and likely will start the season on the injured list.
Right-hander Trevor Stephan was a late addition to the Yankees’ camp, but he has impressed manager Aaron Boone in early mound sessions.
“He is someone who caught my eye a little bit [Friday],’’ Boone said of the 23-year-old — who pitched for Single-A Tampa and Double-A Trenton last year, going a combined 6-9 with a 3.69 ERA in 24 starts and striking out 140 in 124 ¹/3 innings. “His stuff, three pitches. He threw to hitters [Friday] and it was exciting to see one of our young guys that maybe doesn’t impact our club this year but get a little glimpse of guys on their way.”
Raynel Espinal, a non-roster right-handed pitcher from the Dominican Republic, hadn’t arrived in camp as of Saturday due to visa problems. Espinal, 27, went 7-2 with a 3.09 ERA in 41 games (three starts) for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre last year.