With Marc Delpiano, the vice president of player development let go from the Marlins on Friday, the Gary Denbo to the Marlins storyline got a boost throughout the industry Saturday.
Fuel was added when Denbo wasn’t spotted at the Yankees’ minor league complex Saturday.
Delpiano, who has three years remaining on a contract, was fired by outgoing Marlins president David Samson, who also sacked organizational pitching guru and VP Jim Benedict, a former Yankees pitching coordinator. Benedict also has three years remaining on a contract.
“They let go very good baseball guys,’’ an executive from another team said of Delpiano and Benedict.
The transfer of power from owner Jeffrey Loria to Bruce Sherman and Derek Jeter is expected to take place Monday.
Denbo is finishing his third season as the VP of player development and doesn’t have a contract for next season. This was Denbo’s 23rd season working in the Yankees’ system, and he was the big league hitting coach in 2001. Denbo managed Jeter at Single-A Greensboro in 1993.
Jim Hendry, another Yankees employee, has been linked to a position with Jeter’s Marlins, though he doesn’t have the history with Jeter that Denbo has. Hendry, a former Cubs GM, is a special assignment scout with the Yankees. Like Denbo, Hendry doesn’t have a contract for next season.
Gordon Blakeley, a former Yankee scout now with the Braves, has been linked to a job with the Marlins.
Joe Girardi’s plan was to give Aaron Judge a day off before the postseason started, but with a chance to catch the Red Sox going into Saturday’s game altered the manager’s thinking.
Originally concerned that Judge may have suffered a leg injury in Friday’s game running the bases, Girardi said the right fielder was fine Saturday when he was the DH and hit a 484-foot homer, his AL-leading 52nd of the season.
“The decision to DH him, as I said all along, I planned on giving him a day off, but that hasn’t happened because of the situation we are in,’’ said Girardi, whose club trailed the AL East-leading Red Sox by two games with two remaining when Saturday’s action started and was eliminated with a Boston victory. “So, it kind of gives him a half day. Physically it’s easier on his body.
Judge is likely to get Sunday off when Girardi plans to rest some players.
Until Girardi inserted CC Sabathia into the rotation Saturday, fellow lefty Jaime Garcia was slated to start against the Blue Jays. Now, with Sabathia out of the picture to be in the bullpen for Tuesday’s possible AL wild-card game against the Twins at Yankee Stadium, Garcia could move into that role which he was in Saturday, but not needed.
“Jaime would be a left-hander out of the bullpen to replace CC,’’ Girardi said. “You could use him long or short. I am more apt to use him long if you got into an extra-inning game.’’
Unlike with Sabathia, who was told Friday that he would pitch Saturday if the Yankees were still alive in the AL East race, Garcia didn’t find out until Saturday.
“I wanted him to prepare like he was going to start and not to have the waffling in his head,’’ Girardi said.
When Girardi explains that Gary Sanchez’s defense has improved, he has the statistics to back him up.
In Sanchez’s first 64 games as the catcher he was charged with 12 passed balls in 553 ²/₃ innings or one passed ball every 46 ¹/₃ innings and threw out 27 percent (10-for-36) of would be base stealers. In 40 games since Aug. 8, Sanchez has allowed four passed balls in 327 ¹/₃ innings or approximately one passed ball every 81 ²/₃ innings. In that stretch Sanchez has thrown out 45 percent (9-for-20) of runners attempting to steal.
At 20-8 in September the Yankees matched their highest win total in the final month of the season since September 1995 when they went 21-6.
David Robertson extended his streak of scoreless, hitless appearances of at least one inning to eight Saturday when he worked the eighth inning. He passed Mariano Rivera (seven games from June 3-20 in 2010 for the longest single-season streak in Yankees history.