There are already rumors about Kevin Towers being replaced in Arizona

By Craig CalcaterraMay 20, 2014, 9:45 AM EST
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When Tony La Russa was hired by the Dbacks over the weekend, a lot of people’s first thought was “welp, Kevin Towers is probably a goner.”  There has been the suggestion that no changes are imminent, but no one has given Towers a vote of confidence either. Into that vacuum comes various people around baseball speculating as to who is gonna take his job. Gammons:

Who knows if LaRocque is going to take the job — or even if there will be a job to take — but it’s inescapable that the Dbacks hired La Russa to create an organization in Arizona akin to the one he left in St. Louis: a deep system, a coherent organizational philosophy and a consistent winner without going too crazy in the payroll department.

Why wouldn’t you hire a Cardinals guy to do that?

Yankees acquire James Paxton from Mariners

Stephen Brashear/Getty Images
By Bill BaerNov 19, 2018, 5:54 PM EST
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The Yankees announced that the club has acquired starter James Paxton from the Mariners in exchange for three prospects: pitcher Justus Sheffield, outfielder Dom Thompson-Williams, and pitcher Erik Swanson.

Paxton, 30, has been among the game’s better starters over the past few years. In 2018, he went 11-6 with a 3.76 ERA and a 208/42 K/BB ratio in 160 1/3 innings. The lefty has two more years of arbitration eligibility remaining after earning $4.9 million this past season.

Sheffield, 22, is the headliner in the Mariners’ return. He made his major league debut in September for the Yankees, pitching 2 2/3 innings across three appearances. Two of those appearances were scoreless; in the third, he gave up a three-run home run to J.D. Martinez, certainly not an uncommon result among pitchers. MLB Pipeline rates Sheffield as the Yankees’ No. 1 prospect and No. 31 overall in baseball.

Thompson-Williams, 23, was selected by the Yankees in the fifth round of the 2016 draft. This past season, between Single-A Charleston and High-A Tampa, he hit .299/.363/.546 with 22 home runs, 74 RBI, 63 runs scored, and 20 stolen bases in 415 plate appearances. He was not among the Yankees’ top-30 prospects, per MLB Pipeline.

Swanson, 25, was selected by the Yankees in the eighth round of the 2014 draft. He spent most of his 2018 campaign between Double-A Trenton and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Overall, he posted a 2.66 ERA with a 139/29 K/BB ratio in 121 2/3 innings. MLB Pipeline rated him No. 22 in the Yankees’ system.

This trade comes as no surprise as the Yankees clearly wanted to upgrade the starting rotation and the Mariners seemed motivated to trade Paxton this offseason. To the Mariners’ credit, they got a solid return for Paxton, as Sheffield likely becomes the organization’s No. 1 prospect. The only worries about this trade for the Yankees is how Paxton will fare in the more hitter-friendly confines of Yankee Stadium compared to the spacious Safeco Field, and Paxton’s durability. Paxton has made more than 20 starts in a season just twice in his career — the last two years (24 and 28). The Yankees are likely not done adding, however. Expect even more new faces before the start of spring training.