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Bleeding Yankee Blue sees the deal as quite reasonable on New York's part:
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Bad news coming out of Yankeeland. Ben Gamel is gone.
Now this [stinks] because we were all pretty excited about one day seeing Gamel in pinstripes. After all, the kid just named the International Player of the Year and he was really starting to break out. LoHud writes:
"Today, Gamel was named the Player of the Year in the International League. He was the league's top rookie last year, and this year he leads the League in runs scored (78), he's third in hits (148), fifth in stolen bases (19) and sixth in batting average (.309). He's a leadoff hitter who can play all three outfield spots, and the league's announcement of his selection notes his overwhelming consistency. His average against left-handed pitchers (.314) and right-handed pitchers (.307) is remarkably similar. Same for his batting average at home (.310) and away (.308). He hit .306 before the All-Star break, and he's hitting .314 since."
In return for Gamel, the Yankees get 2. According to MLB Trade Rumors: "Shortly after Dierkes’ report, the teams announced the trade, adding that they’re sending right-handed pitchers Jio Orozco and Juan De Paula to the Yankees in return."
So there it is, Gamel is a Mariner. Unbelievable, huh? I guess that's the joy and sorrow of the baseball waiver wire.
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DiPoto characterizes Gamel as "having done all he can do in AAA," being a 3-position outfielder who is good at everything except homers. So, you'd assume, elbows in front of Boog Powell as ML-ready center fielder / tweener / table setter. He's versatile, young, and athletic, quoth DiPoto, checking the boxes that DiPoto set for the outfield but did not deploy in 2016.
Gamel hit .300/.360/.470 in AAA at age 23 and then repeated the league.
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First obvious question is whether Gamel is a Brett Gardner type. We can always hope. Based on videos like this one, his swing looks kind of like Ken Griffey Sr's to me... tall, relaxed, and then an explosion into quickness. Short to the ball, long followthrough, without exceptional torque, good overspin. Senior had a career OPS+ of 118 based on this kind of a template. Plus, there's always the possibility of Gamel raising a kid.
Here's another smooth-then-slashing attack based on quickness through the zone.
Here's the best video I saw on his playing style. The defensive vids are a lot of fun too. Best thing about him, the fact that he's over-seasoned rather than rushed. Leonys Martin hit .222/.287/.270 in August, so there are at least two places for him to play. DiPoto's table-setting analogue to Vogelbach? Worth a simoleon.
Enjoy,
Dr D