Sunday, July 22, 2012

Yankees @ Athletics 7/22/12

UPDATE

Alex Rodriguez with a two run double 3-0 Yanks

Curtis Granderson homers to make it 4-0 Yanks

Yankees lead 4-3 after 8 IP


Soriano blows a save in the 9th


Still a 4-4 tie in the bottom of the 12th
Hungry For A Win


The Yankees will be looking to avoid a sweep by the best team in July (13-2) the Oakland Athletics. To stop the skid the Yankees will send their fresh armed ace CC Sabathia to the mound and will be facing former Yankee Bartolo Colon. The game will be televised on YES Network at 4:15 pm ET.

Lineups

Curtis Granderson CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Robinson Cano 2B
Alex Rodriguez DH
Raul Ibanez LF
Eric Chavez 3B
Jayson Nix SS
Dewayne Wise RF
Chris Stewart C


Go Yanks!!

Yankees Trade Targets : Denard Span


Word came out today that the Yankees have called the Twins to check on Denard Span. Everything that we are hearing says that Span will cost a ton, especially to the Yankees, because of his age and his speed. Should the Yankees be interested in trading for him now that Brett Gardner is done for the season? Also, would he fit in the 2014 plan? Let's find out...


Span is a centerfielder by trade who has great range and defense because of his speed. He will not hit for a .300 average and he will not hit more then 5-6 home runs a season but will be a menace on the base paths and in the field. Sounds a lot like Brett Gardner huh? Denard Span would absolutely fit in with the 2014 plan with salaries that look like this: 


12:$3M, 13:$4.75M, 14:$6.5M, 15:$9M club option ($0.5M buyout)

Denard has an AAV of $4.16 million and has three years of team control AFTER this season. Denard is a contact hitter, which is always nice, but has a career high of 8 home runs in one season. That is fine if it is just Gardner or just Span out there but both would be brutal for a lineup built for home runs and not built for manufacturing runs. His last two seasons though he has averaged nearly a 30.0 + UZR though which is encouraging.  




I am kind of in the middle for this one. I would like to have him THIS season but I do not see him being a long term fit. An outfield with both Gardner and Span past this year would generate almost zero power and we would essentially have three lead off type hitters in one lineup. Add on top of that what it would most likely cost to get Span and I think I would have to pass unfortunately.


Meet A Prospect : Peter O'Brien


The New York Yankees , with their third round pick (94th overall), selected Catcher Peter O'Brien in the MLB First Year Player's Draft. Peter spent his college years at the University of Miami being the Hurricanes catcher. O'Brien signed for $460K.

This is not the first time that Peter O'Brien has been drafted, being drafted by the Rockies in 2011, but this time he decided to sign with the Yankees. He did not have much of a choice though because last year he had his senior year at Miami as a fallback and this year he did not have much to fall back on. O'Brien drives the ball to all fields and has what is widely considered as plus raw power. He is not going to light up the base paths with his speed but he is no Jesus Montero either. His arm is definitely considered a plus and he has shown great improvements at Miami after transferring from Bethune Cookman. His agility, considering his size, is also somewhat of an amazing thing. 

I like this move because after a Jesus Montero trade, a half of a season missed by Austin Romine and tons of question marks, another bad season for Kyle Higashioka, and not much improvement by JR Murphy or Francisco Cervelli the Yankees all of a sudden need a shot in the arm in the catching department. I mean they still have Gary Sanchez but he is never a guarantee after he struggled so mightily in Charleston last season. Peter is basically what he is and not much is going to change. He is a 4 year college pro so maybe he will go through the system quickly.

Peter is playing for the short season A ball team in the New York Penn League. In only 4 games in the GCL he batted .357 and slugged .500 before being promoted to the NYPL. In 9 games in Staten Island he is only batting .114 (at the time of this writing which is a little in advance) but is drawing walks and getting work in while not striking out a ton.