Friday, June 21, 2013

Yankees Acquire Brent Lillibridge From Cubs


The Yankees and the Cubs have hooked up in a trade that brings Brent Lillibridge to the Yankees for a player to be named later or future cash considerations. Hopefully this light hitting infielder/outfielder is even more depth for the minor leagues and not in the major league plans because that will seriously depress me.

Michael Pineda's To Start For Trenton On Tuesday


Michael Pineda's next stop on the 30 day rehab assignment train will stop in Trenton to start for the Trenton Thunder on Tuesday. Pineda has roughly three or four more starts left in this rehab assignment before the Yankees have to option him to the minors or activate him on the big league club so every start is important at this point for Pineda. Our friend Mike Ashmore is usually Johnny on the spot when it comes to covering the Thunder so we should have plenty of information at our finger tips for the start on Tuesday. Follow Mike @mashmore89 on twitter and follow us @GreedyStripes to stay up to date with Michael Pineda and his rehab assignment start.

Game Thread TB @ NYY 6/21


The Yankees offense needs to show up tonight with Roberto Hernandez on the mound for the Tampa Bay Rays. If they cannot beat him then I cannot see how the Yankees can make a serious playoff push this season. David Phelps will take the ball for the Yankees to try and get them back to their winning ways. The game will be televised on MY9 so check that out.

Here is the Yankees lineup

Brett Gardner CF
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Robinson Cano 2B
Travis Hafner DH
Lyle Overbay 1B
Zoilo Almonte LF
Jayson Nix SS
David Adams 3B
Austin Romine C


Follow us on Twitter @GreedyStripes all season long 

Mark Montgomery Back On AAA Disabled List


The best relief prospect in the Yankees system is back on the AAA disabled list for the second time in less than a month. The first time was for a fatigued shoulder and was called simply seven days of rest. This time I do not see the fans or the media buying that kind of explanation so I am curious to see what exactly is wrong with Mark. The move is retroactive to June 19th.

Reid Brignac Designated For Assignment, Gonzalez Up


The day that has been long overdue has finally come as the Yankees have finally designated Reid Brignac for assignment. In a corresponding move the Yankees have also brought Alberto Gonzalez back up to the major leagues to take his spot essentially. Brignac is a wonder with the glove but so is Alberto Gonzalez and Gonzalez has more flexibility and versatility in my eyes. Also Gonzalez is a right handed batter and is a marginal upgrade offensively over Brignac and the Yankees definitely need offense right now. What is amazing is that Gonzalez is a career .242 hitter and he is being called an "upgrade" offensively over what we currently have... yeah... the offense has been that bad. I fully expect Reid to clear waivers so the possibility remains that he can be sent to AAA to Scranton to essentially be swapped with Alberto.

Yankees Acquire Mike Zagurski & Yoshinori Tateyama


The Yankees announced a couple of moves today that will impact their farm system, specifically the AAA Scranton Wilkes Barre Railriders team.

The Yankees acquired Yoshinori Tateyama from the Texas Rangers for future considerations so that probably means we will send some money that way. Tateyama was sent to AAA after a lackluster 2012 season and had a 1.38 WHIP in AAA for the Rangers this season. Whether Tateyama has a legitimate shot at ,making the Yankees bullpen or if he is simply AAA depth is yet to be determined but I tend to go with the latter personally.

Mike Zagurski was signed to a minor league deal as a free agent and will also join the AAA Scranton team but this time for the starting rotation. He does not make much sense for the Yankees as they already have two Mike Zagurksi's in AAA named David Huff and Josh Spence but I guess you cannot have too much pitching especially in the year of the injury so there you have it. Zagurksi has big league experience, albeit limited, and could be in the Yankees bullpen out of necessity this season.

Peter O'Brien & Alex Smith Promoted To Tampa


Charleston Riverdogs catcher Peter O'Brien and pitcher Alex Smith have both been called up and promoted to the Tampa Yankees. The happiest person on the field right now may be Gary Sanchez who is currently catching for the High A Tampa Yankees and that means that a promotion to AA Trenton Thunder is probably in the works. O'Brien is coming to Tampa with a .325/.394/.619 triple slash so while he has big shoes to fill I think he may be the one that can do it.

BREAKING NEWS: Ivan Nova Scratched From Start


Ivan Nova has been scratched from his AAA start tonight according to Donnie Collins signaling that he could be coming up to make a start for the Yankees next week. The Yankees will need a starter after the double header Wednesday with the Dodgers and currently have a TBA lined up for the finale with the Rays Sunday. With Vidal Nuno still on the disabled list with a groin injury it looks like all signs are pointing to Ivan Nova getting that start so let's hope that if this is indeed the case that he makes the best of it.

Tampa Bay Rays @ New York Yankees 6/21


The New York Yankees continue to host the Tampa Bay Rays for game two of a four game extended weekend series at Yankees Stadium. The Yankees will send David Phelps to face off with Roberto Hernandez for the Rays, formerly Fausto Carmona. The game will be televised at 7:05 pm ET on MY9 and on MLB TV.

Game 73 Lineup: Rays vs. Yankees

Here's the lineup for Game 2 of this 4 game set! David Phelps vs. Roberto Hernandez!

Brett Gardner CF
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Robinson Cano 2B
Travis Hafner DH
Lyle Overbay 1B
Zoilo Almonte LF
Jayson Nix SS
David Adams 3B
Austin Romine C

RHP David Phelps

Some Notes:

-- The Yankees have DFA'd Reid Brignac and Alberto Gonzalez now has his spot on the roster. Surprising fact, the Yankees were 27-16 before acquiring Brignac. After acquiring Brignac? 12-17.

Yankees Reaching a New Low

VERN-OFF: Vernon Wells, mired in a 13-for-110 slump, grounds out to the pitcher to end the sixth inning of the Yankees’ 8-3 loss to the Rays last night — a game in which he was pinch hit for by Zoilo Almonte, who had one prior big league at-bat


What can you really say at this point? This Yankees offense is just painful to watch at this point. Chris Stewart, no that is not a typo, has been the Yankees’ best right handed hitter this season. The Yankees have had only two home runs from right handed hitters in the last 30 days; one from David Adams and one from Mark Teixeira. Remember last year when the Yankees hit too many home runs or something like that?

On some level I feel as though some Yankees fans are they getting what they deserve for complaining about the 2012 that finished 1st in MLB in home runs (245), 2nd in runs (804), first in wOBA (.342), and 1st in wRC+ (113). That was an offense that should have been appreciated and not get torn down. Some people are just too spoiled. Those people are now seeing exactly what a brutal offense looks like.

This year the Yankees are 21st in MLB in runs scored (279), 17th in home runs (73), 26th in wOBA (.297) and 27th in wRC+ (83). Austin Romine, Reid Brignac and Vernon Wells all have WAR’s 0 or below. David Adams (.1 WAR), Lyle Overbay (.2) Jayson Nix (.2) are not far away from that mark. Whenever the team is down three runs the game is probably over and you just can’t win that way.

The Yankees only have a grand total of two hitters who strike any feat into opposing pitchers whatsoever. Brett Gardner has had a great season, but he isn’t capable of carrying the team for long stretches. Robinson Cano has only had a good, but not spectacular season for him. Even the starting pitching has had a recent rough patch, which you cannot blame them for since they have been carrying the team all season.

With the way things are going the Yankees seem to be in danger of falling out of the race before the injured players return and the trade deadline. Although, Boston’s struggles have allowed the Yankees to not fall very far back at this point. Those are really the only two avenues that can really make a difference at this point. The Zolio Almonte’s and Thomas Neal’s of the world are unlikely to put this team back on track.

It will be interesting to see what happens at the trade deadline. Even if the Yankees fell out of it there are not really many  pieces on this roster that they could sell because most of the players either suck or make too much money. Unfortunately, the Yankees won’t get lucky like the Red Sox did and have another team come save them of their horrid contracts.

If the Yankees are still in the race how many good pieces would they give up for a rental player? Since they are probably more than one bat away from competing for a championship I would be hesitant in giving away any top prospect for a rental. However, if a good hitter becomes available that is under team control for a few years that would be a different story. We can all dream about Giancarlo Stanton and Chase Headley I suppose.

Who is at fault for this mess? Its tough to assign blame between Hal Steinbrenner and Brian Cashman since nobody really knows what exactly is going on in upper management. My gut feeling tells me that Cashman’s hands were tied so tight because of the budget that the majority of the blame should go to Steinbrenner.

There is not much Cashman could have done last winter when he was only permitted to give out one year deals. I’m going to assume that Cashman would have brought back Russell Martin if he had the financial ability to. There was nobody signed at either third base or shortstop this winter that would have made a big difference. Eric Chavez would have been an upgrade, but he would never had been able to stay healthy playing everyday and he seemed eager to leave New York anyways.

In the outfield the Yankees could not have anticipated Curtis Granderson going down to fluke injuries, but the fact that right field is a mess is no surprise. However,  Ichiro Suzuki felt more like an ownership move, so I do not really put this one on Cashman either. The guys he targeted in Nate Schierholtz and Tori Hunter are both having very good years and would have been upgrades.
Steinbrenner is getting what he deserves at this point. The product on the field, attendance and TV ratings are a disaster right now.

That’s what you get when you self impose an unnecessary budget when you own a team that is probably worth more than any team in professional sports and put a product on the field that in no way matches the prices you are charging for tickets. Not to mention the fact that Steinbrenner still says winning is the number one priority when clearly was not the case last offseason. All you can hope for at this point is that what’s happening with the Yankees right now causes change.

Staten Island Yankees Game Recap For 6/20

By COURTNEY NUNES

Staten Island, NY – June 20th – The Staten Island Yankeesmustered 11 hits on Thursday night, but were shutout by the Hudson Valley Renegades 6-0 at Richmond County Bank Ballpark.

Renegades relief pitcher Eli Echarry earned the win, after starter Benjamin Griset left the game after tossing 3.0 scoreless innings. Echarry threw 4.0 innings and allowed six hits, two walks, and struck out one. Andrew Hanse came in for the last two innings and got the save. He surrendered two hits and fanned two batters.

Suffering the loss, Yankees starter Rookie Davis lasted 4.0 innings, giving up three runs (two earned) off five hits and a walk. Staten Island did, however, get four innings of scoreless relief from Dillon McNamara and Sam Agnew-Wieland – who both threw two frames.

Hudson Valley took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first whenright fielder Johnny Field grounded out to short to scorecenterfielder Julian Ridings. Ridings had previously reached base on a single, before stealing second and moving to third on a wild pitch.

The Renegades were back at it in the third, extending their lead to 2-0. Ridings hit a one-out line drive single to right to reach before advancing to second on a sacrifice bunt by shortstop Pat Blair. Ridings then came around to score on a line drive double to left off the bat of second baseman Ariel Soriano.

In the following frame, Hudson Valley tagged on another run asthird baseman Julian Morillo hit an RBI single to plate catcherOmar Narvaez. Narvaez had reached on a fielding error by third baseman Jerison Lopez, and moved up a base when first baseman Darryl George flew out to right.

The Yankees loaded the bases in the sixth on three consecutive singles, but were unable to score. Catcher Isaias Tejeda came up and grounded into a force out. Centerfielder Mike O’Neill, who was at third, was tagged out at the plate on the play for the second out. Right fielder Mikeson Oliberto then flew out to left to end the inning.

The Renegades struck again in the ninth, hitting reliever Charles Haslup for three runs. Blair led off with a ground ball single, before Soriano drew a walk. A fielding error by second baseman Hector Crespo put Field at second allowed both runners to come home, giving Hudson Valley a 6-0 lead.

The Yankees will travel to Hudson Valley tomorrow for a 7:00PM start against the Renegades. The team will return home to Staten Island on Saturday, June 22nd. Saturday is Anti-Bullying Night at the ballpark and the first 2,500 fans will receive a free anti bullying pennant. MiLB is also giving away 750 Scholastic books. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00PM. Tickets are on sale now by calling 718-720-9265, or visiting the box office at Richmond County Bank Ballpark.

 

 

 

Morning Bits

Good morning everyone!

The Yankees fell to the Rays last night by a score of  8-3.

Andy Pettitte allowed 5 earned runs on 9 hits in 6 2/3 innings.

The Yankees continue to struggle offensively, scoring 3 runs on only 6 hits.

Vernon Wells and Travis Hafner were hitless, lowering their batting averages to .221 and .216 respectively.

The second game of the three game series with the Rays begins at 7:05 PM ET tonight and will match David Phelps(4-4, 4.08 ERA) with Roberto Hernandez(4.7, 5.02 ERA).

Now on to today's news links:

Mark Feinsand, Roger Rubin, and Anthony McCarron say that the Yankees are too aggressive on the basepaths.

Matthew Stanmyre of the Star-Ledger talks about how atrocious Vernon Wells has been at the plate.

Jon Heyman of CBSSPORTS.com has this to say about the Yankees seeking bats via trade and wonders if any are available.

Joel Sherman of the New York Post thinks the Yankees may need to dump Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain at any cost.

Have a great day everyone!

 

This Day In New York Yankees History 6/21


On this day in 2005 the Yankees came back against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays after being down 10-2 to win the game 20-11. This is the second time in the Rays franchise history that they would give up an eight run or more lead and lose by nine runs. Both of these were at the hands of the New York Yankees. Also it is worth noting that the Yankees scored 13 runs in a single inning both time the Rays gave up an eight run lead to lose by nine. Those were the days when the Tampa Bay Rays were known as the Devil Rays and we actually had a major league offense.