Tuesday, October 8, 2013

White Sox Will Pursue Curtis Granderson This Year


The Chicago White Sox are planning to make a serious push at Curtis Granderson this offseason as he enters free agency. The Yankees are expected to offer Granderson a qualifying offer for a one year deal worth somewhere in the $14,000,000 range with presumably a multi year contract. It is worth mentioning that Granderson was born and grew up in the greater Chicago area and went to High School there so there is always that factor to consider. Granderson has stated that he would prefer to stay in New York but he may duck and leave for more security in a multi year deal. Granderson missed 101 games with two freak injuries caused by hit by pitches but his value does not seem to have dropped as much as we may have thought or hoped so this is something we will have to watch closely, stay tuned.

Steinbrenner's Wont Go 10 Years For Cano


The New York Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner announced today in an interview that the Yankees would not go 10 years on Robinson Cano this offseason. Hal did say that he would not go 10 years on any player, except for Alex Rodriguez apparently, including Cano so there is always that. Hal also answered a bunch of questions about the $189 million luxury tax threshold, Joe Girardi, and our farm system while being interviewed by Mike Francesca and Michael Kay but nobody really cares about that. We want Cano back but at the right deal for us and apparently Hal and company want the same thing.

Joe Girardi To Decide Today

According to a post at the Chicago Sun-Times website, Joe Girardi will make his decision about whether or not to accept the Yankees contract offer to continue as their manager today.

Thinking is that Girardi will decline the offer and explore the Cubs' offer. However, the Cubs have already discussed other options, including former Diamondbacks manager AJ Hitch and former Indians and Nationals manager Manny Acta.

I hardly think Joe Girardi will make or break the Yankees from 2014 and beyond, but I am a fan of his and would like to see him return to team. I also wonder that if Girardi goes to the Cubs, will that affect Kevin Long's and Larry Rothchild's jobs? Long has been responsible for a lot of improvement with hitters, most notably with Curtis Granderson a couple of years ago. And Larry Rothchild has a nice track record with pitchers.

Yankees Payroll Updated (Including AAVs)


It seems as though our design for the Payroll page is ever-changing, and I'm sure that can get a bit annoying for some readers. For that... I apologize. However, we feel that the change is for the better.

Looking around the internet we found that websites either show a player's actual salary, or they show the average annual value of a player's contract. Well, we decided to give you a page that shows both.

The Payroll page will be updated as players are signed. Seeing as how only six players are currently under contract for 2014, it's going to be updated quite a bit.

The Yankees Should Trade For Ryan Braun

Current Yankee, Former Yankee, Future Yankee?


Anyone who reads any Milwaukee Brewers blogs have seen the speculation that the Brewers could be trying to trade Ryan Braun this offseason after his steroid suspension from this season. Obviously there are a few hurdles that need to be cleared including Braun's  hefty contract that will, including a mutual option year, take him through the 2021 season, Braun's no trade clause, and his baggage upon baggage he brings. No one wants to take on a guy that is connected to the whole Biogenesis fall out, especially just a year or two removed from the "FedEx guy tampering with his sample" and getting a pass on one failed test already. 


For the fun of reading and fandom let's just assume that the Yankees have the pieces to trade for Braun, who would have zero trade value just for the record, and that Ryan was willing to waive his no trade clause to New York. Let's also assume, again for simplicity sake, that the Yankees throw out the entire luxury tax threshold and the $189 million mandate and go all in for 2014 and beyond. Let's assume that George Steinbrenner is reincarnated into Hank and Hal Steinbrenner's balls and the Yankees ownership gives a shit about winning just one more time. Let's assume....

Ryan signed a 5 year contract extension before the 2012 season worth $105,000,000 with a mutual option for the 2021 season worth $15,000,000. Braun will be 38 years old when this contract runs out which is more encouraging then having a 42 year old Alex Rodriguez making big money in his final season in pinstripes. If I understand the new collective bargaining agreement the way I think I do, which could really be very little because you have to be a lawyer to understand that thing, Braun's AAV started being calculated in 2012 with the extension and everything before then is excluded. If this is the case Ryan will have an AAV of $15,833,333 for the next seven seasons. If they include the four seasons prior, which again I do not believe that they do even though it was an extension and not a new contract, his AAV drops down to $10,621,429. 


Braun is a left fielder by nature but could easily play right field for a season with speedster Brett Gardner in center field covering a ton of ground. Braun's right handed bat could really stack and balance the lineup, even in Yankees Stadium, and would return us to our glory days of 200+ home runs a season. Also I think if any market in the world could handle having three previous steroid suspended players on the team in Braun, Alex Rodriguez, and Francisco Cervelli I think it is New York. Braun would likely take a back seat to the media circus anyway with the whole "Derek Jeter Effect" and would especially if Jeter decided to announce that 2014 was his final season. Braun also helps his own cause being a humble character, whether proactively or re-actively, as we all saw when Braun was calling season ticket holders apologizing for his steroid suspension.  Braun seems like a great clubhouse guy and would seemingly fit in the New York clubhouse. 

The greatest part of this is, again assuming this trade even went down realistically, that Braun could be had for the low low price of Brett Marshall, Greg Bird, JR Murphy, David Adams, and Tommy Kahnle. I know it sounds like a ton but when you think about it it's really not. Milwaukee is rebuilding so they want young talent and controllable talent, plus we still have a bit of a 40 man roster crunch so it works for us too. We have to be "realistic" here and know that we are trading for premium talent, even clean as his would suggest, and cannot have him for nothing. We have to include Greg Bird, arguably a top five prospect of ours, and we have to include one of our catching trio of Murphy, Austin Romine, and Francisco Cervelli. Kahnle and Marshall do not seem to have a future in New York being way down on the totem pole and with both needing Rule 5 draft protection this winter it seems like the perfect time to get something for them. David Adams gets one more season of development in Milwaukee behind Aramis Ramirez before having to take over the full time role in 2015. This trade seems to help both teams achieve their respected goals, we compete in 2014 and beyond, and the Brewers continue to rebuild and retool. 


Is this unrealistic? Hell yeah. Was it fun to think about a lineup of Gardner, Soriano, Cano, Braun, Teixeira, Rodriguez, Granderson(DH), Jeter, Cervelli?, Another hell yeah. Does a post like this popping up already mean something? Yes, unfortunately, it means this is going to be a looooong winter and off season. Keep dreaming Yankees family!

This Day In New York Yankees History 10/8


On this day in 1927 the greatest team of all time, the 1927 New York Yankees, beat the Pirates 4-3 to complete the sweep and win the World Series.


On this day in 1939 the Yankees completed a sweep of the Cincinnati Reds to become the first team to ever win four consecutive World Series championships. The Yankees would win the game 7-4.


On this day in 1956 Don Larsen became the first and to this date the only pitcher to every throw a perfect game in World Series history. The Yankees would beat the Dodgers 2-0 at Yankees Stadium in game five of this World Series.


On this day in 1961 Don Larsen threw five shutout innings against the Cincinnati Reds to extend his World Series scoreless streak to 32 innings. The previous record was held by Babe Ruth when he has 29 2/3 innings of consecutive scoreless baseball in the Fall Classic. The Yankees would win game four 6-0.


On this day in 1995 we saw the Seattle Mariners celebrating at home plate as they became only the fourth team to even come from behind after being down two games in a five game series. The Yankees would lose in Don Mattingly's final game 6-5 in 11 innings.


On this day in 2007 we would see the Yankees lose to the Cleveland Indians 6-4 ending their season in the ALDS and ending Joe Torre's 12 year tenure as the manager of the Yankees. Torre would win 1,173 games in pinstripes and would make the post season every season including four World Series championships in six opportunities.