Friday, November 1, 2013

Scorpions drop 8th straight game to Saguaros, 6-3

Yankees outfielder Mason Williams went 2-for-5 with an RBI tonight as the Scorpions dropped their eighth straight game to Saguaros, 6-3. This loss is the Scorps eighth consecutive one, meaning that their overall record is now just 7-14. At one point this year they were 7-6, but now that's ancient history. Now they're basically a charity for teams that need wins. 

I know that nobody else here really cares that much about the AFL, but I do. And I must say this is seriously depressing. It was fun, but now it's just writing about how much they lost by. I want this fall league season to end because I really like some of these prospects and I feel like this experience hasn't been good for them. They just lose. That's all they do. 

Heyman: Qualifying Offers To Go To Kuroda & Cano


To the surprise of nobody Jon Heyman reported on his Twitter feed that the Yankees are expected to offer qualifying offers, which are one year deals worth $14.1 million, to their free agents Hiroki Kuroda and Robinson Cano. The Yankees are not sure on whether to offer one to Curtis Granderson or not since he would be likely to accept it and would end any run at a Jacoby Ellsbury or Carlos Beltran in free agency. This all but ends any speculation that the Yankees would offer Phil Hughes a qualifying offer that he would snatch up in 2.5 seconds if Heyman is reporting good information. The Yankees have until Monday the 4th to extend their qualifying offers to their free agents to possibly get draft pick compensation for them.

Conflicting Reports On The New Derek Jeter Deal

All of you jumping up and down that the new Derek Jeter deal will save up nearly $2,000,000 on the Hal Cap with AAV you now have conflicting reports. Buster Olney on his twitter account says "source" are reporting that this new deal will actually increase the Yankees AAV salary by $2,000,000. So the Yankees once again are bidding against themselves and this is how we are going to do business before we go talk to Robinson Cano, oh boy hold on to your hats.

Add Jacoby Ellsbury & Matt Garza To Shopping List


The New York Yankees are interested, whether it's true or not, in everybody this offseason no matter how their current roster looks. We have seen names like Masahiro Tanaka, Brian McCann, Josh Johnson, Shin Soo Choo, and basically all of the top 10-20 guys on the free agent market linked to us in some way and Jacoby Ellsbury and Matt Garza are no exceptions.

It is no secret that the Yankees are looking for an upgrade at right field and in the starting rotation so it somewhat makes sense for these two to be linked to New York. Matt Garza may be the best free agent starting pitcher this side of the Pacific Ocean and Ellsbury may be the best outfielder available this year and with the Yankees coming out and saying they have a $300,000,000 shopping spree planned I understadn the reports. Just because I understand them does not mean I believe that they are reasonable or even unrealistic because I do not here, especially when it comes to Ellsbury. I believe we are truly interested in Matt Garza because he would be a solid #2 with AL East experience, not to mention he kills us historically which always seems to be a factor with us. Ellsbury not so much unless we just want to stick it to the Red Sox even though in my opinion we would be the ones getting stuck with something that looks good in the window and doesn't work out the way you wanted when you get it home.

Ellsbury probably going to be offered qualifying offers and decline it so we would have to surrender our first round pick, the 18th overall, in this year MLB First Year Player's Draft on top of the contract to acquire him and his 52 steals in 56 attempts this year. Honestly I think we ultimately pass on Jacoby because I do not buy his 30 home run power potential outside of Fenway,  Ellsbury gets hurt way too much, and we already have a lesser version in Brett Gardner. Garza I can see us making a serious run at since we could keep the 18th overall pick since he was traded mid season and we simply need top of the rotation starting pitchers more then we need anything else.

To summarize and for the sake of simplicity we have Garza, yes, Ellsbury, no.

Derek Jeter Signs New One Year Deal Worth $12 Million


Derek Jeter is officially back for the 2014 season after signing a new one year deal worth $12,000,000 today with the New York Yankees. Jeter will be entering his age 40 season after missing most of the season due to injuries in 2012 in what will probably be his final season in the big leagues. This deal was stamped out with a face to face meeting between Jeter and Hal Steinbrenner and was kept pretty quiet for the most part because this came out of left field.

Rather than Jeter exercising his $9,500,000 players option for 2014 Jeter gets a new deal, and a raise to top it all off, and the Yankees save approximately $1,190,000 off the luxury tax which sweetens the deal for both sides. Under the new collective bargaining agreement Jeter's options year was counted as a guaranteed year and the AAV was calculated with his entire deal that he signed a few years back. This is a straight one year deal with a $12,000,000 base salary and AAV, simple, I like simple. Well reports are the contract is worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $12.8 million but I think that includes the player bonuses and such that is factored into every team's AAV but do not hold me to that. The "I like simple" line was sarcasm, sorry that does not come across well in text.

Great news for Jeter and great news for the Yankees and their fans. The captain is officially back for 2014.


World Series Week: Game 6 Of The 1977 World Series


With the final day of World Series week here on The Greedy Pinstripes I wanted to go a little retro here to see the final game of the 1977 World Series. You all probably remember it as the game where Reggie Jackson hit three home runs on three pitches to clinch it for George Steinbrenner, Billy Martin, and the Yankees. I hope you all enjoyed World Series week here on the blog.

2014 MLB Free Agency Predictions


The 2013 Major League Baseball season is over and now the Hot Stove season begins for all the teams in the MLB. This can be a very interesting and fun time for teams or it could be a pretty boring and frustrating time for teams, see the Yankees 2013 off season hot stove for example. Annually I take my best shot, which has never been a good shot mind you, at predicting where every single free agent will go before the 2014 season starts and this year will be no different. This will be kept updated and then reviewed right before spring training is over so bookmark this and keep checking back to see just how little I really know about baseball, GM's, free agency, and baseball in general.

BOLDED names denote an accurate pick
If the team name is crossed out, like this, then I was wrong and put the correct team out beside it

Catchers

Henry Blanco (42) - Retirement
John Buck (33) - Oakland Athletics
Jesus Flores (29) - Tampa Bay Rays
Hector Gimenez (31) - New York Yankees
Ramon Hernandez (38) - Retirement
Brian McCann (30) - Texas Rangers
Jose Molina (38) - Baltimore Orioles
Dioner Navarro (30) - Kansas City Royals
Wil Nieves (36) Miami Marlins
Miguel Olivo (35) - New York Mets
Brayan Pena (32) - Chicago Cubs
A.J. Pierzynski (37) - Philadelphia Phillies
Humberto Quintero (34) - Chicago White Sox
Ronny Paulino (33) - Detroit Tigers
Guillermo Quiroz (32) - Washington Nationals
Carlos Ruiz (35) - Philadelphia Phillies
Jarrod Saltalamacchia (29) - Boston Red Sox
Kelly Shoppach (34) - Cleveland Indians
Geovany Soto (31) - Seattle Mariners
Kurt Suzuki (30) - $8.5MM club option with a $650K buyout - Oakland Athletics
Taylor Teagarden (30) - New York Yankees
Yorvit Torrealba (35) - Cincinnati Reds

First Basemen

Jose Dariel Abreu - Chicago White Sox
Todd Helton (40) - Retirement
Jeff Baker (33) - New York Yankees
Mike Morse (32) - Texas Rangers
Eric Hinske (36) - Kansas City Royals
Xavier Nady (35) - Miami Marlins
Yuniesky Betancourt (32) - Los Angeles Dodgers
Corey Hart (32) - Milwaukee Brewers
Paul Konerko (38) - Chicago White Sox
Casey Kotchman (31) - Baltimore Orioles
Brandon Laird (26) - Houston Astros
Adam Lind (30) - $7MM club option with a $2MM buyout - Toronto Blue Jays
James Loney (30) - James Loney
Casey McGehee (31) - Milwaukee Brewers
Kendrys Morales (30) - New York Yankees
Justin Morneau (33) - Baltimore Orioles
Mike Napoli (32) - Boston Red Sox
Lyle Overbay (37) - New York Mets
Carlos Pena (36) - Seattle Mariners
Mark Reynolds (30) - Tampa Bay Rays
Kevin Youkilis (35) - Cleveland Indians

Second Basemen

Robinson Cano (31) - New York Yankees
Alexi Casilla (29) - Toronto Blue Jays
Jamey Carroll (40) - Retirement
Alberto Gonzalez (31) - New York Yankees
Alexander Guerrero (27) - Los Angeles Dodgers
Mike Fontenot (34) - Miami Marlins
Mark Ellis (37) - $5.75MM club option with a $1MM buyout - Arizona Diamondbacks
Omar Infante (32) - Detroit Tigers
Kelly Johnson (32) - Baltimore Orioles
Nick Punto (36) - Minnesota Twins
Brian Roberts (36) - Tampa Bay Rays
Ryan Roberts (33) - Atlanta Braves
Ramon Santiago (34) - Arizona Diamondbacks
Skip Schumaker (34) - Miami Marlins
Chris Valaika (28) - New York Mets
Josh Wilson (33) - San Diego Padres
Ben Zobrist (33) - $7MM club option with a $2.5MM buyout - Tampa Bay Rays

Shortstops

Robert Andino (30) - Boston Red Sox
Clint Barmes (35) - St. Louis Cardinals
Willie Bloomquist (36) - Los Angeles Dodgers
Jamey Carroll (40) - Retirement
Alexi Casilla (29) - Toronto Blue Jays
Stephen Drew (31) - St. Louis Cardinals
Yunel Escobar (31) - $5MM club option - Tampa Bay Rays
Rafael Furcal (36) - Boston Red Sox
Alex Gonzalez (36) - Colorado Rockies
Nick Green (35) - Minnesota Twins
Cesar Izturis (34) - Los Angeles Angels
Derek Jeter (40) - $8MM+ player option with a $3MM buyout - New York Yankees
John McDonald (39) - Miami Marlins
Jhonny Peralta (32) - Detroit Tigers
Brendan Ryan (32) - New York Yankees

Third Basemen

Yuniesky Betancourt (32) - Los Angeles Dodgers
Wilson Betemit (32) - $3.2MM vesting option - Los Angeles Dodgers
Jamey Carroll (40) - Retirement
Eric Chavez (36) - New York Mets
Mark DeRosa (39) - $750K club option with a $25K buyout - Toronto Blue Jays
Jerry Hairston Jr. (38) - Baltimore Orioles
Brandon Inge (37) - Retirement
Brent Lillibridge (30) - Oakland Athletics
Casey McGehee (31) - Milwaukee Brewers
Placido Polanco (38) - Retirement
Mark Reynolds (30) - Tampa Bay Rays
Juan Uribe (34) - Chicago White Sox
Kevin Youkilis (35) - Cleveland Indians
Michael Young (37) - Arizona Diamondbacks

Left Fielders

Jeff Baker (33) - New York Yankees
Jason Bay (35) - Chicago White Sox
Mark DeRosa (39) - $750K club option with a $25K buyout - Toronto Blue Jays
Raul Ibanez (42) - Retirement
Reed Johnson (37) - $1.6MM club option with a $150K buyout - Atlanta Braves
Austin Kearns (34) - Miami Marlins
Jason Kubel (32) - $7.5MM club option with a $1MM buyout - Cleveland Indians
Darnell McDonald (35) - Oakland Athletics
Nate McLouth (32) - Seattle Mariners
Mike Morse (32) - Texas Rangers
David Murphy (32) - Texas Rangers
Laynce Nix (33) - Philadelphia Phillies
Juan Pierre (36) - Minnesota Twins
Grady Sizemore (31) - New York Yankees
Delmon Young (28) - Seattle Mariners

Center Fielders

Rick Ankiel (34) - Milwaukee Brwers
Coco Crisp (34) - $7.5MM club option with a $1MM buyout - Oakland Athletics
Rajai Davis (33) - Tampa Bay Rays
Jacoby Ellsbury (30) - Seattle Mariners
Curtis Granderson (33) - Chicago Cubs
Franklin Gutierrez (31) - $7.5MM club option with a $500K buyout - Seattle Mariners
Andres Torres (36) - Boston Red Sox
Chris Young (30) - $11MM club option with a $1.5MM buyout - Oakland Athletics

Right Fielders

Jeff Baker (33) - New York Yankees
Carlos Beltran (37) - New York Yankees
Roger Bernadina (30) - Washington Nationals
Marlon Byrd (36) - Cincinnati Reds
Shin-Soo Choo (31) - New York Mets
Tyler Colvin (28) - Chicago Cubs
Nelson Cruz (33) - Texas Rangers
David DeJesus (34) - $6.5MM club option with a $1.5MM buyout - Tampa Bay Rays
Mark DeRosa (39) - $750K club option with a $25K buyout - Toronto Blue Jays
Jeff Francoeur (30) - St. Louis Cardinals
Corey Hart (32) - Milwaukee Brewers
Mike Morse (32) - Texas Rangers
Grady Sizemore (31) - New York Yankees
Casper Wells (29) - New York Mets

Designated Hitters

Lance Berkman (37) - $12MM club option with a $1MM buyout - Houston Astros
Shelley Duncan (34) - Cleveland Indians
Jason Giambi (43) - Retirement Cleveland Indians
Travis Hafner (37) - Retirement
Raul Ibanez (42) - Retirement
Kendrys Morales (30) - New York Yankees
Luke Scott (36) - Tampa Bay Rays
Delmon Young (28) - Seattle Mariners
Michael Young (37) - Arizona Diamondbacks
Jose Dariel Abreu (26) - Chicago White Sox

Starting Pitchers

Alfredo Aceves (31) - Cleveland Indians
Bronson Arroyo
 (37) - San Diego Padres
Scott Baker (32) - Chicago Cubs
Erik Bedard (35) - Cincinnati Reds
Jorge De La Rosa (33) - Colorado Rockies
A.J. Burnett (37) - Pittsburgh Pirates
Chris Capuano (35) - $8MM mutual option with a $1MM buyout - Los Angeles Dodgers
Chris Carpenter (39) - St. Louis Cardinals
Bruce Chen (37) - Kansas City Royals
Bartolo Colon (41) - Oakland Athletics
Scott Feldman (30) - Baltimore Orioles
Gavin Floyd (31) - Chicago Cubs
Jeff Francis (33) - Houston Astros
Freddy Garcia (37) - Miami Marlins
Jon Garland (34) - Chicago White Sox
Matt Garza (30) - Texas Rangers
Chad Gaudin (31) - San Diego Padres
Roy Halladay (37) - Toronto Blue Jays
Jason Hammel (31) - Kansas City Royals
Aaron Harang (36) - $7MM+ mutual option with a $2MM buyout - New York Mets
Dan Haren (33) - Kansas City Royals
Roberto Hernandez (33) - Minnesota Twins
Tim Hudson (38) - Atlanta Braves
Phil Hughes (28) - Arizona Diamondbacks
Philip Humber (31) - Colorado Rockies
Ubaldo Jimenez (30) - may void $8MM option for 2014 - Cleveland Indians
Josh Johnson (30) - New York Yankees
Jeff Karstens (31) - Pittsburgh Pirates
Scott Kazmir (30) - Toronto Blue Jays
Hiroki Kuroda (39) - Japan/Retirement
John Lannan (29) - Milwaukee Brewers
Wade LeBlanc (29) - San Francisco Giants
Jon Lester (30) - $13MM club option with a $250K buyout - Boston Red Sox
Colby Lewis (34) - Texas Rangers
Ted Lilly (38) - Retirement
Tim Lincecum (30) - San Francisco Giants
Paul Maholm (32) - Atlanta Braves
Shaun Marcum (32) - Atlanta Braves
Jason Marquis (35) - Colorado Rockies
Daisuke Matsuzaka (33) - Seattle Mariners
Randy Messenger (32) - Houston Astros
Ricky Nolasco (31) - Atlanta Braves
Sean O'Sullivan (26) - Chicago Cubs
Roy Oswalt (35) - Retirement
Mike Pelfrey (30) - Minnesota Twins
Wandy Rodriguez (35) - $13MM player option with a $2.5MM buyout - Pittsburgh Pirates
Ervin Santana (31) - Toronto Blue Jays
Johan Santana (34) - $25MM club option with a $5.5MM buyout - Washington Nationals
Joe Saunders (33) - mutual option - Seattle Mariners
James Shields (32) - $12MM club option with a $1MM buyout - Kansas City Royals
Masahiro Tanaka (25) - acquired via posting system for Japanese players - New York Yankees
Jason Vargas (31)  - Philadelphia Phillies
Ryan Vogelsong (36) - $6.5MM club option with a $300K buyout - San Francisco Giants
Edinson Volquez (30) - San Diego Padres
Tsuyoshi Wada (33) - $5MM club option - Baltimore Orioles
P.J. Walters (29) - Minnesota Twins
Jake Westbrook (36) -- $9.5MM mutual option with a $1MM buyout - St. Louis Cardinals 
Chien-Ming Wang (34) - Tampa Bay Rays
Suk-Min Yoon (27) - Minnesota Twins
Barry Zito (36) - $18MM club option with a $7MM buyout - Washington Nationals

Closers

Grant Balfour (36) - Oakland Athletics
Joaquin Benoit (36) - Boston Red Sox
Rafael Betancourt (39) - $4.25MM mutual option with a $250K buyout - Colorado Rockies
Kevin Gregg (36) - New York Mets
Joel Hanrahan (32) - Philadelphia Phillies
Casey Janssen (32) - $4MM club option - Los Angeles Dodgers Toronto Blue Jays
Ryan Madson (33) - Baltimore Orioles
Edward Mujica (30) - Chicago Cubs
Joe Nathan (39) - $9MM club option with a $750K buyout, Nathan may void - Toronto Blue Jays
Fernando Rodney (37) - Detroit Tigers
Jose Veras (33) - $3.25MM club option with a $150K buyout - Detroit Tigers
Brian Wilson (32) - New York Yankees

Right Handed Relievers

David Aardsma (32) - Tampa Bay Rays
Matt Albers (31) - Chicago Cubs
Hector Ambriz (30) - Colorado Rockies
Luis Ayala (36) - New York Mets
Matt Belisle (34) - $4.25MM mutual option with a $250K buyout - Colorado Rockies
Michael Bowden (27) - Houston Astros
Shawn Camp (38) - Arizona Diamondbacks
Joba Chamberlain (28) - Tampa Bay Rays
Jesse Crain (32) - Chicago White Sox
Octavio Dotel (40) - Minnesota Twins
Kyle Farnsworth (38) - Retirement
Frank Francisco (34) - Miami Marlins
Matt Guerrier (35) - New York Mets
LaTroy Hawkins (39) - New York Mets 
Phil Humber (30) - Colorado Rockies
Matt Lindstrom (34) - $4MM club option - Chicago White Sox
Kameron Loe (32) - San Diego Padres
Brandon Lyon (34) - Miami Marlins
Jeff Manship (29) - Los Angeles Angels Of Anaheim
Carlos Marmol (31) - Houston Astros
Nick Masset (32) - Washington Nationals
Zach Miner (32) - Phialdelphia Phillies
Peter Moylan (35) - Atlanta Braves
Brett Myers (33) - club option - Arizona Diamondbacks
Juan Carlos Oviedo (30) - club option - Tampa Bay Rays
Chad Qualls (35) - Cincinnati Reds
J.C. Ramirez (25) - Boston Red Sox
Francisco Rodriguez (31) - Cincinnati Reds
Joe Smith (30) - Baltimore Orioles
Jose Valverde (36) - New York Mets
Jamey Wright (39) - Retirement

Left Handed Relievers
Tim Byrdak (40) - Retirement
Scott Downs (38) - Texas Rangers
Mike Gonzalez (36) - Philadelphia Phillies
Rich Hill (34) - Cincinnnati Reds
J.P. Howell (31) - Chicago Cubs
Boone Logan (29) - Chicago White Sox
Javier Lopez (36) - Milwaukee Brewers
Eric O'Flaherty (29) - New York Mets
Hideki Okajima (38) - Retirement
Darren Oliver (43) - Retirement
Manny Parra (31) - Seattle Mariners
Oliver Perez (32) - Atlanta Braves
Rafael Perez (32) - New York Yankees
Matt Thornton (37) - 2014 Option - Boston Red Sox

Scott Downs (38) - Texas Rangers
Mike Gonzalez (36) - Philadelphia Phillies
Rich Hill (34) - Cincinnati Reds
J.P. Howell (31) - Houston Astros
Boone Logan (29) - Chicago Cubs
Javier Lopez (36) - Milwaukee Brewers
Eric O'Flaherty (29) - New York Mets
Darren Oliver (43) - Retirement
Manny Parra (31) - Seattle Mariners
Oliver Perez (32) - Atlanta Braves
Matt Thornton (37) - $6MM club option with a $1MM buyout - Tampa Bay Rays

This Day In New York Yankees History 11/1


On this day in 1978 Yankees starting pitcher and World Series winning pitcher Ron Guidry would win the American League Cy Young Award unanimously. Guidry would garner all 28 first place votes and beat out Mike Caldwell and Jim Palmer for the award.


On this day in 2001, barely, we would see the first ever MLB game played in the month of November and it was Derek Jeter at the plate. Derek would kick off the November baseball month with a home run that would walk off with a win in the 2001 World Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Jeter was immediately donned "Mr. November" by a fan in the stands and then Michael Kay.


On this day in 2006 the Yankees promoted long time Yankees player Don Mattingly to bench coach to serve under then manager Joe Torre. Lee Mazzilli, you remember the guy that rocked back and forth constantly, was not brought back after the 2006 season.


On this day in 2007 the Los Angeles Dodgers hired long time Yankees manager Joe Torre. Torre would become the 26th manager in the Dodgers long history and their eight since moving to Los Angeles. Torre wasted no time as he was replaced this week by the Yankees when they hired current manager Joe Girardi.


In response to Hank Steinbrenner's sarcastic comment about Alex Rodriguez having a better shot of entering the Hall of Fame as a Toledo Mudhen then he does as a New York Yankee the Toledo AAA team offered A Rod a contract. Remember A Rod was a free agent at this time after opting out of his contract during the World Series. The minor league deal included incentives for hitting 75 home runs in 2008 and leading the Tigers affiliate to ten consecutive International League titles. If only...