Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Mike Harkey Becomes Pitching Coach For DBack's


The Arizona Diamondbacks have signed Yankees longtime bullpen coach Mike Harkey to be their pitching coach. The is still unofficial as the deal is not expected to be announced until Monday but the deal is in place and the Yankees will now have to find a new pitching coach for this coming season.

Harkey was hired in 2008 along with Joe Girardi and is considered to be one of Girardi's closest and loyal friends. The front runner for the Yankees job is Cal Eldred, who was also interviewed by Arizona and in the Yankees system in Scranton.

In other Yankees coaching and staff news we have a new strength and conditioning coach as we signed Matthew Krause for the job. Krause has been in the Reds organization since 2002 and in this job since 2004 so he comes with all the credentials and experience you would want for the job. Krause replaces Dana Cavalea for the job and hopefully lays low and does a good job because it is never a good thing if the fan base is on a first name basis with your strength and conditioning coach.

Yankees Hosting Black Friday/Cyber Monday Deals


The 2014 season looks like it has all the makings of another Yankees postseason birth, a long run into the playoffs, and possibly a World Series. The Yankees have already opened up their purse strings for catcher Brian McCann and more exciting and must see players seem to be in the pipeline as well, which not seeing Chris Stewart anymore is reason enough to head back to Yankee Stadium. The Yankees are getting into the Black Friday and Cyber Monday game by offering Black Friday deals on Yankees tickets.


The New York Yankees are the premier franchise in all of professional sports having won an unprecedented 27 World Series Championships throughout their storied history. As such they have rarely offered discounted ticket specials. However for 2014 season they have decided to reward their loyal fan base by offering some fantastic deals for the upcoming season. Beginning at 12 pm EST on Black Friday (November 29) and lasting until December 24th the Yankees, in conjunction with MasterCard, will offer three different promotions for fans to purchase tickets

MasterCard Preferred Pricing
  • $15 off select seats when purchasing tickets with your MasterCard. 
  • Available for every home game through June.
  • New for the 2014 season! 
MasterCard Holiday Buy 2, Get 2
  • Save 50% on select seats (Terrace Level, Grandstand Level or Bleachers) for the following games:
  • Must be purchased with a MasterCard between 12 pm EST on Black Friday (11/29) through Cyber Monday (12/2). 
  • Entering the promo code “MCB2G2” at check out. 
Offer available for these games:
  • 4/8 vs Baltimore Orioles 
  • 4/9 vs Baltimore Orioles 
  • 4/15 vs Chicago Cubs
  • 4/16 vs Chicago Cubs
  • 4/29 vs Seattle Mariners
  • 4/30 vs Seattle Mariners
  • 5/1 vs Seattle Mariners
MasterCard $5 & 1/2 Priced Games
  • Tickets available in select areas of the Stadium in the Terrace Level, Grandstand Level or Bleachers
  • Tickets must be purchased with a MasterCard.
  • Tickets can be purchased on the day of the game. 
Offer available for these games: 

  • 4/9 vs Baltimore Orioles
  • 4/29 vs Seattle Mariners
  • 4/30 vs Seattle Mariners
  • 5/1 vs Seattle Mariners
  • 6/3 vs Oakland Athletics
  • 6/17 vs Toronto Blue Jays

To take advantage of these great deals on 2014 New York Yankees tickets, click here

Omar Luis Is Unprotected From Rule 5 Draft


Last year the New York Yankees made a huge splash in the International Free Agent market before the new collective bargaining agreement put a cap on each teams spending in the international pool when they signed pitcher Omar Luis for $4 million. Luis is a left handed pitcher and 21 years old and he defected from his native Cuba and obtained residency in Haiti last season before being signed the night before the new rules were implemented. Long story story the Yankees did not like something they saw on his physical, voided the contract, and re-signed him to a slightly smaller $2.5 million contract.

Major League Baseball ruled that since the original deal was signed before the new rules were implemented that he would be grandfathered in under the old rules but the problems did not stop there. Due to the fact that he was signed twice by the same team and was not added to the 40 man roster he will be eligible for the Rule 5 draft next month. Ben Badler reports that this is not unprecedented as teams like the Brewers, Reds, and Mariners have had similar situations pop up in recent years since the new CBA was implemented.

There is no way that Luis is chosen this year and if he is there is no way he stick on a 40 man roster all season, being hidden or not, but that is not the problem. The problem is next year he will be Rule 5 draft eligible as well, and the year after that, and the year after that. The Yankees can always protect him and add him to the 40 man roster but that starts to burn up minor league options quickly as Luis has never pitched above rookie ball in his career. If Luis gets taken and returned twice he can also elect free agency rather then be returned to the Yankees so a ton of things can go wrong with one of the better Yankees prospects in their system right now.

The 2014 season will be a big indicator for Luis and the Yankees going forward as we have to rush his development, protect him, or risk him going to pitch for someone else.

Brendan Ryan Contract Details


Brendan Ryan's contract details are in and they are much richer then initially expected. Ken Rosenthal is reporting that Ryan will receive a two year deal worth $5 million with a $5 million player option for the 2016 season. The total value of the contract will likely amount to $10 million for a part time bench player, wow, what a difference an offseason makes. According to Mike Axisa of RiverAvenueBlues.com the AAV will be $2.5 million since the player option does not exceed 50% of the total value of the deal.

Yankees Met With Cano, No Contract Updates


We can file this under the "nothing to see here" file but the New York Yankees met with Robinson Cano's representatives today and made little to no progress on their contract negotiations. The two sides will take a break for the Thanksgiving holiday and resume discussions next week. Cano's side has reportedly come down from their initial $310 million demands, but not by much, and no word on how high the Yankees have come up if at all. Things seem tense around the negotiations and probably will be for a long time, I do not see this coming to a conclusion any time soon.

What I Am Thankful For: New Additions To Family


On Thanksgiving eve we continue our look at what we are thankful for here on The Greedy Pinstripes and today I want to talk about the birth of my second son, Hayden Alexander. Normally I try to keep my personal life as my personal life and the Yankees life as the blogs life but it's Thanksgiving eve and I want to share the recent addition to our family.

Hayden broke Mrs. Greedy Pinstripes water at 12:26 on 11/22 and made his added one more Yankees fan to the crowd at 6:15 that morning. He weighed 8 lbs even and was right at 21 inches long, perfectly healthy.

Spend this holiday with family and friends because nothing is more important, especially on days like today. Have a safe and great holiday everyone and we will be back to full strength in the coming days.

Alex Rodriguez Amends "Witch Hunt" Lawsuit


Let's start the day off with some drama, shall we?

Alex Rodriguez updated his lawsuit against Major League Baseball and Bud Selig yesterday due to the fact that Selig refused to testify against Alex in his Biogenesis suspension appeal. The lawyers for Rodriguez filed the 33 page amendment to the lawsuit that was originally filed on October 6th to the judge.

“Mr. Selig chose to hide in his office in Milwaukee rather than come testify at the grievance hearing in New York. In Mr. Selig’s world, apparently the ‘buck’ does not stop with Bud,” the new complaint said. “Mr. Selig lacked the courage of his convictions to explain under oath the reasons for the suspension and the conduct of his investigators. His silence on these issues speaks volumes and leads to only one logical conclusion — his actions, and those of the MLB personnel he controls, were aimed at destroying the reputation, career and business prospects of Alex Rodriguez.”


This amendment did include a picture of Bud Selig taking a picture with that fan with the "A-Roid" shirt, which is petty to me but what do I know. 

“Sadly, this cowardly stance by Mr. Selig is consistent with his past and highly inappropriate conduct in posing, smilingly, with a young fan wearing a T-shirt with a derogatory message directed at Mr. Rodriguez,” the amended lawsuit said. “One cannot imagine the Commissioner of any other professional sport — or indeed the CEO of any business — doing something similar with respect to one of his or her players or employees.”

The Bronx is Burning again ladies and gentleman and I need a drink, and I need it stirred ASAP. 

This Day In New York Yankees History 11/27


On this day in 1947 the Yankees Joe DiMaggio edged out Ted Williams to win the American League Most Valuable Player award by one point. Williams won the triple crown this year posting a .343 average with 32 home runs and 162 RBI's but DiMaggio's .315 with 20 home runs and 97 RBI's would take the award. This would be the second time in the 40's, the other in 1941, that DiMaggio narrowly won the award over a more deserving Ted Williams.


On this day in 1972 the Indians and the Yankees hooked up for a trade that saw Graig Nettles and catcher Gerry Moses head to New York for John Ellis, Jerry Kenney, Charlie Spikes, and Rusty Torres. Nettles would be a huge part of three American League pennants and two World Series titles in the late 70's, ask any Dodgers fan about him.