Friday, March 7, 2014

Pineda dominates as Yankees beat Tigers on a walk-off balk, 3-2

Hiroki Kuroda threw a scoreless 2.2 innings and David Robertson put up another zero in the fourth tonight as the Yankees beat the Tigers at Steinbrenner Field, 3-2. After those two left this one, the man of the night, Michael Pineda, finally came in, throwing an absolutely dominant 2 innings in which he gave up just 1 hit (a single) and impressively struck out 4.

Anyway, the Yanks three runs in this W came on a two-run home run from Carlos Beltran (his second homer of the spring; scoring on the play was Derek Jeter, who singled for 1 of his two hits on the night) and a strange, happening-with-a-man-on-third balk in the bottom of the ninth. So yea, the Yankees won this game. It wasn't the prettiest victory I've ever seen, but hey, I'll take it.

Ervin Santana Wants A One Year Deal

Ervin Santana fired his agent and is now representing himself telling teams that he would be willing to sign a one year deal before Opening Day. Santana has also considered waiting until after June to sign so he would no longer be attached to  draft pick compensation.
The Royals, Santana's former team, are said to not be interested even at one year. The time is now for Santana, should we be interested? We should, but we probably won't be. Santana can be offered another qualifying offer after this season if he signs a one year deal, just as an FYI.

Joe Girardi Reveals Part Of Yankees Panama Roster


Joe Girardi has either not decided yet or has been very hush hush on who is coming to Panama for two games with the Miami Marlins to honor Mariano Rivera. A couple names have been leaking every day and we have a little clearer look at who will make the trip to Panama later in the month.

The list of players so far are Derek Jeter, CC Sabathia, Dean Anna, David Robertson, Brett Gardner, Brian McCann, Carlos Beltran, and Alfonso Soriano.

Lots of star power and that's only a third of the roster, I'm excited.

New York Yankees Spring Training News & Notes 3/7


Vidal Nuno threw a simulated game today rather than make a start this weekend, weird for someone competing in the 5th starter competition if you ask me but what do I know.

Slade Heathcott has been taking dry swings for about two weeks now after getting a very minor cleanup surgery on his knee over the offseason but is expected to hit off a tee starting tomorrow, the next step in the recovery. Heathcott has also been running on a treadmill in the clubhouse.

Adam Warren and Matt Daley threw bullpen sessions today.

Chad Jennings with the assignments from the day:

Living batting practice/simulated games:
Facing hitters Corban Joseph, Jose Pirela and Austin Romine
Vidal Nuno (to Gary Sanchez)
Jose Campos (to Jose Gil)
Shane Greene (to Pete O’Brien)
Bryan Mitchell (to Francisco Arcia)
· Today’s second string: C Francisco Cervelli, 1B Jose Gil, 2B Jose Pirela, SS Dean Anna, 3B Zelous Wheeler, LF Zoilo Almonte, CF Antoan Richardson, RF Adonis Garcia, DH Francisco Arcia
· Today’s scheduled relievers: Dave Robertson, Michael Pineda, Matt Thornton, Shawn Kelley and Preston Claiborne (with Jim Miller, Robert Coello and Yoshinori Tateyama listed as available if necessary)
· Batting practice groups:
Group 1: Derek Jeter, Brian Roberts, Ichiro Suzuki, Brian McCann
Group 2: Carlos Beltran, Jacoby Ellsbury, Eduardo Nunez, Alfonso Soriano
Group 3: Zoilo Almonte, Dean Anna, Russ Canzler, Zelous Wheeler
Group 4: Adonis Garcia, Jose Pirela, Antoan Richardson, Jose Gil
Group 5: Ramon Flores, Brett Gardner, Scott Sizemore, Francisco Cervelli
Group 6: Kelly Johnson, Mark Teixeira, Mason Williams
Group 7: Corban Joseph, Yangervis Solarte, John Ryan Murphy, Austin Romine
Group 8: Francisco Arcia, Pete O’Brien, Gary Sanchez
· Tomorrow’s travel squad for Kissimmee:
Pitchers: Manny Banuelos, Danny Burawa, Cesar Cabral, David Herndon, Chris Leroux, Fred Lewis, Jim Miller, Mark Montgomery, Ivan Nova, Chase Whitley
Catchers: Francisco Arcia, Francisco Cervelli, Jose Gil, Pete O’Brien, Austin Romine, Gary Sanchez
Infielders: Dean Anna, Kelly Johnson, Corban Joseph, Eduardo Nunez, Jose Pirela, Scott Sizemore, Yangervis Solarte, Mark Teixeira, Zelous Wheeler
Outfielders: Zoilo Almonte, Ramon Flores, Adonis Garcia, Brett Gardner, Antoan Richardson, Mason Williams

Dr. Frank Jobe Passes Away At Age 88


Today has been a terrible day for news, first we reported that Yogi Berra's wife Carmen had passed away and now Dr. Frank Jobe has passed away. Jobe is a surgeon who was the first to perform a Tommy John surgery on September 25, 1974. As we all know the surgery was performed on Tommy John and John went on to win 164 more games and did not miss a start after the surgery. Jobe saved the careers for a ton of Major League and minor league pitchers and had as big of an impact on this great game as anyone else. Jobe was 88 years old.

Jobe worked with the Los Angeles Dodgers for over 50 years and even saved the career and the shoulder  of Orel Hershiser, what would have been without Jobe. Jobe is survived by his wife Beverly, sons Christopher, Meredith, Cameron, and Blair, and eight grandchildren.

Our condolences and thoughts go out to the Jobe family as well tonight.

Yogi Berra's Wife Carmen Berra Passes Away


Carmen Berra, wife of Yankees legend Yogi Berra, passed away last night due to complications from an apparent stroke, she was 85 years old. They were married for 65 years as of January 26th of this year and Carmen is survived by Yogi and her sons Larry, Tim, and Dale.

The family asks that instead of sending flowers to please send donations to the Yogi Berra Museum & Learning Center located 8 Yogi Berra Drive, Little Falls, New Jersey 07424. Donations can also be made at yogiberramuseum.org.

Our condolences go out to Yogi and the entire Berra family on this tough and sad day.

New York Yankees vs. Detroit Tigers 3/7


The New York Yankees will look to continue their winning ways this afternoon as they take on the Detroit Tigers at George M. Steinbrenner Field. This is another spring game under the lights as the game will start at 7:05 pm ET and will not be televised anywhere unfortunately, not even  MLB TV.

Hiroki Kuroda will start the game for the Yankees and will be followed by Michael Pineda making his spring debut. Enjoy the rest of your night Yankees fans and go Yankees.

I've Got Til 5! - Yankee Stadium Facts

Hopefully you've all read the series of posts by Bryan Knepper, entitled The Yankee Stadium Experience. If not, I implore you to start with Part One right here. After that you can search for rest of the series.

While doing some random reading I came across some facts about Yankee Stadium that I found interesting, and decided to include five of those facts in this column.

So with this article, along with The Yankee Stadium Experience, you should know quite a bit about the history of Yankee Stadium. Let's get started...




1. Populous, the architecture firm that designed the new Yankee Stadium, has also designed other well-known stadiums across the World. Among those are Wembley Stadium, Wimbledon Centre Court, the University of Phoenix Stadium, the renovation of Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg for the 2010 World Cup, London's 2012 Olympic Stadium, and many other stadiums in Major League Baseball.









2. While you can imagine the draining system of any big stadium is quite extensive, did you know that the one under the playing field at Yankee Stadium is over 2.5 miles long?







3. Yankee Stadium is host to the Legends Culinary Series, which brings in some of the finest chefs in the World. Those chefs will prepare food for Legends Suite ticket holders.









4. The Yankees are the only team to inaugurate two stadiums with World Series wins. On top of that, after refurbishment to the original Stadium, the Yankees appeared in the 1976 World Series. Although I won't get into what happened in that series.







5. While Yankees fans may not be happy with Jay-Z, seeing as how his sports agency took Robinson Cano away from the Bombers and sent him to Seattle, Mr. Z (is that what you'd call him?) is the only musical act to appear at Yankee Stadium twice. He performed along with Eminem in September 13th and 14th of 2010, and again on July 19th and 20th with Justin Timberlake.


Hey Guys, Kendrys Morales Is Still Available


This is a total stretch but you do not get the name "Greedy Pinstripes" by being fiscally responsible or reasonable in most cases. Kendrys Morales is still out there, the Yankees have a ton of question marks with Mark Teixeira and his wrist, so this is a match made in heaven. Morales can play first base and can DH getting plenty of at bats with a rotation of players.

It's March 7th, teams have been playing for over a week now, and Morales is still not signed , that alone should be enough to land him on the cheap. Factor in that the Yankees would have to give up a draft pick for his services and his price and years should be minimal. I am thinking a one or two year deal would probably get it done.

The Yankees don't need Morales, and probably don't want Morales, but for $5 million or so for a one year deal why the heck not, right? Brian Cashman reads my stuff, this I am convinced of, and has my permission to bring in Morales Ninja Cashman style.

An Extremely Early Look At The 2015 Free Agency Class


I know it's early, and I realize that it's too early, to be looking at 2015 but I was bored so sue me. Let's take a look at the players the Yankees will no longer have under contract after the 2014 season and start the analysis there:

Derek Jeter $17 million
Hiroki Kuroda $16 million
David Robertson $5.215 million
Kelly Johnson $3 million
Brian Roberts $2 million
Alfonso Soriano $18 million, $13 million paid by Cubs
Ichiro Suzuki $6.5 million

Another offseason, another ton of money coming off the books, does that mean another offseason spending spree? Maybe. The Yankees would have holes once again at the back end of their bullpen, in the starting rotation, in the middle infield, the hot corner, and we would need another key piece or two that could help out Mark Teixeira if his wrist goes south.

$54.715 million off the books is a lot to play with this offseason so what kind of new toys could we be introducing this winter at Yankee Stadium? Obviously, unless the Dodgers re-sign him first, the Yankees are going to be all in on Hanley Ramirez and who could blame them? He can play third base or short stop easily and those are two spots the Yankees will really need to fill next season, even if Alex Rodriguez is back or not. Obviously I want David Robertson back and have wrote about how the Yankees need to lock him up now before he adds saves to his resume but if he was to go elsewhere the Yankees could look at former Oriole Jim Johnson, although he would likely be too expensive, but would also have Andrew Bailey still in the fold.

The great thing about the infield is between Eduardo Nunez, Dean Anna, Zoilo Almonte and the rest of the guys the Yankees are developing and bringing in the Yankees could finally fill in key pieces with homegrown talent leaving plenty of money for the rotation. The rotation will also be able to be filled with young guys like Michael Pineda, Adam Warren, David Phelps, Manny Banuelos, Shane Greene, Vidal Nuno, etc but if the Yankees are hell bent on spending big Josh Johnson would be a free agent again as well as James Shields with the possibility of Max Scherzer, Jon Lester, and Justin Masterson if the three do not reach extensions before then.

I cannot see the Yankees spending another $500 million this season but I could easily see them filling spots with homegrown players and filling in the blanks with the right choices, like we did in the early 90's. Adding a Hanley Ramirez, a Max Scherzer, and the rebuilt and revamped farm system could mean another World Series parade down the canyon of heroes... but damn it's early, too early to be looking at 2015.


Yankee Stadium Legacy: #24 Yogi Berra


Yogi Berra split time behind the plate and in the outfield for the New York Yankees in 1947 and 1948 showing the world just what kind of athlete he was at 5' 10". Berra became the Yankees full time catcher in 1949 and went on to log 1,699 career games as a catcher for New York. Berra appeared in 14 World Series and won 10 of them. a ring for each finger.

24 days until Yankees Opening Day

This Day In New York Yankees History 3/7


On this day in New York Yankees history the Yankees took on the Detroit Tigers in Grapefruit League play with Michael Pineda making his spring debut. I bring this up because no other Yankees news or history happened on this day.

Also to give everyone an update I submitted our application for media credentials for the Trenton Thunder last night so keep your fingers crossed for us, thank you guys and gals!