Friday, November 21, 2014

Raul Ibanez Not Interested In Yankees Hitting Coach Job


Kansas City Royals outfielder and DH Raul Ibanez has been linked to be the next manager of the Tampa Bay Rays and the vacant hitting coach position for the New York Yankees. Ibanez was named as one of three finalists for the Rays job and came out today and said he was not interested in the Yankees job whether he got the Rays job or not.

Yankees Sign Jonathan Galvez To Minor League Deal

According to the transactions page on Yankees.com the New York Yankees have signed minor league second baseman Jonathan Galvez to a minor league deal. Galvez was most recently in the San Diego Padres organization and posted a .280/.354/.449 slash with 10 home runs and 52 RBI in Triple-A this season. 

Galvez's career minor league line in seven seasons is .280/.366/.427/.793 with 54 home runs, 331 RBI, 144 doubles, 17 triples, and 114 stolen bases (37 as his career high in a season) in 2,309 minor league at bats. Can you say the next Yangervis Solarte?

Chihiro Kaneko the next Masahiro Tanaka?


News is circulating that the Japanese League Orix Buffaloes could post 31 year old starting pitcher Chihiro Kaneko this offseason. Would Kaneko be worth the investment? Honestly I have no idea so let's look at his stats via Baseball Reference.

YearAgeWLW-L%ERAGGSCGSHOIPHRHRBBSOWHIPH9HR9BB9SO9SO/W
20062211.5003.542110028.02013418221.3576.41.35.87.11.22
20072362.7502.793672284.07531420681.1318.00.42.17.33.40
200824109.5263.98292500165.01857819341261.32710.11.01.96.93.71
200925118.5792.57322152171.21495415341651.0667.80.81.88.74.85
201026178.6803.30302976204.11848517441901.1168.10.71.98.44.32
201127104.7142.43202052155.1126459381231.0567.30.52.27.13.24
20122843.5712.40992163.26519215561.2579.20.32.17.93.73
201329158.6522.012929103223.11665510582001.0036.70.42.38.13.45
201430165.7621.98272743191.0157487421991.0427.40.32.09.44.74
9 Seasons9048.6522.6923316835191286.111274288730311491.1127.90.62.18.03.79

Trend Being Set As Cuban Players Become More Expensive


Over the past few seasons buying offense has come at a premium in Major League Baseball and teams have put a premium on acquiring talent coming out of Cuba. When the New York Yankees handed starting pitcher Jose Contreras a $32 million deal it was easily the largest deal ever handed to a native of Cuba and that record would stand for nine seasons until Yoenis Cespedes received $36 million in 2012. The price for Cuban free agents has gone up and up and since then and that could mean good things for Yasmany Tomas and Yoan Moncada in the coming weeks.

The trend upwards in the Cuban market continued last season when Jose Abreu signed a $68 million deal with the Chicago White Sox and continued upward when Rusney Castillo signed a $72.5 million deal with the Boston Red Sox 10 months later. With the 24 year old power hitting outfielder Tomas and 19 year old five tool infielder Moncada set to sign soon those numbers are likely to continue to climb.


The impact of these Cuban players in the game is undeniable as last year alone Abreu, Cespedes, Yasiel Puig and Alexei Ramirez were in last season’s All Star Game. The talent is fresh for the picking in Cuba lately and it is getting expensive, be wary. For every Abreu there is two Contreras’, Ariel Prieto, etc. right behind him. Buyer beware. 

BREAKING: Yankees Making a Run at Max Scherzer and Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Clause


Breaking news out of the Greedy Pinstripes news desk out of New York where the New York Yankees are reportedly going against earlier reports and are considering signing Max Scherzer to a mega free agent contract. Also on the other side of the world there have been confirmed sightings of a real Santa Claus and St. Nick at the North Pole.

The Major League Baseball offseason is nothing more than agents, media outlets, and bloggers pumping team names and player’s names around for views, hits, and ratings. An offseason without the Yankees being “interested” in a top free agent or three means contract sizes are down, less people are clicking on MLB Trade Rumors and watching Hot Stove on MLB Network, and those agents are not making the money they have become accustomed to making in years past.

If the Yankees had five Mike Trout’s and Giancarlo Stanton hit the market you would hear how the Yankees are “interested” and doing their “due diligence” according to “sources” on ESPN and all over your favorite blogs. The Yankees aren’t interested in Scherzer and the Yankees aren’t going to sign Scherzer. Also a fat man in a red suit is not going to buy your Christmas presents this year so you better reconsider your Black Friday plans.


/rant

Randy Levine Foreboding or Talking Out His Butt?


Randy Levine was interviewed recently by USA Today about the New York Yankees offseason and specifically the Giancarlo Stanton contract. This interview is where the “Thank God” came from when asked if Levine was happy that Alex Rodriguez no longer had the largest contract in Major League Baseball history. While some people cherry picked that sound bite out of the interview and ran with it I actually read and listened to the entire interview and an interesting nugget stood out for me. From the interview Levine goes on to say:
"It's really, really early,'' Levine says. "This time last year we hadn't done anything.''

Over $500 million later…
"I think we're on our usual pace,'' Levine says. "We're doing it in a methodical way.
"We have to have some surprises.''

Jacob Ellsbury comes to mind as the 2014 version of a surprise while Rafael Soriano also comes to mind in 2010. Who is the surprise this season?
"We'll have to wait and see, Levine says. "I think it's a little early for any conclusions.''


Damn you Levine, Damn you.

TGP Daily Poll: Jon Lester Will Return to Boston



Jon Lester will not sign with the Chicago Cubs this offseason but will instead head back to Boston to play for the Boston Red Sox.


Vote in our poll!

So the Yankees Protected Mason Williams


Yeah... about sums it up for me.

This Day in New York Yankees History 11/21: Enter Pascual Perez & Joe DiMaggio


On this day in 1989 the New York Yankees signed Pascual Perez to a three year deal worth $5.7 million in one of the worst Yankees signings in their history, see Carl Pavano for reference. The starting pitcher would spend a total of 150 weeks on the disabled list and would be suspended for the entire 1992 season after failing yet another drug test.


Also on this day in 1934 the New York Yankees purchased the contract of Joe DiMaggio from San Francisco of the Pacific Coast League. The son of an Italian immigrant will be the first of three DiMaggio brothers to play in the Major Leagues.