Friday, July 17, 2015

Game Thread: New York Yankees vs. Seattle Mariners 7/17


Has it really been four days already since we’ve seen baseball that actually counts? Sorry Commissioner Manfred but the All-Star Game doesn’t count, home field advantage in the World Series or not. That’s another discussion for another blog post though as this one will showcase the contest tonight between the New York Yankees and the Seattle Mariners inside Yankee Stadium. The Yankees will send their ace Masahiro Tanaka to the mound tonight to face off with the Mariners star rookie Mike Montgomery. The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV.

The Yankees are home for two more games this weekend in the Bronx before an off day on Monday and the beginning of a road trip on Tuesday. Get your Yankees tickets now for this series while you still can by clicking the Yankees Tickets link at the top of the blog. If you can’t make it live then simply jump on Twitter and give @GreedyStripes a follow and together we’ll root for the Yankees like we’re sitting next to Bald Vinny.


It’s been far too long without baseball so let’s get to it. Go Yankees!

AL East Contender or Pretender



New York Yankees (48-40) First Place

Obviously I am going to go with contender here. They may be a flawed team but they are the least flawed team in a division full of flawed teams. The bullpen is a plus and the offense will win you a ton of games. The pitching has the potential to be great, not just good, which is something a lot of teams in the division cannot boast.

Tampa Bay Rays (46-45) Second Place

The Rays have done more with less than any other team in the division. The team has been right in the thick of things for the entire 2015 season despite losing a large chunk of their players to offseason trades and even twice as many to injuries. The team is getting healthy at just the right time and has a ton of depth to move in trades if need be. Tampa should be there until the final day of the season.

Baltimore Orioles (44-44) Third Place

I personally think the Baltimore Orioles have played above their heads this season and will not contend for much of the second half. The team’s top prospects are hurt and the pitching staff is only getting quality starts out of Wei-Yin Chen for the most part which may bring the team’s demise before the season is done and over with.

Toronto Blue Jays (45-46) Fourth Place

This team due to its inability to pitch either in the rotation or the bullpen is a pretender in my book. The team may buy at this year’s July 31st trading deadline but a barren farm system full on under-performing or injured prospects can’t help a team that has no real depth to trade from on the major league roster.

Boston Red Sox (42-47) Last Place


Believe it or not I am going contender. Sure the pitching has been mediocre and has taken a step back with the loss of Clay Buchholz but the thing about the Red Sox is they are never truly out of it. There is a ton of talent on that team and twice as much talent down on the farm that could help either on the field or in trades. Until Boston is mathematically eliminated I am not counting them out. 

Twitter Poll: To Trade or Not To Trade Ivan Nova

As the July 31st trading deadline approaches and teams start preparing to either buy and make a run at the playoffs or prepare to sell as they rebuild for 2016 the contenders and the pretenders begin to separate a bit. The New York Yankees will presumably be buyers at this year’s deadline but like at any deadline you have to give up something good to get something good, in most cases anyway. New York has remained pretty adamant about holding onto their top prospects in trades and have stayed away from the blockbuster type deal but could 2015 be the year they get away from that? One of my friends, patrick always with a little “p” mind you, begged the question in the comments section of whether the Yankees should trade from their major league club to improve the team and specifically mentioned Ivan Nova’s name. Would the Yankees be willing to trade Nova if the right deal came along? Should the Yankees include him in a deal potentially for a Cole Hamels or Johnny Cueto or is Nova simply untouchable at this point? Sounds like the perfect idea for a Twitter poll, go!










Frankly I would rather hang onto Nova for the remainder of the 2015 season and for the 2016 season. We all know about the struggles a pitcher faces in his first year removed from Tommy John surgery and we all know that the finished product is not revealed until the second year removed, in this case the 2016 season. Now with that said I wouldn’t trade Nova for Cueto because it is short-sighted and hurts the 2016 team but if the Yankees pull off a trade for someone with another year of team control, for example Cole Hamels, then I think I pull the trigger personally. It’s all about sustainable gaming in my opinion and trading Nova for a rental is not sustainable, it’s a short term goal in a long term world. If the team wants to make a move like the Detroit Tigers did for David Price in 2014 then by all means trade him, I’ll even pack his bags.


What do you think? Leave a comment in the comments section of the site. To be involved in our next Twitter poll head over to the app and give @GreedyStripes a follow. Be on the lookout for our next twitter poll tweet and know that we will not use your responses without informing you first. 

Game Preview: New York Yankees vs. Seattle Mariners 7/17


Welcome back ladies and gentleman, the second half of the Major League Baseball season is set to begin tonight with a matchup between the New York Yankees and the Seattle Mariners inside Yankee Stadium. The Yankees come off the All-Star break in first place in the American League East Division and will send Masahiro Tanaka to the mound looking to keep that lead healthy. Meanwhile the Seattle Mariners are in the midst of a struggle in the American League West Division and are likely sending Mike Montgomery to the mound tonight looking to keep them in the Wildcard discussion. The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV.

  • Tanaka will lead the Yankees charge after the All-Star break looking to build on his last start against the Oakland Athletics. Tanaka snapped a four game winless streak in that start allowing just two runs and two hits in 7.2 IP against the A’s. The Yankees need Tanaka to be the ace they paid for tonight against a tough Mariners offense.


  • Montgomery has had a great start to his major league career this season posting a 4-3 record with a 2.29 ERA and has thrown back-to-back shutouts entering this start. Montgomery shut out the Kansas City Royals and the San Diego Padres before the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim hit the rookie around a bit collecting eight hits and five runs in five innings of work before the break.



The Yankees are home for two more games with the Seattle Cano’s in what should be another big series for both clubs. Both teams expect to be in the playoffs discussion when the calendar turns to September and games like these three this weekend in the Bronx can go a long way to that. Playoff berths cannot necessarily be clinched in July but they sure can be lost in July but I don’t think the Yankees will have to worry about falling into any sort of trap tonight inside Yankee Stadium, let’s hope not anyway. Go Yankees!

New York Yankees Post-Draft Top 10 Prospects List


The deadline to sign draft picks from the 2015 Major League Baseball First Year Players Draft will come and go today at 5:00 pm ET and the Yankees are not expected to sign another player before then. The team signed the vast majority of their draft picks this season including every player from the first ten rounds of the draft. Yesterday afternoon the Yankees signed their top pick, James Kaprielian, to a slightly above slot deal worth $2.65 million to begin his professional career with New York but where does the former UCLA product rank as far as the top Yankees prospects go? Will Kyle Holder, the Yankees other first round pick and college shortstop, crack the Top 10 as well? Sounds like the perfect time for a post-draft Top 10 Yankees prospects list.

  1. Luis Severino 
  2. Aaron Judge 
  3. Jorge Mateo 
  4. Robert Refsnyder 
  5. Greg Bird 
  6. Gary Sanchez 
  7. Jacob Lindgren
  8. Luis Torrens 
  9. James Kaprielian 
  10. Kyle Holder


Severino and Judge are more 1A and 1B at this point but I feel like Severino is closer to major league ready and more likely to contribute sooner than Judge giving him the edge for me. If anyone has Judge first and Severino second I wouldn’t put up a fight, it’s a good problem to have and it’s that close to judge (no pun intended). Mateo has had a great season, as we see weekly with our weekly posts, and moved up to the Yankees third best prospect for me while Refsnyder jumps from the 5th position he held before the 2015 season to the 2014 season. Bird has earned a promotion to Triple-A but has seen an injury presumably steal some of his power and hitting for average this season while Sanchez, Lindgren and Torrens fall into line on the list.

 I couldn’t think of anyone I wanted to place here in front of Kaprielian. He’s not an ace, he’s probably more of a #3 starter ceiling wise, but he should be a fast mover and could reach the majors as soon as September, 2016 and that means something to me. Also with John Ryan Murphy and Bryant Mitchell nearing innings limits that would make them ineligible for these lists I went ahead and went with Holder at the #10 spot. I like Holder a lot more than others do because of his bat and his projected “elite” defense. I truly think his bat will come around and continue to grow, he hasn’t been playing full-time baseball during his college career and is still somewhat raw in the offensive department. Even so, and granted in a very hitting friendly league, he put up monster numbers before being drafted and I just get excited thinking what he could do with professional instructors, hitting coaches and a focus on baseball 100% of the time. Holder excites me and while he may not excite others that’s what makes these lists so subjective, fun to read and fun to do.


What’s yours? Leave it below down in the comments section. 

TGP Daily Poll: Cano Goes Hitless


The New York Yankees and the Seattle Mariners kick off the second half of the MLB season in the Bronx on Friday as Robinson Cano returns to Yankee Stadium. Former Yankees usually kill the Yankees but not Cano, he will go hitless in the series.


Vote in our prediction poll on Knoda.com 

Weekly Check In: Robert Refsnyder


Robert Refsnyder burst onto the scene in a big way before the All-Star Break and if you believe the anonymous “sources” and the reports the Yankees second baseman is here to stay for a while. Refsnyder made his major league debut inside the home of the Boston Red Sox, Fenway Park, and collected his first two hits of his career including a game winning home run. Sure, Refsnyder made an error but honestly who wouldn’t while making their debut in front of a hostile environment in a game that actually meant something to both clubs? Nerves can get to the best of people and not everyone is Derek Jeter but anyway, I digress.

Refsnyder is in the majors now for the time being so this may be the last one of these check-ins we do for the Korean born star. As much as I enjoyed doing these I am more than willing to find another prospect to check in with every week if it means Refsnyder stays up with the big team in the Bronx. Here are the stats that Refsnyder put up in the minor leagues that warranted a call up to the Yankees:

Offense:

YearLevGPARH2BHRRBISBBBSOBAOBPSLGOPS
2015AAA81364459017737104444.290.387.413.800
Defense:
YearLevGChPOAEDPFld%RF/G
2015AAA2B733801432241350.9665.03

This Day in New York Yankees History 7/17: The Streak Snapped at 56 & The Bronx is Burning


Reggie Jackson and Billy Martin was the epitome of the Bronx is Burning era and on this day in 1978 the feud only got worse as Jackson was suspended for five games by the New York Yankees. In a Yankees loss the future Hall of Fame outfielder was told to swing away by Martin and instead struck out while attempting to bunt.

And finally on this day in 1941 Joe DiMaggios' record streak of hitting in 56 straight games ended as the Indians third baseman Ken Keltner robbed DiMaggio more than once. DiMaggio batted .408 during the streak and would start another 17 game streak after this game hitting in 73 of his last 74 games.