Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Game Thread: New York Yankees @ Cleveland Indians 8/12


The New York Yankees and the Cleveland Indians will face off tonight in the second game of their three game set this week at Progressive Field with the Yankees looking to add another “W” in the win column. The Yankees will send CC Sabathia to the mound looking to build off a good start last time out while the Indians will counter with Danny Salazar. The game will be played at 7:10 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV.

The Yankees are just under a week from coming back home to Yankee Stadium and the Bronx so that gives you less than a week to click that Yankees Tickets link at the top of the site and less than a week to get your tickets in hand. Until the Yankees come home head over to Twitter and give @GreedyStripes a follow to interact with us and cheer on the Yankees during each and every game this season.


Jacoby Ellsbury is ready to step into the box and set the tone for the Yankees offense and CC is ready to mow his former team down so let’s get to it. Go Yankees!

Twitter Poll: James Shields to the Bronx… Yay or Nay?

The New York Yankees fans are jumping off of bridges, running around like chickens with their heads cut off and declaring their never-dying love to their secret crushes in droves right now. The world is coming to an end and the sky is falling after the Yankees got swept by the Toronto Blue Jays inside Yankee Stadium this past weekend. The call for Cashman’s head, the firing of Joe Girardi and the need for a big move are ringing all across the nation and they only got louder when James Shields cleared revocable waivers this week. Earlier today I had my say in whether I thought Shields should be a member of the Yankees but I wanted to give you, everyone reading this, the opportunity to also be heard on a bigger stage. Sounds like the beginning of a Twitter Poll to me.








I’ve had my say so I won’t beat a dead horse here. I think the Yankees are fine and I think they are getting that inevitable cold streak out of the way in early August rather than late September. It’s not always the best team who wins the World Series or their respected leagues pennants, it’s the hottest teams. The San Francisco Giants and the Kansas City Royals were simply hotter than everyone else and rode the Wild Card One Game Playoff games into a hot streak and into the World Series. There is no reason the Yankees couldn’t do that in a Wild Card Game or an ALDS game after winning the division. I don’t think Shields is a necessity and unless it is an absolute salary dump where we give up prospects that I, the self-professed prospect humper, never heard of or care about then I think I have to pass.


Everyone has their own opinions and they are entitled to them, that’s what makes these posts special and the whole social media thing special (most of the time anyway). To be involved in our next Twitter Poll post head on over to the app and give @GreedyStripes a follow. Then be on the lookout for out next Twitter Poll tweet. We will not use your answers without letting you know first. 

The Cry For Homegrown Talent May Be Ill Advised: 1998


Yesterday we looked at just how much the 1996 Yankees team was constructed through trades and free agency and not so much the farm system and today we look at the next Yankees team to win the World Series, the 1998 team. The Cour Four was in full effect in 1998 with Jorge Posada behind the dish so the homegrown talent got a bit of a shot in the arm, was this team more homegrown then the 1996 season?

Let's look at possibly the greatest Yankees team and greatest team of all time and how they were assembled:

In the infield the Yankees still had Tino Martinez (Mariners) manning first base, Chuck Knoblauch (Twins) at second base, Scott Brosius (Athletics) at third base, and Chili Davis (Angels), Darryl Strawberry (Mets), and Tim Raines (Expos) splitting time at designated hitter. The Yankees did have Derek Jeter at short stop and Jorge Posada behind the dish which will be mainstays in these posts.

In the outfield New York had the warrior Paul O'Neill (Reds) in right field and Chad Curtis (Angels) in left field but had homegrown talent in Bernie Williams in center field. Shane Spencer and Ricky Ledee were on the bench as homegrown Yankees if that counts for anything.

In the starting rotation New York had David Cone (Royals), El Duque Orlando Hernandez (Cuba), Hideki Irabu (Japan), and David Wells (Blue Jays) in the rotation joining Andy Pettitte.

In the bullpen Mike Stanton (Braves and Red Sox) pitched in big spots along with Jeff Nelson (Mariners), Graeme Lloyd (Brewers), and Darren Holmes (Rockies). A lock in the Yankees bullpen has been Mariano Rivera and he came through the Yankees system along with Mike Buddie.

Once again the Yankees win it all, and 114 games, without a ton of home grown talent on the roster. I have a feeling if we did the 1999 World Series team we would see the same thing.... stay tuned.

Game Preview: New York Yankees @ Cleveland Indians 8/12


The New York Yankees and the Cleveland Indians will play the middle game of their three game series this week at Progressive Field tonight. We all knew the Yankees wouldn’t be held scoreless forever so now that this streak is over New York is looking to start another, this time of the winning variety, before they head to visit our neighbors from the north. The Yankees will send CC Sabathia to the mound tonight to face off against the Indians starter Danny Salazar. The game will be played at 7:10 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV.

  • Sabathia is still searching for just his fifth victory of the 2015 season to his eight losses and he looks to gain that victory against the team that took him in the MLB First Year Players Draft 17 years ago. Sabathia has had some success against his former team in his career posting a 4-1 record with a 2.94 ERA in seven career starts and will look to improve upon that tonight in Cleveland.


  • Salazar has never faced the New York Yankees in his short career but could not be pitching any better heading into the start. Over Salazar’s last five starts, which covered 35.1 innings, the right-hander has struck out 35 batters and posted a 1.53 ERA. It’s not whether Salazar pitches well tonight whether or not the Indians will win the game, it looks like it’s whether the offense supplies him with enough run support or not.


The Yankees have the fourth toughest schedule of all the contending playoff teams for the remainder of the 2015 season, with the Kansas City Royals occupying the easiest schedule, so it is imperative that the team takes advantage of teams under .500 and struggling teams like the Cleveland Indians. New York has 10 more head-to-head matchups with Toronto including three this weekend so let’s hope New York has their eye on the prize and hope that the team isn’t looking ahead of a pitching heavy Indians team. Go Yankees!

James Shields Changed His Facebook Relationship Status to Available


It is well documented that the New York Yankees and their GM Brian Cashman stood pat at the July 31st trading deadline for the most part with Dustin Ackley as the team's only acquisition. While the Toronto Blue Jays basically sold their farm system away for a run at the World Series in 2015 the Yankees banked on the future and now these two teams are going in opposite directions. The Yankees seemingly comfortable lead is now all but gone while the Blue Jays haven't felt many losses since plugging Troy Tulowitzki into the shortstop position and lead off role and David Price into the top of the rotation depth chart. Yankees fans are already panicking but is the Yankees GM? He could be, especially after James Shields of the San Diego Padres just changed his relationship status on Facebook to "available."

I kid about the Facebook status obviously but Shields is still said to be available after clearing revocable waivers. San Diego can now trade the right-hander to any team for the remainder of the 2015 season without the consent of Mr. Big Game. It's not really a shock that Shields cleared waivers, he is owed $21 million in each of the 2016-2018 seasons, but is his contract too rich for the Yankees blood?

Well first thing is first, would he even be an upgrade inside the Yankees rotation? In a word, yes. CC Sabathia cannot be relied upon at this stage of the game but is this upgrade, marginal or substantial, worth the huge financial committment plus the prospects committment? If Shields wasn't pitching to a 4.21 FIP, 1.285 WHIP, 1.5 HR/9 ratio and just a 95 ERA+ I'd advocate for the Yankees to jump on the acquisition in a heart beat, but he is. 

You have to also keep in mind that Shields pitches his home starts inside Yellow Stone National Park, but the sponsors prefer us to call it Petco Park, which is substantially bigger than the dimensions inside Yankee Stadium. Shields may have a 3.75 ERA with the Padres but if you put him in a Yankees uniform, back in the American League East and inside Yankee Stadium you can add at least a run to that, a run or point to each of his peripherals and a lot more losses than his current 8-4 record showcases. Plus $21 million. Plus prospects. No thanks.

Bryan Van Dusen Goes Back to the Vinny Brown Show



Vinny Brown, or @RealVinnyBrown on Twitter, hosts a weekly radio show and this week’s special guest was none other than The Greedy Pinstripes. Once before Vinny had the blog on his show and Bryan joined him for some July 31st trade deadline talk, division race discussion and general Yankees banter. Those two were back at it again yesterday afternoon in a spur of the moment kind of get together to discuss James Shields, the divisional race once again and anything and everything Yankees.

If you would be so kind head over and check out the show to hear the back and forth between these two. Vinny puts on a great show and Bryan is one of the smartest guys that I know. It would mean a lot to them and it would mean a lot to me as well to see support for the blog. Thank you in advance.


Weekly Check In: Greg Bird


Greg Bird has made me eat some crow this season, not because I doubted his ability but because I harped on the fact that he was slowly turning into a home run only type first baseman. Let me explain. At one point this season Bird was pulling his best Mark Teixeira impersonation hitting for doubles and home run power while not hitting much else. His average was down but the Double-A Trenton Thunder were living with it since his home run and RBI numbers were up, and then a trip the disabled list happened.

Bird was promoted to Triple-A in early July and has done nothing but slash .295/.353/.516 as a member of the Scranton RailRiders. It was also announced this week that Bird had been named the International League's Player of the Week for Scranton after hitting .348 with five extra base hits and 10 RBI. In one game Bird had a multi-home run game and a triple over Columbus in a victory over the former Yankees farm affiliate, the Columbus Clippers.

Bird sure is making the Yankees look smart for making him untouchable during this trading deadline period, isn't he?

YearLevGPARH2BHRRBISBBBSOBAOBPSLGOPS
2015AA-AAA81352438523125213557.276.358.474.832
2015AA4921229471662912430.258.358.445.804
2015AAA321401438762301127.302.357.516.873

This Day In New York Yankees History 8/12: Mel Stottlemyre, One Great Yankee



The best Yankees pitcher that gets little to no recognition and respect is Mel Stottlemyre and he made his major league debut way back when on this day in 1964 and got a little help from the Yankees All Star Mickey Mantle. Mantle would hit a home run from both sides of the plate 10 times in his career setting a new major league record.


Finally on this day in 1927 the Yankees acquired infielders Lyn Lary and Jimmie Reese from the PCL's Oakland Oaks for $125,000. Reese will immediately becomes Babe Ruth's roommate and be best known for his quote that he was "roomed with Ruth's suitcase."