Sunday, January 24, 2016
The Boring Winter Ahead: Watch the 2003 World Series Game One HERE
Game One of the 2003 World Series between the New York Yankees and the Florida Marlins.
YES Network Spring Training Television Schedule
The Mets, Antonio Bastardo and Another Reason the Justin Wilson Trade was a Bad Idea
The New York Yankees traded away Justin Wilson to the
Detroit Tigers this offseason for two starting pitching prospects Chad Green
and Luis Cessa. The reasoning we the fans were given as a reason for it was so
that the Yankees could have some depth at starting pitching in Scranton going
forward and because Wilson was hitting the years of arbitration eligibility
that tend to get a little expensive. Well the dust has settled and Wilson’s
arbitration case has settled as well giving the Yankees a clear idea of just
how expensive he is but the team also has an idea of just how much of a bargain
he was as well. Let me explain.
All winter long I have compared free agent relief pitcher
Antonio Bastardo to Wilson and used those comparisons to decide whether the
move was a good one or not for the Yankees. If you look at their stats, ages
and such they are almost an identical clone down to the fact that both even
throw from the left side of the pitching rubber. The striking difference
between these two pitchers though will be their salaries in 2016. Wilson agreed
to a deal with the Tigers worth $1.5 million to avoid arbitration while
Bastardo recently signed with the Mets, again with a comparable age, stats and
track record, on a two-year deal worth $12 million.
So you have similar players statistically but you have a
$4.5 million difference in salary, tell me why the Yankees traded him again? Oh
yeah for a marginal starting pitching prospect and a guy that is considered to
be an organizational prospect. How could I forget?
Bastardo heads into 2016 fresh off posting a 4-1 record with
a 2.98 ERA and one save for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Bastardo struck out 64
batters and issued 26 walks in just 57.1 innings pitched while helping
Pittsburgh claims their third consecutive playoff spot.
Are the Small Market Teams Worried?
Major League Baseball has a big season and a big year ahead
of them in 2016. Not only do they have the regular season, postseason and World
Series but they also have a collective bargaining agreement that is set to
expire after the season. MLB has enjoyed baseball every year without a work
stoppage since the 1994 season that saw the World Series cancelled and teams
like the New York Yankees and Montreal Expos wondering what could have been and
the league intends to keep it that way if they can. You’re not going to get
five people to agree on the same thing let alone 30 MLB team’s so finding a
common ground is going to benefit some and take from others, that’s the
business of things, but are the New York Yankees making the small market teams
begin to worry yet?
In 2015 a record four teams paid into the luxury tax
including about $70 million paid by the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York
Yankees. The other two teams, the San Francisco Giants and the Boston Red Sox,
paid just $3.1 million combined last season. With the Yankees newfound plan to
use their farm system, to acquire cheap and young controllable talent and their
plan to get under the luxury tax threshold (for real this time) are teams like
the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Tampa Bay Rays beginning to sweat a little?
The Yankees have paid the most in luxury tax since its
inception and it’s not even close. The team has also paid in every single year
since its inception adding a few dollars to teams like the Miami Marlins,
Pittsburgh Pirates and others. How would these organizations look and run if
that money were no longer there? I bring up the new collective bargaining
agreement because things like the luxury tax and whether to raise it, stiffen
the penalties or leave it alone will be discussed among other things. If the
luxury tax is raised making it easier for teams like the Dodgers, Yankees, Red
Sox and Giants to get under the cap what do the small market teams do?
Pittsburgh won’t be able to keep Andrew McCutchen unless
they gut the team and/or he gives the organization a steep discount while the
Rays, Indians and other teams will not be able to hold onto their young
starting pitching. The pendulum will sway away from the smaller market teams
once again and the larger market teams will once again have the financial power
to do as they please and dictate the standings, the free agency market and
other areas. The “Get Greedy” era will return and that in itself is a great
thing for us Yankees fans.
If the Yankees Need a Backup Third Baseman…
The New York Yankees and their GM Brian Cashman seem adamant
that the infield is set and the roster is basically done. Starlin Castro will
not only be the team’s second baseman but will also be the team’s backup
shortstop and backup third baseman as well. Usually when you work for a small
company you have to wear a lot of hats but the New York Yankees are small from
a small company or organization so it leaves you to wonder if there is a backup
third baseman in the plans before spring training. If there is one in the plans
I know a few that are still available for signing, and for cheap too.
I’ve asked for Juan Uribe before because I think he would be
a marvelous fit and I’ve suggested Ian Desmond, although I am personally
against it, while Cashman has already shot down my idea of having Robert
Refsnyder learn the position. What about career utility infielder Clint Barmes?
Barmes is 37-years old and been around the block with the Colorado Rockies,
Houston Astros, Pittsburgh Pirates and San Diego Padres during his 13 season
MLB career and has spent time playing first base, second base, third base, shortstop,
right field and center field. While his bat is lacking which is evident by his
career .245/.294/.379 triple slash his defense and versatility are still
selling points for the veteran.
Casey McGehee is another option for the Yankees and is already
considered a former member of the organization. McGehee broke out in a big way
in 2014 with the Miami Marlins and has enjoyed a consistent seven year career
with the Cubs, Brewers, Pirates, Marlins, Yankees and San Francisco Giants.
McGehee has seemingly been zapped of all his power at this point in his career
but he has experience at third base, first base and right field and could be a
useful piece on the Yankees bench.
Those are just two of many options for the Yankees if they want
a true backup third baseman than can play elsewhere. Will the Yankees sign
another player? Who knows, we’ll just have to stay tuned.
Major League Baseball and Homeland Security
The world is a messed up place and it’s getting messier by
the day, let’s not equivocate and let’s refrain from beating around the bush
here. The world sucks right now and while the United States as a whole and as a
country has missed far more than their fair share of the chaos the country has
been vulnerable to terrorist attacks both abroad and domestically by the enemy
and by our very own people and citizens. Terrorists love to inflict fear on the
population and they like to kill in cold blood. Terrorists aren’t picky and
they don’t care. They have a target and they go into their mission knowing they
will die just trying to take as many people with them as they can. You and I
know this, the terrorists know this, Homeland Security knows this and apparently
Major League Baseball does as well.
Major League Baseball presents more than 2,400 games a
season and some crowds approach 40,000-50,000 fans on a nightly basis. While
MLB has tightened their checks and security over the years including adding
metal detectors to all 30 MLB stadiums the threat is still there unfortunately.
Some ideas that were mentioned, whether in passing or in suggestion, included
not allowing fans to bring in bags and eliminating food and food-service
workers. Checking the trunks and bottoms of cars entering parking lots outside
the ballparks was also discussed at the seminar. What is this, Bosnia?
I’m all for being safe, I bring my family and my children to
ball games, but at some point it will become more trouble than it’s worth. Checking
my trunk and the bottom of the car like I’m about to walk into the CIA building
and hear some classified top secret information may be that line for me
personally.
This Day in New York Yankees History 1/24: Boring Rainy/Snowy Sunday Morning
It's cold, it's the dead of winter, it's snowing and raining on and off here and there is no relevant or notable Yankees news to speak of this morning. What do we do? We jam out to some new tunes, of course!
Also we bring you some NSFW, who works on Sunday anyway, picture on Ronda Rousey in nothing but a bucket of painted on bikini. Click HERE.
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