Monday, October 31, 2016

Mark Teixeira 2016 Highlights


Mark Teixeira will officially be retired here in a few days now that the 2016 season is over for the Yankees and now that the desire to play for the Yankees first baseman is gone. Here are the highlights from his final season in the Majors and from his career as a whole.

Happy Monday and Happy Halloween. Enjoy your night.

ICYMI: Baseball America's Top 10 Yankees Prospects List




It's the most... wonderful time... of the year. No, not Christmas, although you couldn't tell that if you have been to a Wal Mart this week, but it's the time of the year where a bunch of post-season top prospects lists begin getting released and Baseball America usually starts it off. Well BA has released their list and while I can't give you the write ups, they are behind a pay wall, I can give you the complete list and let you guys fight it out on the comments section. So without further ado, let the fighting begin.


1. Gleyber Torres
2. Clint Frazier
3. Blake Rutherford
4. Jorge Mateo
5. James Kaprielian
6. Aaron Judge
7. Justus Sheffield
8. Chance Adams
9. Dustin Fowler
10. Domingo Acevedo




And go.....

Most Popular Article of the Week: Yankees Potential Trade Partners: Los Angeles Dodgers



The New York Yankees need starting pitching and pitching of any kind this winter if the team wants to compete for a playoff spot again in 2017. As we look at a list of potential trade partners for the team I wanted to focus on that first before I start thinking about any potential additions to the offense or the bench because pitching wins championships and pitching is what the Yankees lack most. The team has a ton of depth, don’t get me wrong, but the team lacks that starting rotation that can scare teams in a best-of-five or best-of-seven series in October. Could the Los Angeles Dodgers be of some help to the Yankees in this department?


The Dodgers have a lot of good-to-great pitchers but their problem is they haven’t been able to rely on many of them as much as they could have wanted due to injury. Clayton Kershaw battled a bad back this season and when the team was eliminated from the postseason they did so without three of their more high-paid pitchers in Scott Kazmir, Brandon McCarthy and Hyun-jin Ryu. Would any of the three be dangled this winter in trades and would the Yankees be interested?


The last thing the Yankees need is another injury-prone or risk in their starting rotation but with the free agent market as barren as it’s ever been the team might be able to use that logic and acquire one of these guys for less than their values because of the injury. Ryu has two years left and $14 million on his contract with McCarthy, a former Yankee who is working his way back from Tommy John surgery, has two years and $20 million remaining on his deal. Kazmir has a larger deal but can opt out this season leaving two years and $32 million on the table. Interesting.


Honestly I don’t believe the Yankees would be interested in Ryu and I personally don’t put much stock into what McCarthy did while with the Yankees a few seasons back but Kazmir is an interesting option if he decides to opt out this winter. Kazmir pitched poorly with the Dodgers last season and for much of this season while he also missed a month with a neck injury and many inside the Dodgers organization have speculated that Kazmir may want to leave the team. How it all works out will decide it all though. If Kazmir opts out the Dodgers could offer him a qualifying offer which means, assuming he rejects it and all signs seem to point to that he would, he would be linked to draft pick compensation. I’m not comfortable with giving up a draft pick that early in the first round for Kazmir but if he stays and doesn’t opt out I’d love to have him and his salary for a smaller prospect package.





We’re monitoring this one closely. Stay tuned. Kazmir has three days from the end of the World Series to opt out.

Top Halloween Costumes from 2016 and the New York Yankees


A quick Google search of the "Top Halloween Costumes from 2016" brings you to a website called Pop Sugar. I have a feeling if I searched multiple options I'd find a similar list and this was the first one on the list so I went with that site in search of the top Halloween costumes in hopes of having a little fun and seeing what Yankees player would wear that costume tonight when you answer your door to hand out some Halloween candy. Here is the list, who I think will wear that costume and of course why. 

Let's have a little fun with this. I have put the costume, the Yankee I think matches it and the writeup from PopSugar below. See the original post here and have some fun with it. 


Pokemon GO Trainer: Brett Gardner

Major moments: This is the year that Pokémon Go took over the world, and as the most popular mobile game in US history, nearly 10 million Americans have tried to catch 'em all. While on the ground at Comic-Con International, POPSUGAR editors spotted numerous Pokémon-inspired cosplays and quickly called out Pokémon as a top costume trend for 2016. But here's the real question: which Pokémon Go team will have the most representation? (We've got our bets on the highly popular Team Mystic!)

Brett Gardner gets the nod because he doesn't have to catch them all, he just does.



Harley Quinn: Dellin Betances

Major moments: Eccentric Suicide Squad front runner Harley Quinn was the most talked-about part of the film, which was one of the most profitable movies of the Summer. After raking in $300 million at the box office, Suicide Squad became a bona fide part of 2016's pop culture; specifically, Harley Quinn's daring look and quirky attitude made her appealing to a broad group of women. We saw countless cosplayers emulate Harley’s look at Comic-Con International and other cosplay events, which usually indicates Halloween costume trends months in advance, and makeup tutorials inspired by the character are all over YouTube. We're anticipating Harley-ween being a popular movement come Oct. 31.

So who is a bad ass that will destroy everything put in front of him but so childish and attractive while he or she is doing it? Sounds like Dellin to me.



Bill Clinton and his balloons: Didi Gregorius

Major moments: Former President Bill Clinton became a kid again when celebratory balloons dropped at the DNC this year, and it was the lightheartedness the internet needed during this contentious election. Our editors who were in Philadelphia for the convention noted Clinton's hilarious reaction to the balloons, and Twitter couldn't stop buzzing about it afterward. The former president and his balloons became an instant meme, and they'll make a simple and hilarious Halloween couples costume this year.

Didi Gregorius just has fun out there every single day. Period.

Quick Hit: Happy Halloween



Happy Halloween everyone! I know I give the MLB schedule makers a lot of grief throughout the season but who would have thought to put Halloween on a Monday? Like come on guys, plan better next time :) All joking aside I hope everyone has a great day today and stays safe with their loved ones.

I have a Bonnie (Five Nights at Freddy's) and a dinosaur to walk around tonight and I couldn't be happier about it. Enjoy your day and Happy Monday!

Weekly AFL Check In: Greg Bird


Another week, another slate of games for Yankees first baseman Greg Bird down in the Arizona Fall League with the Scottsdale Scorpions. Bird is still healthy, knock on wood, and he's hitting home runs now alongside future teammates Gleyber Torres and others. This is all a great sign statistically and in the fact that Bird is still healthy. Keep it going Greg!



Photo and stats courtesy of MLB.com and their Arizona Fall League tab.

This Day in New York Yankees History 10/31: Stuck in the Middle with A Rod


On this day in 2009 Alex Rodriguez hit a long fly ball in right field at Citizen's Bank Park in Philadelphia that resulted in being the first instant replay call in World Series history. Originally the fly ball was called a double but the play was overturned and ruled a home run in the Yankees favor. If you can remember back that far this was the ball that hit the camera on the fence in right field and bounced back into the field of play.

Also on this day in 1957 Yogi Berra ruffled a few feathers when he admitted that the Yankees returned money to their players from fines collected in the Copacabana fight. Players like Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford, and Moose Skowron to name a few were involved in a brawl while celebrating Billy Martin's 29th birthday in May. This obviously garnered some unwanted publicity for the storied New York Yankees franchise so the fines handed down were supposed to calm the waters until Yogi blew the lid off of the whole ordeal.