Wednesday, November 8, 2017

Article Revisit: Donald Trump Wants to Own the Yankees


Written and reported on back on this day in 2015, oh what could have been. Enjoy.




Yes, please!


According to recent reports Donald Trump, the billionaire businessman and Republican Party Presidential hopeful, wants to own the New York Yankees. Trump grew up in New York City and made his millions in the greatest state, in my humble opinion, in the United States and would like to return there if he could land an ownership role in any sports team.


George Steinbrenner and Trump were known associates, business partners and friends and the similarities don’t stop there. Heads would roll when the team didn’t make the postseason in two consecutive years and player contracts would be eaten when they were no longer useful. Trump would own, run and manage the team like the $3.5 billion powerhouse that it is.


Trump would do is smart though, in my opinion. He wouldn’t be a tyrant, he would just do whatever was necessary to turn a profit. Trump understands the added revenue, attendance, merchandise sales and the growth to the brand that comes with the playoffs and would basically demand that the team make it there every season. He would also give Brian Cashman the power he had from 1998-2009 along with a blank check.


Trump was just asked a question and he answered it, he isn’t seriously considering making a run at buying the team and there is no speculation that the Steinbrenner family is interested in selling. This is the offseason and it’s time to dream and that’s what I did with this article, hopefully it’s taken that way by the reader. Enjoy as we dream about the return of the GREEDY Pinstripes.

Get Greedy: Sign JD Martinez

"Please, God. Make me a Yankee!"

We’re back and we are greedier than ever with the latest idea to break the bank, blow all the austerity talk out the window and blow the baseballs out of Yankee Stadium with even more consistency here in 2018. I know it is out of the realm of possibilities fiscally, but I don’t worry myself with the financials much anymore, instead I worry about getting the best 25 players that I possibly can out on the field on any given night. With that in mind it is time to get greedy once again and sign former Detroit Tigers and Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder JD Martinez. Yeah, I went there.  

Now earlier today in my free agent post where I outlined what free agents I thought the Yankees should at least have discussions with I alluded to the fact that I was happy with keeping the designated hitter position a revolving door for the Yankees outfielders to use for half-days off and here is the reason. Adding another outfielder is more of a luxury than a need at this point but New York added a $13 million DH last offseason in Matt Holliday and got little to show for it in return. Could you imagine if the Yankees were to add a bat like JD Martinez’s who could play in the outfield and DH a few days a week to keep everyone fresh, healthy and productive? The hell with the Bronx Bombers and Murderer’s Row, that would be downright unfair. 

Now I know this is a bold statement and a bold request of the Yankees to sign possibly the best positional player on the free agent market in a year where the team is going to give austerity a try but hear me out. Giving Martinez the security of a longer contract could conceivably keep the average annual value of the contract down while giving the team a leg up on the competition in terms of negotiations, because what player doesn’t want security and peace of mind?  

Martinez has possibly been the best kept secret in MLB over the past couple of seasons which is a scary thought since Martinez was a 4.1 WAR player in 2017 with Detroit and the Arizona Diamondbacks. Martinez has eclipsed 20 home runs in each of the last four seasons including hitting 45 home runs in 2017 and 38 home runs in 2015, both inside extremely pitching-friendly ballparks. You can add 10-15 home runs to that total in the Bronx assuming he is healthy and has a healthy Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, Didi Gregorius etc. behind him protecting him in the lineup. Again, downright unfair. 


Martinez just turned 30-years old recently and is in the middle of his prime, so I would feel comfortable giving him a six-year deal with an option for a seventh year if that were a sticking point in the negotiations. Martinez is good in the field, great with the bat and I think he would be an incredible addition to the team. Whether Hal Steinbrenner opens up the wallet strings or not is one thing, but I think the Yankees should make the move if the money allows. Martinez could be the Paul O’Neill to the 2018 dynasty that O’Neill was to that 1996 team. Just get it done.  

Now Begins the Time to “Get Greedy”


Earlier this morning on the blog we took a look at the complete list of 161 MLB free agents for the 2018 season so now begins the process for every team, especially the New York Yankees, to “get greedy” and sign up some of these free agents. We have the list in hand so let’s take a look at it and see if any of these players will and should fit into the Yankees plans here in 2018.  

We will start high here and then taper off I guess as there are quite a few notable bullpen additions that the New York Yankees could conceivably look at this winter. Greg Holland declined his 2018 option with the Colorado Rockies, Wade Davis is a free agent with the Chicago Cubs, Brandon Kintzler was an All-Star with the Minnesota Twins before being shipped away prior to the deadline and is now hitting free agency and there are a couple notable left-handed arms as well. The two arms I would like the Yankees to take a long and hard look at, because let’s be real… none of the names I mentioned above are coming to the Bronx with the plethora of former closers and arms the Yankees pen already has, are left-handers Tony Watson and Oliver Perez. Perez would obviously be a Plan B or even a Plan C, I may trust Chasen Shreve and company more at this point than Perez although I do realize that Perez could be a useful LOOGY, but Watson has been on my radar for a long, long time. Watson is a tough left-handed arm that spent time recently with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Pittsburgh Pirates and is an arm that would fill an area of need for New York, the LOOGY position. I doubt Watson would command a terrible amount in terms of years and dollars as well which only helps the Yankees case to sign him.  

New York went into last season with a full-time DH in Matt Holliday and a part-time first baseman in Chris Carter and there is no reason to believe that the team couldn’t do that with at least one of those positions again here in 2018. Now the options on the free agent market aren’t all that appealing to be honest with names like Jay Bruce, Pedro Alvarez and Carlos Santana out there but I truly believe at least two of these options could be better than either Holiday or Carter were in 2017. Although I will admit I am leaning towards not filling the DH position and letting a rotation of outfielders fill the slot all season long if New York can sign a big-time free agent, but more on that later. 


Finally, the Yankees may look at adding a starting pitcher this winter. Obviously, it is highly unlikely that the team will do so after Masahiro Tanaka decided to not opt-out of his contract, but I would be remiss if I didn’t at least mention the fact that Jake Arrieta and Yu Darvish are free agents at the time of this writing. The Yankees have a lot of star power in Japan already with Tanaka and their presumable pursuit of Shohei Otani will only add to that, but could you imagine a rotation with both them and Darvish? It would be insanity in Japan and everyone in the country would be wearing Yankees apparel, oh and the Yankees would be good as well. Is it unlikely? Sure, the Yankees may only add Otani and that’s it, but the team should at least go through the motions and check in with both Darvish and Arrieta. That’s a general manager’s job after all, now get greedy! Bring me somebody! 

So it Seems… The Complete List of 161 MLB 2018 Free Agents


AMERICAN LEAGUE

BALTIMORE (9) — DH/1B Pedro Alvarez; 2B Ryan Flaherty; OF Craig Gentry; SS J.J. Hardy; RHP Jeremy Hellickson; RHP Ubaldo Jimenez; OF Seth Smith, LHP Wade Miley; RHP Chris Tillman.

BOSTON (8) — LHP Fernando Abad; RHP Blaine Boyer; OF Rajai Davis; RHP Doug Fister; 1B Mitch Moreland; INF Eduardo Nunez; RHP Addison Reed; OF Chris Young.

CHI. WHITE SOX (2) — RHP Mike Pelfrey; C Geovany Soto.

CLEVELAND (6) — LHP Craig Breslow; OF Jay Bruce; OF Austin Jackson; C Carlos Santana; RHP Bryan Shaw; RHP Joe Smith.

DETROIT (1) — RHP Anibal Sanchez.

HOUSTON (5) — DH Carlos Beltran; RHP Tyler Clippard; RHP Luke Gregerson; LHP Francisco Liriano; OF Cameron Maybin.

KANSAS CITY (8) — OF Melky Cabrera; RHP Trevor Cahill; OF Lorenzo Cain; SS Alcides Escobar; 1B Eric Hosmer; 3B Mike Moustakas; RHP Peter Moylan; LHP Jason Vargas.

L.A. ANGELS (11) — RHP Andrew Bailey; RHP Jesse Chavez; 3B Yunel Escobar; RHP Ricky Nolasco; RHP Bud Norris; INF Cliff Pennington; RHP Yusmeiro Petit; 2B Brandon Phillips; OF Ben Revere; RHP Fernando Salas; RHP Huston Street.

MINNESOTA (5) — RHP Matt Belisle; RHP Bartolo Colon; RHP Dillon Gee; LHP Glen Perkins; LHP Hector Santiago.

N.Y. YANKEES (5) — 3B Todd Frazier; LHP Jaime Garcia; DH Matt Holliday; RHP Michael Pineda; LHP CC Sabathia.

OAKLAND (0) — None.

SEATTLE (7) — 1B Yonder Alonso; INF Gordon Beckham; OF Jarrod Dyson; RHP Yovani Gallardo; RHP Hisashi Iwakuma; C Carlos Ruiz; 1B/3B Danny Valencia.

TAMPA BAY (9) — OF Peter Bourjos; RHP Steve Cishek; RHP Alex Cobb; 1B Lucas Duda; RHP Tommy Hunter; 1B Logan Morrison; 3B Trevor Plouffe; OF Colby Rasmus; RHP Sergio Romo.

TEXAS (4) — RHP Andrew Cashner; OF Carlos Gomez; RHP Miguel Gonzalez; RHP Jason Grilli.

TORONTO (5) — LHP Brett Anderson; 2B Darwin Barney, OF Jose Bautista; C Miguel Montero; OF Michael Saunders.




NATIONAL LEAGUE

ARIZONA (7) — Gregor Blanco, of; Jorge De La Rosa, lhp; David Hernandez, rhp; Chris Iannetta, c; J.D. Martinez of; Fernando Rodney, rhp; Adam Rosales, inf.

ATLANTA (2) — R.A. Dickey, rhp; Jason Motte, rhp.

CHICAGO (8) — Jake Arrieta, rhp; Alex Avila, c; Wade Davis, rhp; Brian Duensing, lhp; Jon Jay, of; John Lackey, rhp; Rene Rivera, c; Koji Uehara, rhp.

CINCINNATI (4) — Bronson Arroyo, rhp; Zack Cozart, ss; Scott Feldman, rhp; Drew Storen, rhp.

COLORADO (9) — OF Alexi Amarista; RHP Tyler Chatwood; OF Carlos Gonzalez; C Ryan Hanigan; RHP Greg Holland, C Jonathan Lucroy; LHP Jake McGee; RHP Pat Neshek; 1B Mark Reynolds.

L.A. DODGERS (7) — RHP Yu Darvish; OF Andre Ethier; OF Curtis Granderson; OF Franklin Gutierrez; RHP Brandon Morrow; 2B Chase Utley; LHP Tony Watson.

MIAMI (4) — Mike Aviles, inf; A.J. Ellis, c; Dustin McGowan, rhp; Ichiro Suzuki, of.

MILWAUKEE (3) — Matt Garza, rhp; Anthony Swarzak, rhp; Neil Walker, 2b.

N.Y. METS (1) — INF Jose Reyes.

PHILADELPHIA (4) — Andres Blanco, inf; Clay Buchholz, rhp; Hyun-Soo Kim, of; Daniel Nava, of.

PITTSBURGH (3) — Joaquin Benoit, rhp; John Jaso, 1b; Chris Stewart, c.

ST. LOUIS (4) — Zach Duke, lhp; Lance Lynn, rhp; Juan Nicasio, rhp; RHP Seung-Hwan Oh, rhp.

SAN DIEGO (4) — Erick Aybar, ss; Jhoulys Chacin, rhp; Jordan Lyles, rhp; Craig Stammen, rhp.

SAN FRANCISCO (4) — RHP Matt Cain (retired); C Nick Hundley; 1B/3B Jae-Gynn Hwang; OF Michael Morse.

WASHINGTON (12) — RHP Matt Albers; RHP Joe Blanton; OF Alejandro De Aza; 2B Stephen Drew; RHP Edwin Jackson,; OF/2B Howie Kendrick; RHP Brandon Kintzler; 1B Adam Lind; C Jose Lobaton; LHP Oliver Perez; OF Ryan Raburn; OF Jayson Werth.

List courtesy of the USA Today*


So it Seems… The Long Offseason Ahead


Good morning everyone. I know it’s been a minute since we last spoke but it’s the offseason, it’s a time to recharge the batteries. Life hasn’t slowed down a bit and work has gotten out of control with no end in sight and it may or may not affect the site going forward. I promise to do everything and all that I can to pop in whenever I can but you all must know that this will likely mean that daily posts, at least through the offseason, may not happen. I promise to do the best I can, and I am always looking for new writers to help carry the load and keep you guys with something to read. If you’re interested or know of anyone who is tell them to send me an email at Daniel Burch 1102 at Yahoo dot com.


Oh, and hey you. I love you. I’ve missed writing about you because you’re so damn special to me.

This Day In New York Yankees History 11/8: Yogi Berra the MVP


On this day in 1951 the Baseball Writers Association of America, BBWAA, named Yogi Berra of the New York Yankees the American League Most Valuable Player. Ned Garver of the Browns won 20 games this year on a last place team and finished second in the voting. Roy Campanella would win the award in the National League making this the first two that two catchers have both won the MVP award in the same season.