Best 1-2 Punch in the AL East

Going by ERA+ from last season, this is how they stack up in the AL East...

Red Sox - Beckett (147) & Lester (122)

Yankees - Sabathia (147) & Pineda (103)
Rays - Shields (132) & Price (107)

Blue Jays - Romero (146) & Morrow (90)

Orioles - LOL!

When it comes to the Rays I expect Price's ERA+ to rise to around 125 (it was 144 in 2010, and he'd already thrown 142.1 innings in MLB), but at the same time I expect Shields' ERA+ to drop. James' career high ERA+ before last season was 124 in 2008, and he turned 30 last December, so I wouldn't bet on him repeating his 2011 season. Looking closer I see that Shields can attribute his success to a much lower LD% (21% in 2009, 22% in 2010, 17% in 2011), and his ground ball rate went down a bit too (43.8% for his career, to 46.2% last season).

I see no way Beckett repeats his 2011 season either. A 2.89 ERA (career 3.84), 1.026 WHIP (career 1.220), while his K-rate and BB-rate were pretty much the same as his career averages. Basically, I think Josh got lucky last year. Lester, on the other hand, has seen his ERA+ drop in each of the last 4 years. His K-rate has dropped in each of the last 3 years as well.

Over the last 4 years CC has had an ERA+ of 157, 137, 136, and 147. His K-rate rose by about 1 K per 9 from his career average, which would lead one to think he'll regress a bit. However, he gave up more hits than he normally had in his first two seasons in pinstripes. His walks dropped a bit, but not so much that it makes warning bells go off. It's hard to judge what Pineda will do, as he's only had the one year in MLB. But he was giving up less hits per 9 innings than he did in the minors, and was striking out about the same. Working with MLB coaches should do nothing but help, and his potential is an ace in MLB, so I have to think he'll get better no matter what the numbers may say (keeping in mind I'm using minor league numbers as well as MLB numbers, so not a perfect sample by any means).

I'm not going to bother with the other two teams, because it's just not worth it. So this is how I expect the AL East 1-2 punches to pan out this coming season...

Yankees - Sabathia (135) & Pineda (115)
Rays - Shields (115) & Price (125)
Red Sox - Beckett (120) & Lester (120)

Blue Jays - Romero should have a pretty good year, but after that who knows?

Orioles - I don't see one pitcher worth mentioning here

Although the total ERA+ for the Rays and Sox are the same, I put the Rays in front due to the big drop from Shields (which I'm not 100% sure about), and the potential of David Price.

Pictures From Spring Training Day 1

Early Stretching

Hiroki Kuroda Wants "To Win A Championship"

Some Guy Named Jeter Taking BP

Joba, Rivera, Hughes, and Nova in order

Jeter and Ramiro Pena Laughing

Mason Williams

Joba and Nova Throwing With Larry Rothschild

Michael Pineda

CC Sabathia

Andy Pettitte May Be Coming Back To The Yankees

I'm Back?

According to the New York Post the Yankees have offered Andy Pettitte an invite to Spring Training... only this time as a special instructor. Any Andy Pettitte on my baseball team is better then no Andy Pettitte so I'm excited about this. Also, to add, David Wells will be back for his 2nd consecutive spring instructor job. Just imagine what those two minds and stories could do for our young guys. 

Welcome To Spring Training

The countdowns are over, the speculation is over, it is good ole baseball time down in Tampa St. Pete FL. Pitchers and catchers are finishing their physicals, if need be, and ready to do some light work outs.

Joe Girardi's flight has been delayed so his annual press conference will also be delayed, originally scheduled for 11 am this morning.

Jorge Posada's old corner locker now belongs to catcher Francisco Cervelli. Andy Pettitte's old locker now belongs to Hiroki Kuroda, no pressure Hiroki.

Also in our last slate of news Hiroki Kuroda has decided to wear #18 this season. Michael Pineda has decided to wear #35 and Andruw Jones will wear #22 this season. We are still waiting to either Sign Ibanez, Chavez, Guerrero, and/or Damon so stay tuned.

UPDATE: Jorge Posada's #20 was NOT assigned, which I like. I see it being retired.

Countdown To Pitchers & Catchers

TOMORROW boys and girls. Tomorrow is the day that pitchers and catchers report to George Steinbrenner Field in Tampa St. Petersburgh Florida for the start of Spring Training. Hopefully by tomorrow we will have our bench filled out with the many choices we have and the Burnett trade is official. Enjoy your last day before baseball is back in full swing Yankees fans

Raul Ibanez vs. Johnny Damon

Why do people like me?

Now that AJ Burnett has been traded (pending the approval of MLB), attention has been turned to who the Yankees will sign. Specifically when it comes to the "DH vs. RHP" spot.

The three names that have been discussed the most are Raul Ibanez, Johnny Damon, and Hideki Matsui. Well, Matsui has pretty much been counted out due to him being the closest one could get to being a DH-only, while the Yankees want a guy that can play the OF if/when needed. We've been reading about the Yankees being more interested in Ibanez over Damon, but I wanted to look into those players since many Yankee fans would like to see Johnny return to New York.

Now, before I go further, yes... I have covered this before. But I'm still hearing about Damon, so I can't help but repeat myself. So here goes...

In 2011 Johnny Damon hit .255/.314/.401 vs. RHP in 457 plate appearances, while Raul Ibanez hit .256/.307/.440 in 437 plate appearances. In 2010 Damon hit .270/.352/.408 vs. RHP in 419 plate appearances, while Raul Ibanez hit .277/.366/.455 vs. RHP in 445 plate appearances. So against right-handers, which is what the Yankees are looking for, Raul has hit better the last two seasons.

As for last season, Raul played in the OF in 1196.2 innings, while Johnny played the OF in only 84 innings. So it should go without saying that Raul, while not a great defender by any means, would be better out there for the Yankees in 2012.

So I really want to know... why are fans all about Johnny Damon?

How does the AJ Burnett trade affect the Yankees payroll?

Yeah, I'd try to hide the tears rolling down my cheeks if I found out I was going from the Yankees to the Pirates too.

Ever since the rumor of trading AJ Burnett to Pittsburgh started I wondered how the money exchanged would affect the Yankees' payroll, in terms of the MLB Luxury Tax.

Would the money that Pittsburgh would be on the hook for (now we know it will be $13 million) be subtracted from what's left on the contract (leaving $20 million), and the difference would be split among the last two years of the Burnett's deal (which would mean the Yankees would take a hit of $10 million in 2012 and 2013)? As I originally thought.

Or maybe the Yankees would be hit with all the money left on the deal in 2012 ($20 million)? Then again, since this seems to be all about freeing up money to sign a part-time DH and back-up IF, a highly doubt that. Otherwise the Yankees would be looking at having to pay an extra $3.5 million this season, instead of saving money.

Well I think I found it thanks to SteveTheUmp.com, who I've used before for information regarding the way the MLB Luxury Tax affects things.

Payroll figures are for 40-man rosters and include salaries and prorated shares of signing bonuses, earned incentive bonuses, non-cash compensation, buyouts of unexercised options and cash transactions, such as money included in trades.

Well, it turns out that the Pirates will be paying Burnett $5 million in 2012, and $8 million in 2013, per the terms of the trade. So according to the quote above, that means the Yankees will take a hit of $11.5 million in 2012, and $8.5 million in 2013, as that will be how the money is given to Pittsburgh.

This means the Yankees will only have an extra $5 million to "play with" this off-season, as opposed to the $6.5 million I originally thought, which still seems like enough to get Raul Ibanez and Eric Chavez. But the team has also freed up a little bit more money than I thought for the next off-season. Not that the extra $1.5 million will be enough to sign Cole Hamels, but both Eric Chavez and Freddy Garcia made $1.5 million last season, so that money can come in handy.

Looking Ahead To The 2012 Yankees

Welcome To The Most Competitive Division In Baseball

Over on my favorite sports forum, DailySportsPages, we had the users there vote on many things pertaining to the 2012 team like who is most likely to be our MVP, our Cy Young winner, etc. The results are in. 

First we asked who would be the BOUNCEBACK Player Of The Year and the winner was Alex Rodriguez. Most of the users voting for AROD mentioned the knee procedure that he had in Germany that was referred to him by Kobe Bryant. I personally voted for Phil Hughes here because I thought pride would really light a fire under him. Mark Teixeira also got votes, which I can understand.

Second we asked the users who would be the SLEEPER pick for us in 2012 and the votes are in. Phil Hughes won here due to reports that he came into camp in shape and looking good. Not many people are expecting much out of him either with the Kuroda and Pineda transactions so I could see him being a sleeper. I personally voted Brett Gardner here, as did others, because I think he finally puts it all together in the field, at the plate, and on the base paths (green light him Girardi... do it now). Rafael Soriano and even Hiroki Kuroda got a vote here (albeit by a Dodgers fan) so optimism is reigning supreme in Yankees land.

The best bullpen arm came up next as we did not want to limit it to anything short of that and the results were mixed, which is not surprising seeing as deep as our bullpen is. Obviously we all know that Mariano Rivera won this, which should catch no one by surprise, but it was not as close as you would think. Many people wondered how, if possible, David Robertson could improve on his 2011 season. Many of those same people even picked him to regress in 2012, which even if he did a little would still make him the best set up man in all of baseball. I personally voted for Rafael Soriano because I know that he wants to close, if he didn't then he would have not signed a deal loaded with opt out clauses. The only way that Soriano is a closer is if he kills it in the Yankees pen, opts out, and signs a lucrative deal with another team next off season. I was in the minority here as the only one to vote for him. 

On to the good ones, we will start with the Cy Young. Ok, so maybe the build up was not worth it as CC Sabathia ran away with it. One person did vote for Michael Pineda though, which I found interesting. This user stated that he thought with the "Verducci" effect under his belt with a full year over and the help of pitching coach Larry Rothschild to help with his changeup will result in huge strides for Michael this season. Interesting.. but come on... It is CC Sabathia.

Finally, the moment we have all waited for, the Yankees 2012 MVP. Is it Cano? Is It Nick Swisher? Is it Derek Jeter? No... It is Alex Rodriguez. How bold of a prediction is this Yankees fans? Robinson Cano , as stated on the site, is the best hitter on the team but Alex Rodriguez and the magical procedure that will elongate his career has won him this one. Derek Jeter also got a few votes which I find ironic. Jeter has never won an MVP award, although he deserved to, so I do not see how someone can think he can win one this season.

That is our list.... What is yours?

Countdown To Pitchers & Catchers

I really hate the fact that when I used google to search for the above picture I simply typed in "Derek Jeter" and was bombarded with pages upon pages of beautiful women that he has put the bone to that I will never get to... namely Jessica Beil. Hey... what are you going to do right? Hit .300 and bring me another ring and Ill forgive you Jete.

Oh yeah, and there are 2 more days until Spring Training begins down at George Steinbrenner field in Tampa FL. Hideki Okajima will NOT be joining us , as he failed his physical. This really opens the door for Mike O'Connor, Cesar Cabral, and Brad Meyers to make the team as the 2nd left handed option out of Joe Girardi's pen to compliment Boone Logan.

Burnett to Pittsburgh

Well it's pretty much official. "Pretty much" since the commissioner's office has to give their stamp of approval to any deal where the teams are exchanging money, not to mention that neither the Pirates nor the Yankees have announced that they've agreed to a deal.

However, Ken Rosenthal has announced that the teams have agreed to a deal, in which Pittsburgh will give the Yankees two low-level minor leaguers, and will be on the hook for $13 million of the $33 million left on Burnett's contract.

Sounds like a great deal to me, as I would have been okay with the Yankees just giving Burnett away. Okay, not really, but you get the point. If the Pirates had only been responsible for $10 million, then that would have freed up enough money for the Yankees to sign Raul Ibanez and Eric Chavez, without having to expand the payroll. This way the team will actually save money even after signing a DH and IF.

EDIT: I read on Twitter, from Joel Sherman, that one of the minor leaguers is Diego Moreno. Nice strikeout rate.

EDIT 2:48pm: Jonathan Mayo is reporting that the 2nd prospect the Yankees will be receiving is Exicardo Cayones, a 21 year-old OFer (mainly LF) that doesn't excite me at all.