Meet a Prospect: Chasen Shreve

While most of the planet was watching the College Football Playoff, including myself, the New York Yankees were trading Manny Banuelos to the Atlanta Braves for RHP David Carpenter and LHP Chasen Shreve. This trade honestly had me scratching my head at first and while I wasn't happy to see one of my favorite pitching prospects traded away for someone I called "another Shawn Kelley(Carpenter)" the more I read the more I began to understand the trade. Let's find out why as we meet a prospect, Chasen Shreve.

Chasen Dean Shreve stands 6'3" and throws with his left arm hanging from his 190 lb. frame at 24 years old, 25 years old by July 2015. Shreve was drafted in the 11th round of the 2010 MLB First Year Player's Draft by the Atlanta Braves out of College in Southern Nevada. Shreve was a former teammate of Washington Nationals star Bryce Harper but the immediate success that Harper had did not follow Shreve at the beginning of his professional career.

Shreve struggled for much of his minor league career until his 2014 season where he found around 3-4 MPH in velocity on his fastball and did more blowing people away and less spotting the ball. Shreve's success led him to the MLB Braves in 2014 where he finished with a 0.73 ERA in 12.1 IP and 15 K's with just three walks.

Shreve is likely just behind Justin Wilson on the Yankees LHP depth chart and for now may be ahead of Jacob Lindgren and Tyler Webb. Welcome to the family Chasen!

Quick Hit: Yu Darvish, Masahiro Tanaka and Ichiro Suzuki Highlights from High School

This is absolutely amazing and a must watch for any MLB fan, especially those fans of the New York Yankees, as someone collected and mashed up highlights from Yankees Masahiro Tanaka and Ichiro Suzuki along with Texas Rangers ace Yu Darvish. Tanaka and Darvish were virtually unhittable and Ichiro did what Ichiro does, hit the ball and get on base.

It's awesome, give it a watch and share it on your favorite social media.

Quick Hit: RIP Mario Cuomo

With a heavy heart I report that former New York Governor Mario Cuomo passed away earlier in the week. Cuomo was 82 years old and an avid baseball fan and the world lost a good man, in my humble opinion, this week unfortunately. Cuomo was the Governor in New York from 1983 to 1994 behind his stories of being a poor Italian immigrant but he, again in my opinion, did a great job for the state of New York and I'm personally sad to see him go.

RIP Cuomo and hopefully your sons learned as much as they could from that poor Italian immigrant.

Should the Yankees Re-Sign Ichiro Suzuki?

Should the Yankees re-sign OF Ichiro Suzuki?

That's the question The Latin Post's Damon Salvadore recently begged, opining Friday the Yankees could soon show interest in the veteran to fill their offensive needs. Ichiro, 41, has played for the Yankees since July of 2012, and hit a solid .284 off the bench for them last season.

From Salvadore:

"Suzuki won't fix all of [the Yankees' offensive] problems, but he does bring veteran leadership, experience and hits. Suzuki has recorded at least 100 hits in all 14 of his years in the big leagues. Adding Suzuki would at least provide a sure reliable hitter. Without [Derek] Jeter and Suzuki in the lineup, the Yankees would struggle mightily to get on base."

The Yankees could certainly use another bat right now, seeing as their performance at the plate last year wasn't all that appealing. Their team average of .245 ranked 11th in the American League, and their .307 on-base percentage was even lower at 14th.

Not to mention, Ichiro's probable replacement, Chris Young, is coming off a pretty unimpressive campaign whether you include his late hot streak with the Yankees or not, and it's not exactly a safe bet he'll be any better in the future.

Regardless of what New York ultimately decides to do with Ichiro, though, it should be noted the speedster stated his intentions to return for 2015 earlier this offseason, so it's unlikely the Yankees will have to worry about being rejected if they do eventually pursue him. 

This Day In New York Yankees History 1/3: Nick Swisher in Gone Girl

On this day in 2013 the Yankees lost a fan favorite in Nick Swisher to the Cleveland Indians via free agency. Swish was let walk and signed a four year deal worth $56 million that included a $14 million option for a fifth season with the tribe.

Also on this day in 2005 Bud Selig approves the trade of Randy Johnson from the Arizona Diamondbacks to the New York Yankees for Javier Vazquez, Dioner Navarro, Brad Halsey, and $9 million in cash. This trade came about three or four years too late and would lead to Arizona then flipping Navarro and the cash to acquire Shawn Green from the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Also on this day in 1974 the Yankees sign Bill Virdon as the team's manager. The former Pittsburgh Pirates manager will manager for two years in New York but will finish his tenure never winning a game at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees are playing their home games at Shea Stadium these days due to the renovations happening in the Bronx.

Also on this day in 1973 Lester Crown, John DeLorean, Nelson Bunker Hunt, and George Steinbrenner purchased the New York Yankees from CBS. The Boss will become a well known owner due to his pursuit of talent at any cost, feuds with players and managers that were well documented in the media, and his frequency of firing his employees. He is also the reason this blog was started so thanks are in order.

Also on this day in 1943 Yankees 37 year old pitcher Red Ruffing is drafted into the Army. As a 15 year old the future Hall of Famer lost four toes on his left foot in a mining accident in Illinois.

Finally on this day in 1920 the secret deal made on December 26 to sell Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees for $125,000 is announced to the public. This amount was twice the amount every paid previously for a player when Harry Frazee made the sale. Frazee also put up Fenway Park as collateral on a $300,000 loan.

Top Posts from 2014 on The Greedy Pinstripes

It's been a good year for the blog so there is no other time to look back and be appreciative then one Day One of a new year. Well I slacked, slept late and didn't get to this until Day Two.... whoops. It's officially 2015 but one last time we're going to look back at 2014 and not so much at what the Yankees were doing as much as what we on the blog were doing. Hope you enjoy.

The most viewed post this season was far and away the one that showcased another possibility to terminate the contract of Alex Rodriguez. The hate of the centaur continues....

Dan Pfieffer broke Twitter without a champagne glass when he reported that the New York Yankees had offered Max Scherzer a contract. That was on November 29th, FYI. 

For some reason our third highest viewed post of the calendar year reported the news that the Yankees had sent Chase Whitley down to the minors and called up Zelous Wheeler in a corresponding roster move. Weird but okay, we'll take it. 

By far my favorite post, maybe of all time, was my George Steinbrenner and the Ghosts of Yankees Past Christmas themed post I did on Christmas Eve. It didn't do nearly as well as a quick two minute Zelous Wheeler post which was discouraging but it was still far and away my favorite. 

Just a day earlier another very time consuming post was posted showcasing every single significant trade of the Brian Cashman tenure in pinstripes. 

Alex Rodriguez, Please Go Away

Someone's New Year's Resolution was not to stay out of the limelight and out of legal trouble. From the New York Daily News and Christian Red:

Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez being sued by ex-wife Cynthia's brother

The seven-count complaint says that Rodriguez and his agents 'knew of the contractual arrangement between Rodriguez and Constantine Scurtis, whereby Scurtis had the exclusive power to sell any real estate held by any of the Defendants listed in this lawsuit.'

It's a new year, but the refrain is the same for Alex Rodriguez: more legal woes.

The disgraced slugger − who is trying to make a comeback with the Yankees after a season-long doping ban even as he could find himself called as a witness in the Biogenesis cases winding their way through the federal courts − is being sued in Miami state court by Constantine Scurtis, the brother of A-Rod’s ex-wife, Cynthia, for breach of contract in a real estate venture.

According to the complaint Scurtis filed in Circuit Court of the 11th Judicial Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County on Dec. 17, he and Rodriguez “agreed to enter into a business relationship for the purpose of acquiring real estate,” sometime prior to March 18, 2003.

Rodriguez and Scurtis, according to the complaint, “went about acquiring adjoining and/or neighboring properties in the ‘Edgewater’ neighborhood of Miami,” shortly after forming the business partnership, which established both A-Rod and Scurtis as limited partners, and ACREI LLC as the general partner.

The complaint states that Scurtis was “sole manager and sole owner of” ACREI, and would be entitled to .0100% of net profits. Meanwhile, A-Rod would be entitled to 94.9905% of the net profits, while Scurtis would get 4.995% of the net profits, according to the complaint.

But along the way, the partnership appears to have soured. In the complaint, which lists five Florida limited partnerships as defendants in addition to Rodriguez, Scurtis accuses A-Rod of having “breached the written contracts by selling the properties without authority, without notifying Scurtis, and without compensating Scurtis.”

The seven-count complaint goes on to say that Rodriguez and his agents “knew of the contractual arrangement between Rodriguez and Scurtis, whereby Scurtis had the exclusive power to sell any real estate held by any of the Defendants listed in this lawsuit.”

Despite having knowledge of Scurtis’ exclusive rights, the complaint states that “Rodriguez and/or his agents sold the properties in direct violation of the contract between Rodriguez and Scurtis and failed to notify and compensate Scurtis.”

Scurtis is suing all defendants for damages “far in excess of Fifteen Thousand ($15,000.00), plus Court costs,” and is demanding a trial by jury. Scurtis’ Miami attorney, Vincent Duffy, declined comment other than to tell the Daily News, “This is a serious family matter.”

Rodriguez’s spokesman, Ron Berkowitz, issued the following statement on A-Rod’s behalf: “Mr. Rodriguez intends to vigorously defend this lawsuit which is felt to be without merit.”

Rodriguez, 39, and Cynthia divorced in 2008. They have two daughters.

Bold Predictions for the 2015 Yankees

If you guys know anything about me by now it's that I absolutely suck at making predictions that are not in the moment of a game or whatever. This season on Twitter I was donned the "Yankees Wizard" after multiple predictions including a couple Chris Young walk offs and David Robertson's implosion and Derek Jeter's walk off on the final game at Yankee Stadium just to name a few. For some reason I do great in those sort of predictions and not so great in the predictions I am about to do, the bold predictions for the season. Let's keep that in mind so you can be gentle in the comments sections.

- Alex Rodriguez, if he gets enough at bats due to injuries, will be a 20 home run guy in 2015. Rodriguez may only hit .265 but will drive 20 balls over the fences for 60 RBI.

- The Yankees world right now is etching Robert Refsnyder's name in stone for the starting second base job but I think Jose Pirela will win the competition in the spring.

- New York will have a closer by committee, at least to start the season, as Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller won't be tied down to the "defined roles" that Joe Girardi loves so much.

- Carlos Beltran will hit 30 home runs with optimal rest, the friendly dimensions at Yankee Stadium, the bone spur no longer an issue and the DH position.

- Mark Teixeira will play in 135 games because every player that has had a comparable wrist surgery is much better the second year removed like Teix will be in 2015.

- Didi Greorius hits .275 and slugs 17 home runs... because why not.

- Yankees win the second Wild Card with 89 wins

Quick Hit: The Yankees 25 Man Roster As It Stands Today

We're two days into the New Year of 2015 and today we're going to look at the Yankees 25 man roster, in my opinion anyway, as it stands today. Obviously a lot can and will change between now and then and we will update that accordingly here if and when it happens.


C: Brian McCann
1B: Mark Teixeira
2B: Robert Refsnyder
SS: Didi Gregorius
3B: Chase Headley
LF: Brett Gardner
CF: Jacoby Ellsbury
RF: Carlos Beltran
DH: Alex Rodriguez

BN: Garrett Jones
BN: Brendan Ryan
BN: John Ryan Murphy
BN: Chris Young

SP: CC Sabathia
SP: Masahiro Tanaka
SP: Michael Pineda
SP: Nathan Eovaldi
SP: Chris Capuano

CP: Dellin Betances
SU: Andrew Miller
RP: Justin Wilson
RP: Adam Warren
RP: David Carpenter
RP: Jose Ramirez
LR: Esmil Rogers

This Day In New York Yankees History 1/2: Lou Gehrig Parole Commissioner

On this day in 1940, with Mayor Fiorello La Guardia in attendance, Lou Gehrig was sworn in as a member of the New York City Parole Commission. The term is for 10 years but Gehrig became too ill with ALS to even sign his name on the contract and has to ask for a leave of absence the very next year.