MLB Hot Stove 7 Worst Yankees Contracts

MLB Network's show Hot Stove named their seven worst contracts in New York Yankees history and unfortunately this was pretty hard to look at. Of course we all knew, and agree, that Alex Rodriguez's contract was going to top the list but the rest of the list is pretty interesting, take a look.

7. Jose Contreras four years $32 million
6. Jaret Wright three years $21 million
5. Hideki Irabu four years $12.8 million plus $3 million sent to the San Diego Padres
4. Roger Clemens one year (prorated, worked out to be four months) $18.7 million
3. Carl Pavano four years $40 million
2. Kei Igawa five years $20 million plus $26 million posting fee
1. Alex Rodriguez ten years $275 million

ICYMI: Were They Worth It?

From Bryan Van Dusen:





For a while after The Greedy Pinstripes opened, I would constantly write about salaries. I pretty much became obsessed with the team's total payroll, and how their players fit into it. I would write about how much money was allegedly on the books, and whether they would or would not sign one player or another. It took me a while to realize what many others already knew... it was a waste of time. Not only did I not know how much the team was willing to spend, but it ultimately didn't matter to me as a fan because I was not the one writing the payroll checks.

"There are people that still write checks? Hello! It's called a debit card!"

I don't mean to say that I've completely abandoned the idea of player salaries and the team's payroll. I'm not going to waste my time saying the team could sign Jason Heyward, David Price, and others, while putting big money players like Carlos Beltran on the bench. Major League Baseball is a business, which means the league and its teams are out to make money, therefore team owners are going to treat it as such.

One thing I bring up often when talking about money is the Dollar Values done at Fangraphs. No, I don't think it's a perfect formula, but I do believe it's a good way to measure a player's worth. For example, Fangraphs lists Bryce Harper as being worth $75.9 million last season. You may say he's probably only worth like $70 million, but the fact is he's one of... if not the most valuable hitter in MLB.

So I decided to take a look at the Dollar Values placed on players from the 2015 Yankees. You're probably going to notice that the following chart doesn't include every player that spent time on the team's Active Roster this season, but it does cover those that spent a significant amount of time on it.

Let's start with those that actually cost the team money last season.

Sabathia was the biggest waste for the Yankees in 2015, giving the team nearly $15 million less on the field than they gave him on his paycheck. Ellsbury wasn't much better, as the Yankees spent a little over $14 million more on him than he gave to the team. Drew was another waste for the team, as his salary was $3.7 million higher than what he gave the team in performance. While Tanaka is on the list of players that under-performed their salaries, if he could have made five or six more starts he would have likely covered his salary and then some. The teams loss with Headley was minimal, however I believe he'll make up for that during the last three years of his contract. Oh, and as for ARod, many would have taken him as a $64 million loss spread out over his final three years, so a loss of only $600,000 this season was fantastic.

Now for those that gave the Yankees more than the team gave them.

Take another look at that chart above. That list of "plusses" is pretty nice. Pineda (+26.1), Gregorius (+24.146), and Eovaldi (+21.9) would have been welcome by any owner in baseball. And, although a number of Yankees fans feel otherwise, Yankees brass has to love using young players. Just look at what young guys like Gregorius did... Betances (+18.692), Warren (+16.528), Wilson (+11.244), Bird (+6.9), Murphy (+4.981), Severino (+4.8), Heathcott (+2.1), and Refsnyder (+.7). Finally, you can add another $29 million for the Yankees, thanks to Gardner (+7.9), Miller (+6.9), Young (+6.9), McCann (+6.5), Nova (+.4), and Beltran (+.4) all outperforming their salaries.

You may have noticed that I haven't talked about Mark Teixeira. Even though he was technically a "loss" for the Yankees last season, if it wasn't for an injury he would have outplayed his salary by quite a bit.

In summary, how about that total? The team's total payroll for 2015 was a little under $218 million. The total for the players in that chart ($332.9 million) means the Yankees got around $115 million more out of their team than they had to pay. I would call that a big win for Hal and friends.

So if anybody brings up the Yankees eating a player's contract, or at least part of it in order to facilitate a trade (*cough*Ellsbury*cough*), you don't have to feel bad for Hal, Brian, Joe or anybody else employed by the New York Yankees.

"Yeah, we're all doing just fine."

Jim Hendry & Jeff Samardzija Could Be on the Way Out of New York

Just heard Jim Hendry also interviewed with Andy MacPhail for #phillies GM job. Possibility to land there in advisor role.

— Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick) October 23, 2015

I won't leave you hanging for long because I know you're probably all a little confused by the title of the post. Jeff Samardzija is not a member of the New York Yankees so how could he possibly be on his way out of New York, right? You are right but it is also worth mentioning that Yankees special assistant and adviser to Brian Cashman and former Cubs front office member Jim Hendry was the man that signed Samardzija to his first Major League deal pulling him away from football and Notre Dame University and Hendry may also be on his way out of New York.

Cashman has already lost one of his top generals this season when his assistant GM Billy Eppler took the general manager position with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Hendry may be the next one on the way out. Hendry recently interviewed with the Philadelphia Phillies about a potential adviser role with the team. Hendry also interviewed with new team president Andy MacPhail for the vacant GM job left open by Ruben Amaro Jr. but the team eventually hired Matt Klentak for that position.

If Hendry leaves does he take the possibility of signing Samardzija with him? At the end of the day, maybe.

New York Yankees in the Awards

According to Major League Baseball there are 10 instances this season where the New York Yankees were considered to be award worthy. It's almost award season time, one more series stands between the players and a long offseason, and the Yankees are up for 10 awards. Should they win it and do they have a shot? Check them out below and decide for yourself.

The first Award is the Best Breakout Player where the Yankees Andrew Miller is nominated after his first full season as a closer in his career. Miller joins other hopefuls Chris Archer, Nolan Arenado, Jake Arrieta, Jeurys Familia and others.

Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira are both up for Best Comeback Player after strong 2015 seasons for the New York Yankees. Teixeira spent most of 2014 injured and ineffective while Rodriguez was suspended for the entire season with a steroid suspension. ARod and Teixeira join Chris Davis, Prince Fielder, Matt Harvey, Ryan Madson and others in the running for the award.

Joe Girardi is up for best manager after leading the Yankees to the playoffs for the first time in three seasons. Other managers up for consideration are Jeff Bannister of the Texas Rangers and both World Series managers Terry Collins of the Mets and Ned Yost of the Royals.

Brian Cashman is also under consideration for the Best Executive of the Year in 2015 but will face stiff competition with Alex Anthopoulos of the Toronto Blue Jays, Sandy Alderson of the Mets, Theo Epstein of the Cubs, Andrew Friedman of the Dodgers and others.

The Yankees Twitter account, @Yankees, is actually up for the best social media account believe it or not. I can't get those guys to acknowledge I exist for anything but hey, they must be being social with someone to be up for the award.

Alex Rodriguez's 3,000th hit is under consideration for the Best Moment of 2015, Jimmy Fallon is up for Best Team Celebrity Fan for his fandom of the Yankees and so is a kid who stole a foul ball away from Carlos Beltran on September, 24 against the Chicago White Sox. John Sterling could win Best Call on the radio for Greg Bird's home run against the Toronto Blue Jays on September 22 in the finale of the potential award ceremonies for the Yankees.

CLICK HERE to vote. 

Weekly AFL Check In: Tyler Austin

We did the Weekly Check In series throughout the season checking in on various Yankees minor league players and I thought with a couple weeks in the books down in the Arizona Fall League we could do the same with the Yankees down there playing for the Surprise Saguaros. Who better to start off with in this series than the player that needs the Arizona Fall League the most, Mr. Tyler Austin.

Austin was designated for assignment and sent off the 40 man roster before the 2015 season came to a close but ultimately returned to the club when all was said and done on a new minor league deal. Austin is running out of time in a Yankees and the AFL may be his last chance to prove to the team that he belongs.

Tyler Austin:

Games: 5
At Bats: 17
AVG: .353
OBP: .450
SLG: .471
OPS: .921
H: 6
HR: 0
RBI: 2
BB: 3
K: 4

This Day In New York Yankees History 10/26: Don Zimmer Retires

On this day in 2003 Yankees bench coach Don Zimmer resigns from the position. The reason given was George Steinbrenner, which is enough said in that department no? Zimmer would join the Tampa Bay Rays as a Senior Baseball Adviser for the 2004 season.

Joe Torre would become the fifth manager in World Series history to win four World Series championships on this day in 2000 as well joining Casey Stengel (7), Joe McCarthy (7), Connie Mack (5), and Walter Alston(4). The Yankees would win their fourth World Series in five seasons on this day when they beat the Mets 4-2. This would be the Yankees 26th championship in their storied history. Luis Sojo had a ninth inning two out hit off Mets pitcher and former Yankee Al Leiter to win the series after Mariano Rivera closed the door. On this day in 2000 Derek Jeter became the first player to ever win the All Star Game MVP and the World Series MVP in the same season. Jeter finished the World Series with a .409 average and had nine hits including two doubles, a triple, and two home runs. The Yankees beat the Mets in the Subway World Series in five games.

Also on this day in 1999 Chad Curtis hit a home run leading off the 10th inning in Game 3 of the World Series with the Atlanta Braves. The Yankees would take a commanding 3-0 lead and would finish off the sweep the next day. Curtis would become only the 11th player in World Series history to end a game with a home run.

Also on this day in 1996 the Commissioner's Trophy finally came back to where it belongs in the Bronx for the first time since the 1978 season as the Yankees beat the Braves in Game 6 to capture the title. This will be the first of four titles in five years under Joe Torre and the Cour Four.

Finally on this day in 1950 Phil Rizzuto would win the American League MVP as a member of the New York Yankees. Scooter would take home 16 of the 23 first place votes beating out Boston's Billy Goodman for the award. Just as an FYI on what stat line got you the MVP award back in 1950 Rizzuto finished the season with a .324 batting average with seven home runs and 66 RBI's.

How It's Made: Major League Baseball Bats

Last night the popular television show showed us how Major League baseballs are made right here on the blog and tonight we look at how to make the bat that hits them 400+ feet and into the stands. Enjoy.

Using Ron Guidry as an Example for Why Rob Refsnyder Should Start At Second Base in 2016

Earlier today we took a trip down memory lane when we remembered a great Yankees player of the past, Ron Guidry. In the piece we pointed out that Guidry almost quit Major League Baseball after the New York Yankees continuously sent the man that would eventually be called “Louisiana Lightning” back and forth from Triple-A to the Major Leagues. Along with these free bus shuttles and back forth to the minor leagues came trade rumors and near trades leaving Guidry wondering if his career was meant to be or even worth pursuing. I’m not comparing the two players by any stretch of the imagination but it gives you, the fans, a small insight into the mind of a player trying to break into the Major Leagues and shows you that even the toughest individuals have a breaking point. This, among other reasons, is why the Yankees should stop jerking Robert Refsnyder around by blocking him at second base and let him platoon with Dustin Ackley at the position in 2016.

You can use this example for any positional prospect or pitching prospect on any team but no player got their hopes crushed more in less than two seasons than Refsnyder in my opinion. Refsnyder hit the cover off the ball in 2014 but was kept in Triple-A due to his defensive concerns after being switched to second base after being drafted in 2012. Refsnyder spent the entire 2014 season in the minor leagues and finished in Triple-A with the Scranton/Wilkes Barre and was seen knocking on the door of the Bronx in spring training of 2015. Refsnyder saw his hopes rise when New York traded Martin Prado to the Miami Marlins in the deal that brought Garrett Jones and Nathan Eovaldi back to the Yankees and saw them dashed just as quickly when the team signed Stephen Drew to a free agent contract. Sure this won’t happen again in 2016, right?

There have already been rumors, although naturally everyone denies them including Refsnyder and Yankees GM Brian Cashman, of Refsnyder having a bad attitude after being sent back down to the minor leagues in July which is probably just the beginning. Refsnyder didn’t have a bad attitude, he lacked motivation because he was discouraged. We all get like that and no one is perfect. It can be disheartening and heartbreaking to work your tail off only to get continuously mentioned in trade talks, sent back down or kept in the minor leagues and kept on the bench when you’re on the Major League roster. Ron Guidry was a tough man, as tough as they come, and he almost quite baseball for similar reasons and I would hate to see that negativity invade Refsnyder as well.

Refsnyder has earned his shot in my opinion and I think he personally deserves it. It worked out well last time, the Yankees don’t win the 1978 World Series without Guidry and his 25 victories, so why not try to catch lightning in a bottle once again?

Why I Won’t Root for the Mets

This is my personal testimony, this is not entitled “Why Yankees fans should not root for the Mets.” This is why I, Daniel Burch, personally do not root for the Mets. I don’t hate the Mets, more than half my family are Mets fans and I congratulated them all when New York clinched the World Series berth against the Chicago Cubs. Matt Kardos, a Trenton Thunder beat writer, is someone I consider my friend and I congratulated him as well because I know he is a true and diehard Mets fans. It’s the other Mets fans that make it hard to damn near impossible for me to watch and root for the team.

Maybe it’s just me but I have a hard time understanding the fair-weather fans and the bandwagon fans in any sport. I have been a fan of the New York Yankees literally all my life. I was born in the Bronx inside Bronx Lebanon Hospital and I can remember my father telling me he could see the stadium from my hospital bed. I can remember being told I was a Yankees player in every game I played and all I wanted to do was watch and play Yankees baseball ever since I was two years old. I am proud to be a die-hard fan and I get annoyed when I see certain fans, specifically on Twitter, acting the way that they do. I want to tell them to act like they’ve been here before but then I remember that most of them haven’t been here before.

It’s not even the fact that a lot of these fans were wearing Yankees hats six months ago, what bothers me is how cocky and arrogant they are to me on Twitter. You guys know me, I try to be fair to everyone. Everyone on my team and everyone on everybody else’s team. I have more Toronto Blue Jays followers than I do Mets followers and most of them have told me I have a great account and that I’m fair to both sides. Mets fans just tell me I suck and I should root for them because they are a New York team, even though none of them rooted for the Yankees a day in their life. A lot of Mets fans want their cake and they want to smash it in my face and THEN eat it too.

It’s nothing against the Mets I just can’t bring myself to align myself with some of these people who act a fool behind the anonymity of the internet. One guy called me a “clown” and then told me if I was ever in the New Rochelle area to come visit his pizzeria…. Really? I’m happy for the fans of the Mets, the fans that were fans in 2000 the last time the team went to the World Series. The fans that suffered through the Roberto Alomar and Mo Vaugh years along with the botched trades (Victor Zambrano) and free agent signings. As far as these Mets fans that rode the same bus to baseball fandom that the Toronto Blue Jays “fans” rode I have no time for. They don’t deserve this as much as the true fans and that’s why I cannot bring myself to root for the New York Mets. 

Remembering Yankees of the Past: Ron Guidry

Ronald Ames Guidry was born on August 28, 1950 in Lafayette, Louisiana. Guidry spent his college years pitching for the university of Southwestern Louisiana (now known as the University of Louisiana at Lafayette) where he earned the attention from Major League scouts, but no scouts were more interested than those of the New York Yankees. When all was said and done Louisian Lightning, or Gator whichever nickname you prefer, pitched 14 seasons in the Bronx from 1975 to 1988 before also spending time as the team’s pitching coach from 2006 to 2007. Gator was a Yankee through and through and today we remember a great Yankee of the past, Mr. Ron Guidry.

Guidry was bounced around between the minor league and the Major Leagues, the bullpen and the starting rotation and from the trade block off the trade block and back on again from 1975 to 1977 before getting a full-time shot in 1978. Guidry almost quit baseball due to the shuffling back and forth and the constant trade rumors surrounding him but it was his wife that eventually talked him into staying in the game and staying in the Bronx. Guidry’s wife didn’t marry a quitter and Guidry didn’t quit much to the delight of the Yankees. See New York called Guidry up in 1977 as a relief pitcher before moving him to the starting rotation where he began the 1978 season. Guidry contemplated quitting the game with his 1977 World Series ring in hand but instead used that fire to lead the Yankees pitching staff to a second World Series victory in 1978. Guidry went 4-0 in the postseason with three complete games in five starts allowing just nine earned runs in 37.1 innings pitched.

Guidry was on the map and the Yankees radar after striking out a Yankees-record 18 batters in a single game against the California Angels on June 17^th and especially after finishing the season 25-3 with an unheard of 1.74 ERA. Guidry won the American League Cy Young Award in 1978 and finished second in the American League MVP race to the Boston Red Sox slugger Jim Rice, Guidry went from almost quitting the game to almost becoming the first pitcher to win the MVP Award in Major League history all in one calendar year, not bad for a boy from Louisiana and not bad for a team that needed all 25 of his victories to even make the postseason. Guidry’s 25^th victory came at the expense of the Boston Red Sox in that famous one-game playoff. Most know it as the Bucky Dent game but Guidry remembers it as the game that stole the heart of Yankees owner George Steinbrenner.

Guidry continued to pitch well despite the Bronx burning down around him and despite the collective cast of characters the Yankees threw out there were less than effective. Guidry quietly won five consecutive Gold Glove Awards for the struggling Yankees and compiled a 113-57 record in the five seasons after his World Series heroics of 1977 and 1978. Arm problems hit Guidry in 1981 and a shoulder surgery that would not improve his condition ultimately ended his career with the Yankees on July 12, 1989.

When Guidry retired he has a 1978 Cy Young Award under his belt along with two World Series rings, one Sporting News AL Pitcher and Major League Player of the Year Award (1978), four AL Sporting News All-Star teams (1978, 1981, 1983 and 1985) and finished in the Top 10 in the Cy Young Award voting six times from 1977-1985. Guidry was named the co-captain of the New York Yankees alongside Willie Randolph from March 4, 1986 until the day he retired in 1989 and even had his number 49 retired by the Yankees on Ron Guidry Day. Guidry’s plaque that he received on August 23, 2003 stated that Louisiana Lightning was a “dominating pitcher and a respected leader” along with the words “True Yankee” engraved on the piece. Guidry lived and breathed the New York Yankees and would be remembered as so for the rest of time.

Guidry made his return to the team in 2006 but not as a pitcher but as a pitching coach under then manager Joe Torre. Guidry was named the pitching coach that replaced Mel Stottlemyre and under his tenure the Yankees enjoyed a mixed bag of results. In 2005 the Yankees staff ERA was 4.52 and under Gator it dropped to 4.41 in 2006 although that same number climbed back to 4.49 in 2007 which was good for just 17^th in Major League Baseball that season. Torre and the Yankees mutually decided not to reunite for the 2008 season and Guidry’s tenure as the Yankees pitching coach ended as well that season as new manager Joe Girardi did not offer him a position on his staff. Guidry has returned to the team as a spring training instructor but seems content being out of the game and out of the Bronx Zoo that he called home for so many years.

Guidry was one of those great Yankees that we don’t hear nearly enough about because the team was so bad during the 19080’s. Guidry is a talent and a personality that will likely never be emulated again, at least during my lifetime, and should be celebrated as so. This has been Remembering Yankees of the Past, the Ron Guidry edition.