The Nick Swisher Reunion Question You All Knew Was Coming

When the news broke that the Atlanta Braves, despite owing him $15 million in salary for this upcoming season, flat out released Nick Swisher making him a free agent I warned the Yankees GM (jokingly of course) on Twitter not to even think about signing him. This was done very tongue-in-cheek and it was a knee jerk reaction, now that I have had a couple days to bide my time and do my research this is the question you all knew was probably coming, should the New York Yankees make a run at Nick Swisher for a second time in his career?

The New York Yankees are seemingly stacked at the outfield position with their three regulars, Aaron Hicks, Slade Heathcott, Mason Williams, Ben Gamel and Aaron Judge among the prospects right behind him but where Swisher’s value comes is as a backup first baseman. Swisher has played first base before and has played first base in the Bronx before I his first tenure as a New York Yankee, could he do it again? Of course he theoretically could, but will the Yankees pay the league minimum $525K while the Braves pay his $15 million on the whim that the team might need a backup for Mark Teixeira? I honestly can’t see it happening but here’s what I came up with.

Sure Swisher stole the hearts of Yankees fans in 2009 after hitting 29 home runs, driving in 82 RBI and hitting for a .249 average in that World Series season but it has been a steady decline for Swisher since that campaign. His power remained steady on New York but his strikeouts increased while his average declined as his knees began to give out. Swisher missed the end of the 2014 season and the beginning of the 2015 season after having surgery on both his knees but the saving grace for Swisher is that they wouldn’t need him to be the guy that led the team to a 2009 World Series championship. They wouldn’t need him to be the guy that got a contract in excess of $50 million from the Cleveland Indians either, they would just need him to be a better first baseman than Dustin Ackley, which he is, and a better hitter than Chris Parmelee, which he is and so am I for that matter.

Swisher has played his best baseball in the brightest of the bright lights, the biggest of the big stages and in the Bronx so why not? Because he isn’t versatile, he isn’t young or an especially good hitter and he simply clogs up the 40 man roster even further while blocking young talent like Robert Refsnyder. That’s why. Swish, I love you dude but I just don’t love you that much unless you’re coming on a minor league deal. 

Predicting the AL & NL Managers of the Year for 2016

I love those questions that have a totally different answer depending on who you ask. I am a big believer that everyone is entitled to their opinion and that no opinion can be wrong unless otherwise backed up by fact. That leads me to the actual bearing that a MLB manager has on a game and the whole idea behind the MLB Manager of the Year Award. Can a team loaded with All-Star players win more games, less games or roughly the same amount of games with a mediocre manager as opposed to a great manager? I think the 1996-2007 Yankees showed that with Joe Torre at the helm that talent won out more times than not but again, that’s my opinion. With that said here are my picks for the Manager of the Year Awards for 2016.

In the American League I have to go with a team that under-achieved for much of the 2015 campaign, especially in the pitching department, in the Cleveland Indians. Corey Kluber was a Cy Young Award pitcher in 2014 before taking a true step back in 2015 but like I said earlier I believe that talent will win out on a long enough timeline. Kluber should be better and so should Danny Salazar and others which will make Terry Francona’s job a whole lot easier. Without the bulky contracts of Michael Bourn and Nick Swisher weighing the organization down I truly believe the team can compete and add pieces at the deadline if they are close giving Francona a true shot at winning the award for the American League.

And in the National League I had to go with Don Mattingly only because I think his team will be much improved in 2016. I don’t believe the team will be better because of his managing, although I do think he is a better manager than what Miami had last season, but I do believe a full year of Giancarlo Stanton, Dee Gordon and Jose Fernandez can’t hurt a guy’s chances. The Marlins may not win the division by any stretch of the imagination but they should be much better than the third place losing team they put out there last season. 

This Day in New York Yankees History 4/1: No News is Good News So They Say

You know what they say, no news is good news. I don’t see how that is grammatically possible because how can nothing be something, you know? Anyway I digress, apparently nothing of note happened on this day in Yankees history so you get the day off from your "learnings."

New York Yankees Spring Training Open Thread 3/31

So what happened down at Yankees spring training camp today? Let's get caught back up!

Andrew Miller will pitch through his fracture in his wrist. Bryan Mitchell will not. Mitchell hurt his toe covering first base and will miss at least the next three months. Ouch.

Austin Romine is your backup catcher.

Masahiro Tanaka starts Game One against the Houston Astros.

Luis Cessa wins a bullpen slot. Johnny Barbato does as well. Kirby Yates replaces Bryan Mitchell.

Jake Cave has been waived and will be welcomed back to the Yankees if he clears waivers.

More news as it comes!

Predicting the Comeback Player of the Year

The Comeback Player of the Year, quite possibly the most useless award in all of Major League Baseball’s set of awards? Why you may ask? The league or whoever votes on these things focus too much, in my opinion, on a guy who missed a chunk of the previous season due to injury and less on a player that makes a true comeback. I was pretty on the fence about this award before last year but when Alex Rodriguez did not win the award that solidified it for me. Leaving my bias and opinions aside I wanted to take a stab at an American League and National League Comeback Player of the Year Award winner for the 2016 season. 

In the American League I went a little off the script here with my pick. This player is technically still coming back from an injury but the injury did not keep him off the field for the majority of the 2015 season. In fact this man played much of the 2015 season on the field and behind the dish for the Baltimore Orioles, Mr. Matt Wieters. Wieters is entering the 2016 campaign in his second season removed from Tommy John surgery after playing in 75 games last season. Wieters struggled with the bat last season and struggled to command the running game at times last season. They say positional players need a year to recover from the injury while pitchers need two full years to be fully back to themselves but everybody is different just like every injury is different. Wieters has to throw the ball back to the pitcher a good 150-200 times a night, control the running game and bat on a surgically repaired elbow that may or may not have been 100% when he did it all. Wieters should benefit from a long winter off and should be back to form in 2016 winning the award outright.  

I considered going with Marcus Stroman here for the AL but after that September and October he had I felt like he already came back, you know? 

In the National League I went with a “can’t miss” prospect that has yet to live up to the expectations and hype over a 162-game schedule. Wil Myers of the San Diego Padres was thought to be the next big thing when he was with Tampa but after a trade to the West Coast and a wrist injury later we fans were left wondering once again what could have been with Myers. 2016 may finally be the year we see a full season and a productive season out of Myers as he has yet to play in more than 88 games in a season during his career or get more than 335 at bats. Myers started out last season hitting well with four home runs and a .286 average in April as the leadoff man before hurting his wrist again and ending his season. Myers, if he can finally stay healthy, might not only win this award but may be in consideration for the NL MVP Award as well. You never know. 

Just as a quick note I am well aware that just one award is handed out and not one for each league. That just feels cheap to me so I gave one to each league, because I’m nice like that. Enjoy!

Randy Levine Complains About the Luxury Tax Again

When Randy Levine talks I usually find the nearest mute button, pair of headphones or loud gun and/or explosion to go listen to instead. It’s nothing personal Randy I just don’t agree with a lot of the things you say and I don’t believe you speak for the Yankees fan. Maybe you speak for the suits that run things but suits don’t cheer and suits don’t pay the bills but anyway that’s another blog post for another day. Today’s blog post focuses on what Mr. Levine had to say regarding the New York Yankees, the New York Mets and the luxury tax that both teams have to pay.

In an interview with Fox Sports Levine said that it was “unfair” that the Yankees have to pay so much more in luxury tax than the Mets. Here’s the exact quote:

“What is very burdensome to us – and is unfair – is the amount of money we have to pay in revenue sharing compared, for example, to teams in our market that pay 10 times less than us,” Levine said. “Hopefully that is something that will get looked at in the next labor agreement.”

So let me get this straight. The league set a bar that currently sits at $186 million and said if you go over this total you’re hit with a tax. The league also mandated that the fine and penalty would worsen for consecutive seasons over the luxury tax threshold until or unless you get under the cap for a full season. Either the Yankees didn’t get a certified copy of the rules book or they knew what they were doing when they blew past the mark every year since its inception. Tell me again, please try anyway, how it’s “unfair” that the Mets don’t have to pay for blatantly disregarding the rules while the Yankees do. I’ll wait.

And I’m also wondering how Levine is confused by the whole revenue sharing thing as a whole. The Yankees are worth $3.4 billion, far and away the most in MLB, and the whole system was designed to steal from the rich and give to the poor. The Mets are poor, they are more in debt than the United States of America (almost anyway), and the Yankees are rich. But don’t worry Randy there is a silver lining in this all and how the team has been run recently. At the trend it’s going it won’t be the strongest, most desired or richest brand in all of North American sports anymore. That’s what losing and not reinvesting in your future will do to an organization. 

Yankees ST: Two More Games, One More Team

The New York Yankees have another two games today in the Grapefruit League as the team knocks out two more games in their spring training schedule today. In the first game the Yankees are on the road in Joker Marchant Stadium to face off with Matt Boyd and the Detroit Tigers while New York sends Chad Green to the mound. Meanwhile down at George M. Steinbrenner Field the Yankees will send Michael Pineda to the mound to face off against Mike Leake and the St. Louis Cardinals.

Both games will be played at 1:05 pm ET with the game against Detroit seen on MLB TV while the game with the Cardinals can be seen on the YES Network, MLB Network and MLB TV. Go Yankees x2!

Predicting the AL& NL Rookies of the Year

Every year around this time I roll out my predictions for the major awards, the standings, the division winners, the playoffs and even the World Series because I’m a glutton for punishment. Why? Because I’m wrong about 75% of the time, if not more, but it is fun to do pre-season and it’s fun to look back at in October or November so 2016 won’t be any different. We’ll start it off with a few players that are starting off their Major League careers in 2016 as I take a stab at predicting the American league and National League’s Rookie of the Year Award winners.

In the American League there is a name we’ve heard a ton about for a long, long time. That name is Byron Buxton of the Minnesota Twins, a longtime top prospect in Major League Baseball. The Twins have been patient with the young outfielder and they finally got some dividends paid back in 2015. Buxton hit .209/.250/.326 in 138 plate appearances in 2015 and is still considered a prospect for the 2016 season meaning he is still eligible to win the American League’s version of the ROY Award, and he will in my estimation. Let’s not forget that Mike Trout began his career in 2011 with a 40 game stint that included a .220/.281/.390 triple slash.

Don’t be surprised if Luis Severino is listed somewhere in the final voting though, this kid has all the making of being pretty special.

In the National League I considered going with Steven Matz of the New York Mets or Corey Seager of the Los Angeles Dodgers but I ultimately landed on the starting shortstop for the Washington Nationals, Trea Turner.  Turner burst onto the scene in a big way in 2015 posting a .322/.370/.458 triple slash with 29 stolen bases in the minor leagues before making a quick cameo in the Major Leagues last season. With Ian Desmond out the Nationals will give the bulk of the playing time to Turner giving him plenty of opportunities and plenty of runners on base in front of him to get him the award.

I wanted to go with Carlos Martinez of St. Louis but that suspension is going to eat up much of his season leaving him on the outside looking in. 

Press Release: Trenton Thunder Present Golf Night!

Golf Night, Presented by Cranbury Golf Club, Scheduled for April 21

Get back into the swing of golf season on Thursday, April 21 at ARM & HAMMER Park when the Thunder host their inaugural Golf Night.

The night begins with the perfect addition to any golfer's bag, a golf towel, presented by Cranbury Golf Club, to the first 1,000 fans, ages 12 and up. Keep your clubs sparkling clean with this outstanding collectible.

Prize giveaways will occur throughout the night thanks to the Mercer County Golf Academy and various clubs that will be in attendance on April 21. Following the game, the Academy will send one lucky fan home with a gift certificate for winning the closest to the pin contest. Fans will have the opportunity to sign up for the closest to the pin at Fan Services throughout the game and they will compete in partnership with a golf professional from one of the clubs represented on April 21.

Clubs that will be in attendance at Golf Night include Cranbury Golf Club, Trenton Country Club, Hopewell Valley Golf Club, Middletown Country Club, the New Jersey Golf Foundation, and Mercer County Golf Courses, Mercer Oaks, Mountain View Golf Club and Princeton Country Club.

Golf Night will feature a great opportunity for kids to get their first exposure to the game. The New Jersey Golf Foundation will be on Times Square (the area in front of the ballpark) with pros from local clubs providing five-minute educational lessons.

Tickets to Golf Night are available by clicking here and groups of 20 or more can get tickets for just $8 each by filling out the form on this page or calling 609-394-3300 x105.

This Day in New York Yankees History 3/31: Welcome to Coors Field

On this day in 1995 in front of a crowd of 47,536 the New York Yankees lost the first ever game at Coors Field, an exhibition game, 4-1 to the Colorado Rockies.


Also on this day in 1984 Roger Maris announced his #9 jersey retirement from the Yankees on an episode of ABC's Sports Beat with Howard Cosell. New York planned to retire the jersey number at Old Timer's Day that July. Maris showed much disbelief in learning the news and was very happy to be recognized for his seven years in pinstripes.