Are the Yankees Worth It? The Pitching

The New York Yankees had many believers this offseason despite adding a single major league free agent to the roster over the winter but the team has drastically underachieved and became sellers at the August 1^st trade deadline. Was this because of the offense? We took a look at that earlier and determined that yeah, it might be, but what about the pitching? Has the pitching been worth their weight in Steinbrenner gold or did Brian Cashman screw up, hindsight being 20/20 and all, not adding to the rotation this winter? I’ll at least attempt to answer that question here for you today.

We didn’t need a graph or a chart or a visual aid to see that the Yankees pitching left a load of room for improvement in 2016. Masahiro Tanaka has seen better days, although he has been the model of consistency atop the rotation, but the Yankees biggest downfall may have been their reliance on Nathan Eovaldi, Michael Pineda, Ivan Nova and CC Sabathia. The bullpen has been amazing and that group of guys won the team a lot of games that they probably had no business winning otherwise but the starters have been an Achilles heel all season long unfortunately. Hopefully the Yankees organization is watching and reading and know where to start either before the August 31^st trading deadline or before Opening Day 2017 because this absolutely cannot happen again. Not if you want to win.

*all stats are stats accumulated with the Yankees only, not a previous or new team. 

New York Yankees Stats Leaders Through 120 Games

Offense

Games Played:

 Starlin Castro - 177

At Bats:

Starlin Castro - 443

Runs Scored:

Brett Gardner - 61

Hits:

Didi Gregorius - 177

Doubles:

Didi Gregorius - 24

Home Runs:

 Didi Gregorius - 16

RBI:

 Didi Gregorius - 54

AVG:

Didi Gregorius - .287 (qualifying)

Pitching

GS:

Michael Pineda and Masahiro Tanaka have each made 24 starts

AP:

Dellin Betances - 57

Wins:

Masahiro Tanaka and Nathan Eovaldi have 9 wins each

Losses:

Michael Pineda has ten losses? Ouch!

ERA:

Dellin Betances - 2.20 (BULLPEN)
Masahiro Tanaka - 3.40 (ROTATION)


K's:

Dellin Betances - 102 (BULLPEN)
Michael Pineda - 154 (ROTATION

Are the Yankees Worth It? The Offense

Have the 2016 version of the New York Yankees been worth it? Boy I don’t tend to ask the easy questions to answer, do I? What’s the fun in that? If I stuck to the script and didn’t say anything you coulnd’t already find on River Ave, Bleeding Yankee Blue or LoHud you probably wouldn’t come here so that’s why I keep pushing the envelope and trying new things. Today’s new thing I’ll try is to try to equate, based on stats like WAR, “Value” and by their current salaries, if the Yankees players have been worth their contracts in 2016. Is this a tell-all post with tell all stats? No, absolutely not. There isn’t a tell-all stat or post but this should at least get you thinking about it and give you a good idea how good some players have been this season and how some players need to step it up a bit.

It’s hard, even with this graph, to really decide whether the Yankees have been worth it this season. After scoring the second most runs in the league in 2015 you would think they would be at or near the top again this season after taking out Stephen Drew, adding Starlin Castro and after giving players like Didi Gregorius another year under his belt but it seems like the stats tell another story entirely.

The offense isn’t the only area of the team under the microscope today so be sure to check back later for the same post just only with the Yankees pitching.

*all stats are stats accumulated with the Yankees only, not a previous or new team. 

Weekly Prospects Check In: Kendall Coleman

You know I got on Facebook this week for the first time in like three weeks, my life and Twitter keep me pretty busy plus I just prefer Twitter over Facebook, and I saw a Yankees prospect posting about heading to Yankee Stadium to hang out with Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez and Tyler Austin. Then it hit me, why haven’t we checked in with Kendall Coleman this season?

Kendall is a great guy. I’ve spoken to him and his mother numerous times on Twitter and Kendall was gracious enough to give us an interview after being drafted by the club. We check in with Kendall from time to time, we know the MiLB season is a grind and his personal time is his personal time, but today I wanted everyone to be able to check in with him.

He’s not a prospect that many talk about because he is in the lower levels of the minor leagues but he is a scrappy as hell kind of player that won’t stop until the final out is recorded or the clock says zero. He’s that kind of ball player and an awesome person and those kind of people deserve recognition. Sorry it couldn’t be more Kendall but this is all I got. Thank you for being so kind and open to us over the years and we’ll keep rooting for you all the way to the Bronx!!

Year	Age	Lev	G	PA	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2016	21	A--A	76	293	20	45	5	2	28	1	41	83	.182	.298	.235	.533
2016	21	A-	39	156	10	21	4	0	11	0	24	39	.164	.295	.195	.490
2016	21	A	37	137	10	24	1	2	17	1	17	44	.202	.301	.277	.579

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

This Day In New York Yankees History 8/18: Longest Nine Inning Game In MLB History

In the early to mid 2000's the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox played some of the most bitter, the most entertaining, and some of the longest games in the history of the game of baseball. The Yankees and the Red Sox played the longest nine inning game in Major League history on this day in 2006 when the Yankees would beat the Red Sox 14-11. The Yankees completed a day and night double header sweep in Fenway Park and the second game took a cool four hours and 45 minutes to play. A team scored in nine of the 18 half innings and combined for 34 hits.

Also on this day in 1989 Bucky Dent replaced Dallas Green as the Yankees manager. This would mark the 17th time the Yankees had changed managers during George Steinbrenner's 17 year tenure as the Yankees owner. The Yankees were in 5th place at the time with a 56-65 record.

Finally on this day in 1940 Yankees first baseman Lou Gehrig and roommate Bill Dickey filed a suit against the New York Daily News. Jimmy Powers, the sports editor for the Sunday New York Daily News, suggested the Yankees poor play this season was to blame for a mass polio epidemic that the team contracted from Gehrig. In the end the newspaper retracted its statement and apologized to the Iron Horse.

Praying for Bob Watson Open Thread

The Yankees game is over and the team is off tomorrow so I leave you with this open thread for the night. As bad as I feel about leaving the night on a somber note I feel like it has to be said because Bob Watson, former Yankees GM and the man that some call the architect along with Gene Michael for the 1996 World Series and subsequent Yankees dynasty to follow, is battling for his life and he needs our thoughts and prayers. Watson, who was hired in October of 1995 to be the GM under George Steinbrenner, is battling kidney failure.

Watson wanted to be at Yankee Stadium while the organization celebrated the 1996 World Series but his health would not allow it. Watson is in Stage 4 of his kidney failure and doctors give him a couple years to live, tops.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Watson and his family in this tough time. Keep fighting Bob!

USA Today’s Weekly MLB Power Rankings

The New York Yankees can trade away any amount of talent that they want before any trading deadline they want but as long as they are replacing this talent with players like Adam Warren, Aaron Judge and Tyler Austin they can keep the good times rolling. By good times rolling I mean winning and that has been all the Yankees have known to do here lately yet you couldn’t tell it by checking out the weekly power rankings provided by the USA Today.

The USA Today has remained stagnant with the Yankees only seemingly waiting on them to fail so they can drop them down, typical ESPN bias if you ask me but that’s only if you ask me, but this week the team forced the hands of the crew over there who actually had the Yankees climb a spot from the 18^th position to the 17^th position. That will do for now I guess. Meanwhile the rest of the American League East is doing well in these rankings with the Toronto Blue Jays coming in 5^th, the Baltimore Orioles coming in seventh while being the biggest fall of the week dropping from the #4 position, the Red Sox were 9^th overall and the Tampa Bay Rays brought up the rear at the 26^th position overall.

The Top Five teams in the league according to the rankings are the Chicago Cubs, the Washington Nationals, the Cleveland Indians, the Texas Rangers and the Toronto Blue Jays while the five worst teams according to those same rankings are the #26 Tampa Bay Rays, the #27 Cincinnati Reds, the #28 Minnesota Twins, the #29 Arizona Diamondbacks and the #30 Atlanta Braves.

The biggest risers aren’t rising as much as they had been in previous rankings and the biggest falls haven’t fallen all that far from grace lately as we see a true sample size start to hit the league. Teams will have streaky weeks and months, both good and bad, but these rankings are pretty much what they say they are. The teams in the top half of the rankings are either destined for the postseason or just on the outside looking in while the teams in the bottom half are either fighting for their playoff lives or are thinking about next year and the year beyond already. If you want to see what chances your team has check out these rankings, they can tell you a lot about what’s about to happen here in the league. Enjoy. 

Yanks Fall to Jays, 7-4, Lose Crucial Series

Once again, the Yankees were unable to get the job done as they fell to the rival Blue Jays in the rubber game of the three-game set. Getting the call and suffering the loss for New York today was C.C. Sabathia. The big lefty drops to 7-10 on the season in a game that he really didn't lose, as he struck out a season-high 12 batters, but fell victim to some shotty defense and another couple of big innings for the high-powered Toronto offense. One of the best pitchers in all of baseball, J.A. Happ improved to 17-3 with his roller coaster of a performance on a beautiful afternoon in the Bronx.

Both starters had a perfect first, but it was the top of the second that saw the first runs of the game touch home plate. Troy Tulowitzki started the scoring rally with a single to beat the shift, followed by a Melvin Upton Jr. walk. Ezekiel Carrera then ripped a double over the head of Brett Gardner, scoring Tulowitzki to put the Blue Jays up 1-0. Then, the light-hitting backup utility infielder Darwin Barney collected a double of his own, this of the ground ball variety to left that scored both Upton Jr. and Carrera to extend the Toronto lead to three.

Like they have done throughout this recent homestand, the Yankees used the longball to get back into the game against Happ and the Jays. Gary Sanchez continued to stay hot as the newest four-hole hitter in the lineup launched his third homerun in the last 1.1 games. a solo shot to lead off the bottom of the second to make it a 3-1 ballgame. And then in the bottom of the fourth, Starlin Castro took a Happ fastball down the left-field line and just over the fence for his career high 15th blast of the season to inch the Yanks closer at 3-2.

However, the Jays continue to pour it on, using the Yankees poor defense against themselves in the top of the fifth. Josh Donaldson reached base on a fielding error by Gregorius and advanced to third when Chase Headley was unable to complete an inning ending double-play, tossing the ball over first baseman Tyler Austin's head. The next batter Russell Martin then laced a single into right that scored Donaldson and put the Birds back up by two. Melvin Upton Jr. capped off the monster inning when he hit his first homerun as a Blue Jay, an opposite field blast to right that opened the game up to a 7-2 score.

Chase Headley got one of those runs back in the bottom of the sixth, belting another solo shot off the facing of the upper deck in left to make it a 7-3 game.

The Bombers did knock Happ out of the game in the bottom of the eighth as they attempted to come back on their division rivals. Chase Headley hit a one out single to short, which prompted manager Jon Gibbons to pull Happ for Joaquin Benoit. The veteran righty then allowed back to back singles to Gary Sanchez and Aaron Judge, with the latter scoring Headley and moving the Yankees back to within three.

Outside of the three solo shots, J.A. Happ held the Yankees to just seven total hits in 7.1 innings of work. The other four hits were all singles and Happ also struck out nine as he recorded his 17th victory of the season. And this is why that loss was so important last night, because the Yankees had that game won before the rain delay, which would have led to a crucial series win.  They cannot continue to drop games/series against teams that are above them in both playoff races if they expect to play baseball in October.

The Pinstripers head to the airport after the game, embarking on a west coast road trip that begins with a three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, with first pitch scheduled for Friday at 10:05 PM/EST.

Game Thread: New York Yankees vs. Toronto Blue Jays 8/17

Here we go ladies and gentleman, one last time in the Bronx this week between the New York Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays. In the finale of this three game set we will all be treated to a getaway game with another potentially great pitching matchup that includes CC Sabathia taking the rubber for the Yankees while Toronto counters with JA Happ. Watch your left-handed batters Joe Girardi because Happ has a history of hitting and hurting left-handed Yankees in years past. Surely not on purpose but still, history is history. Anyway the game will be played at 1:05 pm ET inside Yankee Stadium and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV.

JA Happ vs. CC Sabathia in another day game I’m going to miss because of work. Why couldn’t I be rich instead of so damn good looking? I kid. Go Yankees! Follow along during the game and all season long by either liking us on Facebook or by giving our Twitter handle @GreedyStripes a follow. Thank you and enjoy the game!

If Miami Wants A-Rod Would They Want Teixeira Also?

One of only a few things could be going on right now when it comes to the whole Miami Marlins and Alex Rodriguez link that was reported on, and ultimately denied by the A-Rod camp since, earlier in the week. Either Miami is looking for a boost in their attendance, merchandise sales and television ratings and will sign anyone and everyone who brings that to them, they are that desperate for production after losing Justin Bour and Giancarlo Stanton or the entire thing is a façade. Let’s pretend that the first option is true regardless and the last option is not true could the Miami Marlins really be that desperate for a first baseman? And if they are do you think they would take on the contract of Mark Teixeira in order to fill that spot?

That’s admittedly not an easy question to answer unfortunately because there are a lot of moving parts in this whole scenario. Mark Teixeira has 10-and-5 rights and a full no trade clause so no deal gets done without his approval and he has never seemingly acted like he wanted to leave New York in the past. Also there is the whole media storm of the Yankees trading away a player just weeks after he announced he would retire at the end of the season, unless of course you spin it and say that he asked for the trade to be closer to family, post-playing career assets, etc. Then there is the whole contract situation and whether Miami could afford to take on the salary unless New York offered to play a chunk or all of it to facilitate the trade.

Gary Sanchez is here and so is Tyler Austin so Teixeira may be willing to waive his NTC if he thinks, or is told… hint hint, that his playing time will be little-to-none for the remainder of the season a la Alex Rodriguez. Also if the Marlins take on all the remaining salary in the deal they can send back a lesser prospect or two in the deal which helps since they have a barren farm system by all accounts and reports. The biggest hang up seems to be simply saving face on any deal. Do the Yankees want to look like the big bad bullies forcing out their “legends” and stars for this youth movement or do they want to continue to let the past and their contracts dictate the playing time and who is on the roster? I’m hoping for the former and not the latter but honestly I just don’t know which way it is going to go.

I’m not saying I want this to happen nor am I saying I think it’s going to happen but what I am saying is it doesn’t hurt to talk to Mark, ask him what he wants and strong arm him if the front office, not myself necessarily, thinks it’s necessary.