A Bad Week For Former Yankees

This has been a bad week for former New York Yankees players. After the trade deadline a flurry of roster moves were made around the league and some former Yankees felt the brute of them. Let us take a look around the league at some former Yankees.

It all started when the Rays designated for assignment and then released Hideki Matsui. Matsui, as you all remember, was the 2009 World Series MVP and Yankees fan favorite.

Johnny Damon was also designated for assignment by the Cleveland Indians very far away from 3000 hits. After hitting a lackluster .222 I do not see him getting there.

Randy Choate was acquired by the Dodgers in the deal with the Marlins that brought Hanley Ramirez over to Los Angeles and in his first appearance got lit up for a home run and a couple of hits in a Dodgers loss to Arizona  on August 1st.

The Dodgers, to make room for newly acquired Shane Victorino, designated Bobby Abreu for assignment. This is the second time this year he has been DFA'd.

Mariners @ Yankees 8/4/12

Yankees lose 1-0

This afternoon the Yankees host the Mariners for the second game in a three game set at Yankees Stadium. On the mound for the Yankees will be Hiroki Kuroda and will be facing off against Yankee killer (and ARod  killer apparently ) King Felix Hernandez. The game will be televised at 1:05 pm ET on YES and on MLB Network.

Lineups

Go Yanks!!

Mariners @ Yankees 8/3/12

Yankees win 6-3

Seattle.... Again?

Tonight the Yankees face off against the Seattle Mariners in the first game of a three game set at Yankees Stadium. On the mound for the Yankees will be CC Sabathia and opposing him will be Kevin Millwood. The game will be televised at 7:05 pm ET on YES and MLB Network

Lineups

1. Granderson CF
2. Jeter SS
3. Cano 2B
4. Teixeira 1B
5. Ibanez DH
6. Swisher RF
7. Chavez 3B
8. Suzuki LF
9. Martin C

Go Yanks!!

Casey McGehee The 2009 Version Of Eric Hinske?

Let us forget the whole part about Eric Hinske going to the World Series for so many consecutive seasons and their obvious differences in position and look at how similar that these two players are. I think we all can agree that Eric Hinske , a role player, was an integral part to the Yankees winning the World Series in 2009 but will we see a repeat with McGehee? Let us take a look...

I, for obvious reasons, am going to compare Hinske's 2009 season to McGehee's 2012 season. Hinske was a part time player at this point in his career where McGehee has been a "full time" player in Milwaukee. With that said let us look at the stats.

• At this point in the season, before the Yankees game started against the Mariners on Friday 8/3/12, both players have played 93 games each. 

• Eric Hinkse at this point had a total of 8 home runs.. the same amount as Casey McGehee through his 93 games.

• Hinkse had 25 rbi's through 93 games and McGehee has 36 rbi's.

• Eric Hinske was barely over the mendoza line but had 100 points higher on his OBP then his BA which means he was drawing his walks. McGehee does not tear the cover off the ball by any means with a .228 AVG but he has a OBP that is 71 points higher which means he also can take a walk when he needs to.

• Both players had exactly a 0.6 WAR through 93 games.

• The Yankees love extra base hits, especially home runs, and both players had nearly identical double numbers with 13 for Hinske and 12 for McGehee. 

• Neither players are slouches in the field. While McGehee only has 2 more errors then Hinske did in 2009 that is only because Hinkse did not have a single error in 2009. 

• Just for fun Hinske was 31 years old when we acquired him (and turned 32 later in 2009) and Casey McGehee is currently 30 years old and will be 31 this year.

Do these stats mean anything? Probably not. I really just posted them for fun but it is kind of scary just how similar these two players in two different situation are. If it gets us a World Series ring then that is even better.

DDFA - Damon Designated For Assignment

For all those Yankees fans that clamored for the return of Johnny Damon, via MLBTradeRumors...

The Indians announced that they designated Johnny Damon for assignment. The move creates 25-man roster space for outfielder Ezequiel Carrera, who has been recalled from Triple-A Columbus. 

Damon signed a minor league deal with the Indians in April after an extended stint on the free agent market. The 38-year-old didn't provide much offense, hitting just .222/.281/.329 with four home runs in 224 plate appearances as a left fielder and designated hitter. Damon now has 2769 hits, 235 home runs and 408 stolen bases in his 18-year career. He ranks in the top 50 all-time in runs scored (1668, 31st) and doubles (522, 41st). 

So Damon isn't good enough to finish out the season with the Cleveland Indians, the same team that has a record of 50-55 and 7.5 games in back of 1st place Chicago, but he would have been a better choice for the Yanks than Raul Ibanez? *clearing my throat* HA!

Okay, the Indians aren't going anywhere, so it makes sense to clear room in order to bring up a prospect that could contribute to the team in the future. You know, "the future", when perhaps the Indians will compete for something. Carrera is hitting .294/.345/.419 with 26 stolen bases for AAA Columbus, so they have a solid regular there.

But I couldn't pass up a chance to rub it in that I wanted Ibanez over Damon. Although leaving Cleveland is probably a good thing, as this could be the next thing Johnny sees...

Mason Williams Out For Season

Mason Williams has a tear in his non throwing labrum in his shoulder and will require surgery. This surgery will end his season. Mason Williams hopes to be ready for spring training next year. The year of the injury continues...

Trade Reactions - Anibal Sanchez

Now tell me why the Tigers are going to win the AL Central.

So far this season the Tigers offense has put up a .326 wOBA, while the White Sox have put up a .321. That's not very far off. If you prefer wRC+ the Tigers are at 103 while the White Sox are at 97, so again... not much of a difference.

Even if you look at what those teams have done with the bats the last 30 days there's little difference. The Tigers wOBA in the past 30 days is at .343, while the White Sox have a 328. What about wRC+, you ask... Tigers - 114, White Sox - 102.

Looking at the run prevention side of the coin though, you start to see where I'm coming from.

Is run prevention "heads" or "tails"?

In 2012 the Tigers' pitching has put up a FIP of 3.81, while the White Sox pitchers have a FIP of 4.15. Even if you try and see if one team has been hotter than the other, the nod goes to Detroit. The Tigers, in the past 30 days, have a FIP of 4.05, while the White Sox are at 4.45.

But what about the run differential? That has to mean something?

Sure it does. The fact that Detroit's is only at +9, while Chicago's is at +61, made it tough for me to pick the Tigers. But I have to believe that a team led by hitters like Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder will do better than a team led by Alex Rios and Paul Konerko.

I'm not saying Konerko isn't a hell of a hitter, as it's more an indictment on what I think Rios can do. Alex's BABIP is kind high at .325, so I can see his stats coming down a bit.

Thankfully his swing is better looking than his shirt.

And when I look at their pitching rotations I tend to trust the trio of Justin Verlander, Doug Fister, and Anibal Sancez, than I do Jake Peavy, Chris Sale, and Jose Qintana.

I'm confused, so where are we at for the postseason so far?

Perhaps if you touch your nose a hundred times a minute the daze will be lifted.

Oh, I'm as confused as anybody, and I'm the guy writing this stuff. Freakin' 2nd wild card team!

So, since the White Sox will beat the Rangers in the wild card round, they will face the Yankees in the division series. Meaning the Tigers will face the Angels in the other AL division series.

Can the Tigers beat the Angels?

Being that it's a 5-game series I think Detroit has a good shot. Justin Verlander will have a chance to get his team 2 wins, while they only need 3 to move on. Meaning either Scherzer will have to beat Wilson, Sanchez will have to beat Greinke, or Fister will have to beat Haren. The problem is that each of those 3 match-ups favor the Angels. And it's not like Jered Weaver can't beat Justin Verlander either, so it's not a given Verlander can get the team 2 wins.

So if I have to pick a winner, I'm going with the Angels.

So this is yet another trade that won't affect the Yanks?

Precisely.

Not even the trade deadline was a bigger waste of time than this film.

Melky Mesa Promoted, Ramiro Pena DFA'd

Melky Mesa has been promoted to AAA Empire State Yankees today. The Yankees released Jack Cust, Colin Curtis, and Ray Kruml so they had an opening in their outfield and Mesa is their guy. He is an all or nothing kind of hitter with excellent power but does is not expected to be much in the majors. Let the speculation begin though about this move having ANYTHING to do with the impending free agency of Yankees RF Nick Swisher.

Recent International Free Agent Adonis Garcia , already 27 years old , has been promoted from Tampa to Trenton to take Mesa's spot. Mesa will have to share the outfield in "Scranton" with Darnell McDonald, Kosuke Fukodome, Ronnier Mustilier, and Chris Dickerson.

In a shocker and a head scratcher the Yankees designated Ramiro Pena for assignment yesterday. I cannot for the life of me understand why this happened, especially less then a month away from expanded rosters and with two of our infielders hurt. This one I do not get.

Trade Reactions - Hunter Pence & Ryan Dempster

"I'm going to make Giants fans forget about Barry Bonds. Stop laughing!"

Should I change my stance on the Dodgers winning the NL West?

No.

With the trades for Ramirez and Victorino, the Dodgers have done enough to win the division regardless of this move by their in-division rivals. I've already run the numbers in the post regarding Hanley on Monday, so there's no reason to go through it all again.

"Seriously?"

So this move means nothing to the Yankees?


Nope.

-----------

Well, since that was a short discussion, I decided to move up my stance on the Ryan Dempster to Texas deal that went down at the last minute on Tuesday. I was originally going to write the Dempster thing for Saturday, but no point in holding that back now.

Are the Rangers still headed for the Wild Card?

In my trade reaction to Zack Greinke going to the LA of A Angels I said the Rangers were looking at the Wild Card. It came down to the Angels having a killer rotation after adding Zack, to go along with an offense that has been hitting pretty well over the last month.

Is it illegal to kidnap baseball players?

The thing I didn't really get into was the Ranger rotation, as I felt it wasn't worth getting into as the Angels now have one of the best rotations in baseball. The Rangers best starter has been Matt Harrison, who sports an ERA of 3.19 and WAR of 3.8. Don't get me wrong... Matt's a really good pitcher. He put up an ERA+ of 129 last season. But a strikeout rate of 5.4 per 9 innings is not the making of a #1 starter to me.

Then there's Yu Darvish, who is a fine pitcher that has an ERA of 4.05 so far in 2012. But seeing that he's had issues with Seattle, who's hit .294/.424/.426 against him in three games this season, it's hard to take him that seriously. I mean, the Mariners have the worst wOBA in the American League (.288). Futher more, the Blue Jays, who are ranked 5th in the AL in team wOBA, were only able to plate 1 run off of 4 hits in 7 innings against Yu back in April. But when they faced Darvish again about a month later, they were able to score 3 runs off of 7 hits in only 5 innings. I'm sure Yu is looking forward to getting out of July too, as he had an ERA of 5.74 and WHIP of 1.425 in it.

The Rangers' probable #4 in the postseason is Derek Holland. Now Derek is a good pitcher, and at 25 years old he will probably get better, but when I see an ERA of 4.74 I can't help but to think "we can hit him". I'm sure I'm not alone in that thought either. Perhaps it's the Bandbox in Arlington that's the issue, where his ERA jumps from 3.40 on the road to 5.94 there. Of course, he won't find Yankee Stadium much more accomodating anyway.

"Derp!"

Which finally brings us to Ryan Dempster. I really don't feel the need to get too deep with him. Sure, he currently has a very nice 2.25 ERA and 1.038 WHIP. But in looking closer at this stats when the Yankees were in talks regarding him, I saw that he also has a BABIP against of .244, which is 61 points lower than his career average of .305. There's just no way he maintains that number. Add to that a Line Drive percentage of 22%, which is in line with his career mark of 21%, and I think he and the Rangers are in for a disappointing rest of the season.

So the Angels are still going to win the AL West?

Yep.

How does this affect the Yankees?

I believe the Yankees will have the best record in the American League, meaning they will face the winner of the Wild Card game. That Wild Card game will be played by the Texas Rangers and the Chicago White Sox, as I see the Tigers winning the AL Central (more on that tomorrow). Now I'd say that the Rangers are better than the White Sox, but in what will be 1 game to decide who goes to the 2nd round, I'm giving the nod to Chicago. Jake Peavy will be the starter for the White Sox in that game, and I think he has what it takes to shut down the potent Texas lineup. He has an ERA of 3.15 so far this year, thanks to a WHIP of 1.06 and batting average against of .229. Even if Jake isn't able to make the start due to injury, or whatever, Chris Sale and his 2.61 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, and .214 BAA is right there.

So with the White Sox moving on, I think it ends up that this trade does nothing to affect our beloved Yankees.

Wise Released, Pena Sent Down

DeWayne Wise refused his AAA assignment and the Yankees had until today to either release him or trade him... so they released him. His bunt and his "catch" will be two of the things we will remember in his short, but very solid, career with the Yankees

Ramiro Pena has been sent back down to AAA Empire State Yankees to make room for newly acquired Casey McGehee. Good Luck Ramiro, see you in September.