Topps to Release Cards Focused on Players Who Overcame Disabilities & Health Problems

I know baseball cards are so 1990’s and earlier but Topps, the leading maker in baseball cards, is doing something that I felt was worth mentioning. Topps is releasing a new set of baseball cards that will feature and showcase ballplayers who have overcome disabilities and health changes on their path to stardom in Major League Baseball. This is quite the gesture, and marketing ploy but stick with me, by Topps and it deserves recognition in my opinion.

The set is to be called “Pride & Perseverance” and was released this week to celebrate the 70^th anniversary of National Disability Employment Awareness Month and also honors the 25^th anniversary of American with Disabilities legislation.

Wendy Lewis, Major League Baseball’s Senior Vice President of Diversity, Inclusion and Strategic Alliances, released a statement praising Topps for the new set and for bringing these players into the limelight once again. Players like Jim Abbot who was born without a right hand but went on to pitch in Major League Baseball and even throw a no-hitter with the New York Yankees after winning a U.S Olympic medal with the countries baseball team in 1988. Players like Curtis Pride who was legally deaf but still went on to play outfield and hit at a Major League level for 13 years with the New York Yankees, Detroit Tiger and others.

Jim Eisenreich will also be honored in the series after battling Tourette’s syndrome alongside Pete Gray, the St. Louis Browns outfielder who lost his arm in a childhood accident, and William Hoy who was born deaf but was still able to play centerfield from 1888 to 1902. There will be current players in the mix as well as the Chicago Cubs ace starting pitcher and first baseman Jon Lester and Anthony Rizzo, both cancer survivors, will be in the pack along with former New York Yankees reliever Buddy Carlyle, who was diagnosed with diabetes. Houston Astros outfielder George Springer, who deals with stuttering on a daily basis, will be in the pack along with Jake Peavy, the San Francisco Giants right-hander, who is legally blind without corrective lenses or contacts.

Well played Topps, you may have just convinced me to get back into buying baseball card sets again. 

Minor League Players Suing Major League Baseball over Wages

Major League Baseball has been without a work stoppage since the 1994 strike that cancelled the World Series and with the current collective bargaining agreement set to expire after the 2016 season all signs point to at least a few more years without a hiccup. Many things could happen between then and now to mess with this safe haven of a workplace that Major League Baseball has become including the fact that a federal judge in California granted condition class certification to minor league baseball players allowing them to sue Major League Baseball teams for failing to pay them minimum wage.

The suit dates back to February of 2014 where players claimed to have to work long hours during the season and perform other duties requires by their MLB bosses in the offseason without what they are calling adequate compensation. U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph C. Spero granted a motion asking the court to certify a proposed Minor League Collective under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Players who will be able to take part in this class action lawsuit will be any minor league player who worked for the MLB or any MLB franchise since February 7, 2011 but did not spend any time in the Major Leagues at the same time.

Minor league players want fair wages for fair pay and I agree with that if they didn’t knowingly sign a contract with the team. I’m glad I’m not the one making this decision because I can see both sides of the equation. Stay tuned I guess. 

Brace Yourselves: The "Masahiro Tanaka Should Have Underwent Tommy John Surgery For No Good Reason" Fans Are Coming...

When news broke that Masahiro Tanaka had a successful, and very routine, elbow surgery this week my mind immediately went to not whether Tanaka would be okay or whether or not he would be ready for Spring Training 2016. No. My mind immediately went to all the garbage, trash and half-truths that I was going to have scattered all over my timeline on Twitter (cheap plug, @GreedyStripes) not only this winter but during the 2016 season as well. Brace yourselves Yankees fans, the group that thinks Tanaka should go ahead and get an unnecessary and potentially career threatening surgery just to make them stop criticizing every pitch he throws and to make them sleep better at night are coming and they are coming in full force.

Many fans will ignore the fact that the Yankees organization stated that the bone spur that Tanaka had removed and cleaned up from his elbow stemmed back from his time pitching in Japan. The bone spur had nothing to do with his partially torn ligament in his elbow that five Tommy John specialist doctors recommended to rest and rehab. The spur is a routine surgery much like Carlos Beltran had before the 2015 season and requires six weeks of rest and rehab before beginning a throwing program. Tanaka will be ready for 2016 and will be fine in 2016, hell he may even be better in 2016. We all saw how much a bone spur affected Beltran at the plate in 2014 imagine what it could do to a pitcher throwing 100+ pitches every fifth or sixth day.

Isn’t October, 23 2015 a little early to be saying that the 2016 season is already over?

I just want to throw this out there, it’s not completely unprecedented for a pitcher to rest and rehab a tear in his UCL that is less than 10%. Ervin Santana did the same thing and never had the surgery to this day while Adam Wainwright pitched for years, longer than Tanaka’s current contract with the New York Yankees, before having the surgery. Another thing is you don’t see an increase in velocity, which Tanaka did in 2015, and you don’t increase your use of breaking stuff and splitters, which Tanaka also did in 2015, if your elbow is a concern or bothering you. Tanaka does not need a surgery that could end his career, and yes even today it is ending the careers of many even with such a high success rate, until and/or unless it is absolutely 100% necessary. The bone spur didn’t cause the tear in the UCL, the surgery to repair the bone spur is not due to the tear in the UCL and it has no bearing whatsoever on the tear (that may not even be there anymore for all we know) in the UCL.

Yankees fans, chill. As much as you don’t want to admit it the Yankees know what they are doing. 

2016 Yankees Arbitration Salary Predictions

Sergio Santos

2015 Salary - $750K million

MLBTR Prediction - $900K

My Prediction - $750K million (recovering from Tommy John surgery)

Andrew Bailey

2015 Salary - $525K

MLBTR Prediction - $900K

My Prediction - $1 million 

Ivan Nova

2015 Salary - $3.3 million

MLBTR Prediction - $4.4 million

My Prediction - $3.8 million 

Michael Pineda

2015 Salary - $2.1 million

MLBTR Prediction - $4.6 million

My Prediction - $5 million 

Dustin Ackley

2015 Salary - $2.6 million

MLBTR Prediction - $3.1 million

My Prediction - $3.5 million 

Nathan Eovaldi

2015 Salary - $3.3 million

MLBTR Prediction - $5.7 million

My Prediction - $6 million 

Adam Warren

2015 Salary - $572K

MLBTR Prediction - $1.5 million

My Prediction - $1.5 million 

Justin Wilson

2015 Salary - $556K

MLBTR Prediction - $1.3 million

My Prediction - $1.5 million 

Didi Gregorius

2015 Salary - $554K

MLBTR Prediction - $2.1 million

My Prediction - $2.5 million 

Don Mattingly, It’s Time to Come on Home

Don Mattingly and the Los Angeles Dodgers have mutually agreed that Mattingly would not be the manager of the team in 2016. In the world of political correctness, a world that I have grown up in, I think we all know that means Mattingly got fired yesterday. They may not want to say that in order to shield the organization from the backlash that is sure to come from the fans and the media but let’s call a spade a spade, Mattingly got canned because he led the team to three straight National League West Division Championships and did not deliver a World Series title in that span despite the team’s payroll exceeding $300 million (including luxury tax penalties) this season.

Don, I’m speaking directly to you here, it is time to come on home. I know the hitting coach for the New York Yankees is probably not the most prestigious job in the world and it’s absolutely a step in the wrong direction but I can guarantee you this, NO ONE (fan base wise) is going to appreciate you more than the fans of the New York Yankees. And, just as an FYI in case you’re worried about job security and having to up and move yet again in a few years, Joe Girardi has managed teams with huge payrolls to the postseason just four times in his six seasons since the 2009 World Series championship. You’re safe here, you’re needed here and most importantly you’re wanted here.

Right a wrong, a wrong made by the organization, and come on home Donnie. We miss you. 

Happy Joe Carter Day in Toronto? Maybe Soon

This also happened on this day in Major League history.... notice no bat flip here though. 

This Day in New York Yankees History 10/23: Enter Bob Watson

Watch the entire Game 3 of the 1996 World Series right here for FREE. Click above. 

On this day in 1996 David Cone shut down the Atlanta Braves in Game 3 of the 1996 World Series with the Yankees down two games to none. This would be the first of 14 consecutive World Series games victories for the Yankees before the New York Mets ended the streak in the 2000 Subway World Series.


Also on this day in 1995 the Yankees hired a new GM, replacing Gene Michael, in former Astros GM Bob Watson. Watson would only last two years in the Bronx before the Brian Cashman regime started after being upset with the "chain of command" in the Yankees organization, I think that probably means George Steinbrenner. Watson would be the GM when the Yankees would win their first World Series in 1978 when they were crowned the 1996 champions.

Interesting Mickey Mantle Injury Picture

Mickey Mantle was a man known for his towering home run and his World Series resume but should he have been known more so for his injuries? Maybe so... Have a good evening Yankees family.

The Inevitable “Stephen Strasburg to the Yankees” Blog Post

The Washington Nationals made a bit of news this week when the team announced that they would at least be willing to listen to offers on right-handed starting pitcher Stephen Strasburg. Strasburg, a former first overall pick in the MLB Draft, was supposed to be the future and the ace of the Washington Nationals staff but inconsistencies and injuries have forced him closer to mediocre than the God status he was expected to garner inside Nationals Park. With just one year left on his current deal the Nationals may be looking to get whatever they can out of him in a trade so you knew this post was coming, should the New York Yankees be interested?

When I first heard the news I was ecstatic. This seems like the type of deal that Brian Cashman pulls off recently. Cashman stays away from the high priced free agents, pitching wise anyway, and has either built his rotation from within, from Japan or via trade. The first thing that popped into my head when it was announced that Strasburg was said to be available was a similar deal to the deal that brought Nathan Eovaldi to the Bronx. Obviously there would probably need to be better pieces than David Phelps and Martin Prado, whether Strasburg is worth more than Eovaldi with all that team control and 100 MPH fastball or not, but a similar deal nonetheless with Major League talent heading to and from both clubs in the deal. Then I started to do my research.

Strasburg is an injury concern, no one can deny that, and we haven’t been able to see his true potential because of it. Those injury concerns, mixed in with the fact that he will be a free agent at the end of the 2016 season, would likely keep the price for Strasburg down, but only by a little. Washington would still likely command a substantial haul for him, especially after the Tigers snatched the Blue Jays top prospect and others for half a season of David Price. If we’re talking Gary Sanchez and filler for Strasburg then you make the deal, anything more I might not be so sure. The only saving grace for the Yankees would be that they could offer him a qualifying offer at the end of the season since he wasn’t traded during the middle of the season and recoup some of that prospect package back in the 2017 MLB Draft.

Strasburg has missed close to two years of games due to injury in his career, obviously much of that coming from his Tommy John surgery, which has seriously affected his career pitching line. His regular season numbers are straddling the mediocre line and his postseason numbers are worse than that but one thing is important here, his age. Strasburg is just 27-years old and has plenty of time to figure it out, he just has to have the coaching and has to put the work in. Larry Rothschild is the coach, I just worry about whether he will be worth it even if he puts the work in. I’m on the fence, and of course it depends on the deal, but at the end of the day I think I may still want him wearing Yankees pinstripes on Opening Day 2016.

What About Ian Desmond?

You guys know me by now and know where I have stood on the Yankees second base situation for the past two seasons now, I believe the job belongs to Robert Refsnyder. Refsnyder, when given the opportunity, has done nothing but hit the ball and improve defensively in his time with the Yankees yet the team continued to give the bulk of the playing time to Stephen Drew, Brendan Ryan and Dustin Ackley. The talk for the 2016 season, however premature, if that Ackley and Refsnyder will platoon at second base to begin the season if Yankees GM Brian Cashman doesn’t bring in an alternative at the position, could that alternative be Ian Desmond?

Desmond struggled mightily for the Washington Nationals in 2015 but honestly outside of Bryce Harper, who didn’t? The team was hit by the injury bug harder than any team in the league and just had a down year overall as a collective unit. While I don’t feel like their manager Matt Williams was to blame I can’t say anything for sure since I am not in the clubhouse. If Williams was the issue then you should expect a resurgence from the team and its players in 2016, including free agent shortstop Desmond.

Desmond is a right-handed shortstop that could be moved to second base to fill the 2016 position that Stephen Drew was meant to fill in 2015. Desmond could play second base for the most part while acting as a suitable backup at shortstop and third base whenever needed. Desmond would add power and versatility to a team that is desperately needing both heading into the 2016 season and would likely come “at a bargain” considering the back of his baseball card. It seems unlikely that he would come back to Washington in 2016 and it seems even less likely that the team would risk extending him a qualifying offer meaning Desmond could be had for salary alone and would not come attached to any sort of draft pick compensation.

It’s hard to find an offensively productive everyday shortstop and if the Yankees signed Desmond to a relatively small pillow type contract to rebuild his value at second base then I would honestly have to be all for it. I want Refsnyder to get the job, everyone knows that by now, but I am coming to terms with the fact that the team does not think as highly about him as I do, and that’s okay. If the team fills the position with a player that makes sense then it’s hard to argue the logic, even if it is a 30-year old shortstop who struggled in 2015.