Friday, August 3, 2012

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.