Friday, October 25, 2013

Damon Oppenheimer Will Not Be Replaced


Early in the offseason for the Yankees Hal Steinbrenner and company sat down to discuss a plethora of things, namely the Yankees farm systems and lack of impact talent to come out of it lately. Almost immediately the speculation on whose heads were ready to roll and Damon Oppenheimer was one of the initial names released but Oppenheimer seems to be coming back for 2014.

According to Mark Feinsand of the Daily News the 50 year old Oppenheimer will keep his job as the teams amateur scout director until his contract expires at the end of this season. If the Yankees had not had the third best draft this season according to Baseball America I believe this post could have been written in a totally different direction but the Yankees seem to be willing to let Oppenheimer have one more shot at it.

Yankees Have Lost Don Wakamatsu


The New York Yankees have lost one of their pro scouts in Don Wakamatsu as the Kansas City Royals hired him today to be their Major League bench coach. Wakamatsu will also fill in the role as a special instructor for catchers for the Royals next season. Honestly I did not expect to have Wakamatsu in the organization more than a season anyway because of his past managerial experience with the Seattle Mariners but I expected him to get a managerial job, not a bench job. Oh well good luck to Don in all of his future baseball endeavors.

Robinson Cano Spending Money Like He Is Jay Z


Robinson Cano spent his 31st birthday in Belgium with his agent Jay Z. Jay threw a party for his soon to be very well paid Yankees superstar. Cano posted some pictures on instagram that are sure to make some people jealous as Cano and Jay were drinking gold bottles of some sort of alcohol all night long. Here is the photo proof...

This stuff is so expensive I don't even know what it is, and I have expensive taste. 


S. Carter gold watch, it's ugly but I'd still roc it (see what I did there).


A year's worth of my salary down the toilet... literally... eventually.





Cano The Only Yankee Named As Gold Glove Finalist


Robinson Cano was named as a finalists for a Gold Glove award today and was the only Yankees player to make the list. Three finalists for each position were named today from Rawlings baseball and Cano tops the list for second basemen.

Here is the entire list for the American League and as you can see there are a lot of Tampa Bay Rays represented with their entire infield present. Also two of the three outfielders from the Boston Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles, Kansas City Royals, and Oakland Athletics were represented as well. Obviously that leaves no room for Brett Gardner who was probably a better candidate then Adam Jones but what do I know right?

Here is the list:

AMERICAN LEAGUE
PosPlayer2013 Team
PMark BuehrleToronto Blue Jays™
R.A. DickeyToronto Blue Jays™
Doug FisterDetroit Tigers™

C

Joe Mauer

Minnesota Twins™
Salvador PerezKansas City Royals™
Matt WietersBaltimore Orioles™

1B

Chris Davis

Baltimore Orioles™
Eric HosmerKansas City Royals™
James LoneyTampa Bay Rays™

2B

Robinson Cano

New York Yankees™
Dustin PedroiaBoston Red Sox™
Ben ZobristTampa Bay Rays™

3B

Adrian Beltre

Texas Rangers™
Evan LongoriaTampa Bay Rays™
Manny MachadoBaltimore Orioles™

SS

Alcides Escobar

Kansas City Royals™
Yunel EscobarTampa Bay Rays™
J.J. HardyBaltimore Orioles™

LF

Yoenis Cespedes

Oakland Athletics™
Andy DirksDetroit Tigers™
Alex GordonKansas City Royals™

CF

Lorenzo Cain

Kansas City Royals™
Jacoby EllsburyBoston Red Sox™
Adam JonesBaltimore Orioles™

RF

Nick Markakis

Baltimore Orioles™
Josh ReddickOakland Athletics™
Shane VictorinoBoston Red Sox™

What To Expect From Mark Teixeira In 2014


What should the New York Yankees expect from Mark Teixeira in 2014 after his surgery to repair his wrist injury that he suffered in the World Baseball Classic? That question may be easier to answer then you think, in a perfect world anyway, as we look at another slugger who recently had a similar incident. Jose Bautista had the same exact injury, tried the same exact rehab and avoid surgery ploy, failed, and ended up having season ending surgery. How Bautista came back in 2013 after his 2012 surgery may be an indicator of what to expect from Mark Teixeira in 2014 after his season ending surgery.


Bautista saw a triple slash of .241/.358/.527 in 2012 improve to a .258/.358/.498 in 2013 with a 0.030 drop in OPS and a six point drop in OPS+. Bautista only played in 92 games in 2012 but saw playing time in 118 games in 2013 and was an All Star in both seasons. Bautista's power numbers, although his slugging was down from a year ago, remained the same or improved as Joey bats hits 27 home runs in 2012 and hit 28 home runs  this season for the Blue Jays. Bautista also hit 10 more doubles, 24, in 2013 then he did when he hit 14 in 2012. Bautista's walk, strike out, RBI, hits, and all other offense statistics were right in line or a tick below with his last three or four years when you use a 162 game average. Long story short here is Bautista did not see a step back in his offensive numbers after having the surgery and we should logically be able to expect the same for Teixeira.


The defense though is what makes Teixeira's mega salary almost bearable as he ages and is an important factor in the health of his wrist going forward. Bautista is a right fielder and does not get nearly the same amount of chances with the bat as a first basemen would but we will still try to look at the stats to see if we should be worried. While Bautista had a slight increase in errors the three more fielding miscues in right field in 26 more games does not concern me much as Bautista still only finished with five errors in the outfield last season. His assists were down but I cannot see any feasible or realistic way that relates to the wrist health or anything like that so again, long story short, Bautista was the same man that he always was in the field as well after having a major wrist surgery.


Now obviously this is all on paper and in a perfect world. This does not factor in rolling over a wrist, take an awkward swing, hit by pitches, or any other anomaly. This is based on a healthy and productive season for Mark and being able to do everything 100%. Based on the findings though I think the Yankees should be cautious, get some depth, but in the end be optimistic with the future of their first basemen.

Watch The Yankees Turn A Triple Play... Again


Remember the Yankees turning a triple play in 2013? Well just in case you don't here it is again for this Friday. For those keeping score at home it was the first 4-6-5-6-5-3-4 triple play in Major League history.

This Day In New York Yankees History 10/25


On this day in 1939 Joe DiMaggio would win his first MVP award of his career. DiMaggio beat out Jimmy Foxx and Bob Feller easily for the American League award with 15 of the 24 first place votes. DiMaggio would also win the award in 1941 and 1947 as well.


On this day in 2000 Mike Piazza, yes I know a member of the Mets, became the first player in World Series history to hit a home run in both Shea Stadium and Yankees Stadium. Piazza hit the home run off of Yankees starter Denny Neagle in a 3-2 loss in Game 4.


On this day in 2009 the Yankees would win their 40th American League pennant in their storied history with a victory over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. This will end a six year drought in the World Series for the Yankees as they would take on the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2009 Fall Classic. This would be the Yankees first World Series win since their victory over the Mets in the 2000 Subway World Series.