Thursday, March 20, 2014

Phelps' quality start pushes Yankees past Red Sox

Thanks to 6 innings of two-run ball from starter David Phelps, a solo home run from Francisco Cervelli, and a two-run single from Ichiro, the Yankees were able to beat the Red Sox tonight in Fort Myers, 3-2. Now overall, I guess Phelps wasn't perfect here, but still, if you take out that last inning he threw a five-inning one-hitter. Not bad for a guy about to become a long reliever. 

Anyway, this W improves the Yanks spring record to 14-9-2 (counting the FSU game), meaning that they are now impressively just two victories away from clinching their first winning preseason since 2009. So yea, I guess they're doing pretty well right now. Let's hope they keep it up. 

New York Yankees @ Boston Red Sox 3/20


The New York Yankees pitching and offense has really turned it around lately which is a great sign as we inch closer to Opening Day. The Yankees have won four straight Grapefruit League games and look to keep the winning ways going today as they travel to play the Boston Red Sox. David Phelps will make the start for the Yankees and Vidal Nuno will likely be the first relief pitcher out of the gate for the New York pen. The game will be televised at 7:05 pm ET on the YES Network, ESPN, and MLB TV. I personally love games under the lights, especially when I miss so many spring games due to working and such, so this is definitely on my television tonight. Enjoy the game Yankees fans!

Here is the Yankees lineup

Ichiro Suzuki CF
Brendan Ryan SS
Eduardo Nunez 3B
Mark Teixeira 1B
Francisco Cervelli C
Scott Sizemore 2B
Yangervis Solarte LF
Zoilo Almonte RF
Zelous Wheeler DH

Jacoby Ellsbury Sent For MRI On Tight Right Calf


The New York Yankees sent Jacoby Ellsbury for a precautionary MRI on his tight right calf after he was scratched from a full workout and batting practice today. Ellsbury has been downplaying the injury saying that he could play if it were the regular season but now I am worried that this may be a little worse than we are being led to believe. Either way the Yankees are sticking to the company line and are hoping to have Ellsbury back in games by the weekend, stay tuned.

Yankees Donate $50,000 To Harlem Explosion Victims


The New York Yankees have been referred to as the Evil Empire by the Boston Red Sox and by ESPN time and time again but still continue to do the right thing. The Yankees have never been shy about donating money when others are in need, see Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sandy for instance, and today the organization donated $50,000 to the victims of the Harlem building bombing. The Red Cross will receive the money that will help with the rebuilding of the building that exploded and took the life of eight people and injured at least 70 more.

The New York City Football Club, an MLS team co-owned by the Yankees, have also donated an additional $15,000 to raise the donation to a big $65,000. So much for an evil empire huh?


New York Yankees Spring Training News & Notes 3/20


Very quiet day as the Yankees play a night game tonight against the Boston Red Sox but here are a few news and notes to keep you busy until game time.

Both Brendan Ryan and Scott Sizemore are back from lower back and tight quad injuries respectively. Ryan has been out of action since March 4 with the lower back/oblique injury and Sizemore has been limited to 10 at bats this spring.

Ivan Nova, Michael Pineda, and Jim Miller are expected to throw early bullpen sessions tomorrow.

Jacoby Ellsbury was listed as a player taking outside batting practice today and was a no show. No word yet on why he skipped outside batting practice but I hope it was just to take it inside instead.

Chad Jennings with the assignments from today:

Today’s second string: C Austin Romine, 1B Jose Gil, 2B Jose Pirela, SS Carmen Angelini, 3B Dean Anna, LF Ben Gamel, CF Antoan Richardson, RF Adonis Garcia, DH John Ryan Murphy
· Today’s scheduled relievers: Matt Daley, Chris Leroux, Yoshinori Tateyama and Fred Lewis (with Branden Pinder, James Pazos, Manny Barreda and Caleb Cotham up from minor league camp just in case the Yankees need them).
· Batting practice groups in Tampa:
Group 1: Carlos Beltran, Jacoby Ellsbury, Brett Gardner, Brian McCann, Alfonso Soriano
Group 2: Russ Canzler, Derek Jeter, Kelly Johnson, Brian Roberts

Ready To Announce A Winner In The Pineda Trade Yet?


Honestly I think this may go on for at least three or four more seasons before we have a true and concise answer to this question but do we have a winner in the Jesus Montero and Hector Noesi for Michael Pineda and Jose Campos trade yet? We had a very lengthy discussion on twitter yesterday afternoon about it and it got me wondering if I am wrong and stubborn or just following the wrong crowd. Have the Yankees not won this trade yet?

The way I see it, and again this is just my opinion, the Yankees got a pitcher for six years of team control that threw in the upper 90's who had proven he could win in the Major Leagues and the American League. The Yankees also got a guy in Campos that easily slotted in as one of their best, if not their best, pitching prospect in all the system. The Mariners got a guy without a position, a home run or strike out bat, a guy with declining and very questionable defense, a guy who was already being called lazy, a guy with a bad attitude, a guy benched for his attitude and work ethic, and a guy who would lose his one redeeming factor, his power, in his new stadium in Montero. Brian Cashman hyped the hell out of Noesi before the trade happened and the Mariners bought into it, whoops.

I realize Pineda came into camp fat and uninterested in 2012 and Campos has been hurt and non existent, I get it, but has Montero not come into camp fat and uninterested? Has Montero given the Mariners much more than the Yankees have gotten out of Pineda? You also have to keep in mind that the Yankees babied Pineda last season and pushed him back, that should not go against Pineda whatsoever. Campos has been injured but still has his entire career ahead of him, as does Pineda, where Noesi is probably cleaning toilets somewhere by now. Montero is delegated to AAA first basemen or DH and cannot even crack an offensively anemic team's 25 man roster, especially desperate for right handed hitting and power hitters, which speaks volumes to me.

The Yankees didn't "rape", a term I have seen thrown around describing a one sided trade, the Mariners and honestly it may still be too early to tell but if history and this spring training is any indicator the Yankees got the better end of this deal. Pineda has a ton of upside and has four years of team control left and the sky is the limit for Campos while Montero will always remember his curtain call at Yankee Stadium and Noesi will bag groceries for a living. I'm kidding obviously, but not by much.

What Could Have Been w/ Alex Rodriguez In 2014


Oh what could have been with Alex Rodriguez had he not been an idiot and take steroids again, or at least get caught doing it. This would, well could have been, a season full of milestones for Alex on his way to the Hall of Fame had he not taken the roids. Oh well, here's the list of what could have been if we had Alex Rodriguez healthy all season long for us down at third base in 2014.

Alex was sitting on 2,939 hits when his 2013 season ended and could have easily gotten his 3,000th hit by the All Star Game in 2014. 100 hits for Alex would have improved his all time ranking from #32 to as high as 23rd all time passing Lou Brock, Rafael Palmeiro, Wade Boggs, Al Kaline, Roberto Clemente, and Frank Robinson to name a few.

Alex came into the 2014 ninth on the all time runs list with 1,919 runs scored. With another 100 runs scored in 2014, which would probably be generous but I am willing to be generous with a revamped offense in New York, Alex would finish somewhere around the 2,020 plateau in runs. 2,020 runs would put him eight on the list passing Stan Musial on the list and within striking distance of Willie Mays for seventh.

81 runs gets him to 2,000 runs scored in his career.

Alex is currently fifth on the all time list in RBI's with 1,969 for his career as of the end of the 2013 season. Give Alex 80 RBI's for the 2014 season and he would have 2,049 runs batted in for his career. An extra 80 RBI's is good for  third on the all time list passing home run king Barry Bonds and Lou Gehrig.

31 RBI's obviously gets him to 2,000 in his career.


Alex is currently 47th on the all time doubles list with 519 for his career. Alex is slowing down so adding 20 to that, which granted may be generous but we are banking on full and healthy 2014 seasons, would sit him at the 32nd spot and 539 doubles. 539 doubles passes the likes of Johnny Damon, Willie Mays, Ken Griffey Jr, Ted Williams, Frank Robinson, and Lou Gehrig.

We all know about Alex's chase of the All Time home run list, a list that he currently sits fifth at with 654 home runs in his career. Alex would probably be good for 20 home runs if healthy in 2014 which would net him a career 674 home runs, a fourth place slot on the list, and a cool $6 million in salary for passing Willie Mays on the all time list.

Alex is sixth all time in extra base hits with 1,203 extra base hits in his career. Unless Alex went crazy and collected the 120 extra base hits in 2014 needed to catch Willie Mays for fifth all time I think that spot would be safe.

If Alex could have played in 82 games for the Yankees he would have passed Robinson Cano on the All Time Yankees list, which is always nice after he bolted for Seattle.

Alex Rodriguez is second on the active all time list in games played trailing only teammate Derek Jeter. Somewhere around 140 games this season would put him at an even 2700 games played for his career and allow him to jump from 46th all time to a tie at #28 with Graig Nettles.

Alex has a career .299 batting average that, with a good season, could see him ending his career with a  career .300 batting average which is always nice.


It's too bad Alex will not play this season and would not play without the suspicion of being clean or not because this would be a season to watch for all Yankees fans, especially Alex Rodriguez fans.

Yankee Stadium Legacy: #11 Bill Dickey


Bill Dickey was not only a reliable catcher for the New York Yankees during the 1930's but was also a very sharp hitter. Dickey  had a career .313 average in 17 seasons with the Bronx Bombers even though he was consistently behind the plate for the Yankees, catching in over 100 games in 13 straight seasons. Dickey also knew how to get the most out of his pitching staff which made him extremely successful with the Yankees.

11 days until Yankees Opening Day.

Quick Hit: The Decision To Make Ivan Nova #3 Starter


The decision to make Ivan Nova the third starter in the Yankees rotation, which is not entirely set in stone this early but still, may turn out to be the best decision New York ever made. Nova was brilliant again yesterday afternoon against the Atlanta Braves, and that was against their real lineup basically and not a bunch of guys you have never heard of. Nova pitched 6.1 shutout innings and is striking out more than 10 batter per nine innings. I realize that this is just spring training but if you can't do it in spring when you are supposed to how do you expect to do it during the regular season when the games actually count, right?

With a successful Ivan Nova you can really ease Masahiro Tanaka into the transition from Japan to the United States and not give him the baptism of fire that so many others have received. If the decision does not work out with an off day or a rain out you could easily make the switch back, no big deal, so this seems like a win win situation for the Yankees and a smart one, for once.

This Day In New York Yankees History 3/20


On this day in 1958 the Phillies purchased Joe Collins from the New York Yankees after Collins had spent his entire ten season career in pinstripes. Collins, rather than report to the Phillies, decided to retire and finish his career with seven World Series appearances and a .256 lifetime batting average. Good for him, Yankee or bust.


On this day in 1961 the New York Yankees announced the team will oppose any plans that would enable the new National League expansion team from New York, later to be called the New York Mets, from using Yankee Stadium. The decision leaves the Polo Grounds as the only viable option for the new team until Shea Stadium was built.