Sunday, October 26, 2014

Oscar Taveras Killed In Car Accident


Oscar Taveras, who made his MLB debut this season as an outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals, died in a car accident. His girlfriend was with him, and she too passed away.

While he struggled in his first season, Taveras was ranked as the 3rd best prospect in baseball by Baseball America, MLB.com, and Baseball Prospectus. I'm sure the 22 year-old had many great years ahead of him in baseball.

We here at The Greedy Pinstripes are deeply saddened by this loss, and pass on our condolences to all those affected by this tragedy.

ESPN New York's Pros and Cons of Signing Max Scherzer


Scherzer, 30, is coming a nice 2014 in which he went 18-5 with a 3.15 ERA. After winning the Cy Young the season before, interestingly, he rejected a $144 million offer to stay with the Tigers, a fact that will likely come back to hurt him this winter if he doesn't get his asking price.

"With a healthy Masahiro Tanaka and Michael Pineda, adding Scherzer might make the Yankees the favorites in the AL East," Marchand's pros read. "Yes, he will command a big salary, but if the Yankees want to make the postseason next year, it might be a check they have to right."

As for his cons, Marchand mentioned Scherzer's rising age and the possibility that the Yankees may not be willing to give him the length he wants. Remember, when CC Sabathia was signed back in 2008 he was just 28, but has already lost velocity on his fastball.

"Scherzer will likely want seven years, which would take him into his mid-30s," he wrote. "Unlike Lester, who was traded this season, Scherzer would cost the Yankees a first-round pick."

Basically, the Yankees will have to give up a lot if they want to acquire him. Nonetheless, at the end of his piece Marchand opined that the Yankees should pursue Scherzer, citing their lack of a reliable 2015 pitching staff and the fact they'd likely dominate with him as reasons.

Let's See How Many Swings Will Be Ruined by Kevin Long


Just a quick look at the New York Mets depth chart and starting squad so we can see how many swings will be ruined by new hitting coach Kevin Long.

Curtis Granderson
David Wright
Travis d'Arnaud
Lucas Duda
Daniel Murphy
Wilmer Flores
Dilson Herrera
Juan Lagares
Matt den Dekker

This post had a lot of sarcasm behind it, unfortunately the Mets will probably lead all of Major League Baseball in hitting for a season or two while the New York Yankees continue to struggle. That's baseball and you can't predict it.

Should New York Be Interested in John Axford?


John Axford was designated for assignment over the weekend and is now a free agent to be had by any team this winter. Axford was originally signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent during the 2006 season and could be on his way back to where his major league career all began. First and foremost let's take a look at Axford's career stats as a relief pitcher because they truly tell the story.

Year Age Tm W L ERA G GF SV IP H R ER HR BB SO HBP ERA+ FIP WHIP H9 HR9 BB9 SO9
2009 26 MIL 0 0 3.52 7 6 1 7.2 5 3 3 0 6 9 0 122 3.10 1.435 5.9 0.0 7.0 10.6
2010 27 MIL 8 2 2.48 50 43 24 58.0 42 17 16 1 27 76 1 163 2.13 1.190 6.5 0.2 4.2 11.8
2011 28 MIL 2 2 1.95 74 63 46 73.2 59 19 16 4 25 86 0 202 2.41 1.140 7.2 0.5 3.1 10.5
2012 29 MIL 5 8 4.67 75 54 35 69.1 61 42 36 10 39 93 2 88 4.06 1.442 7.9 1.3 5.1 12.1
2013 30 TOT 7 7 4.02 75 16 0 65.0 73 32 29 10 26 65 2 97 4.34 1.523 10.1 1.4 3.6 9.0
2013 30 MIL 6 7 4.45 62 13 0 54.2 62 29 27 10 23 54 1 87 4.77 1.555 10.2 1.6 3.8 8.9
2013 30 STL 1 0 1.74 13 3 0 10.1 11 3 2 0 3 11 1 223 2.08 1.355 9.6 0.0 2.6 9.6
2014 31 TOT 2 4 3.95 62 28 10 54.2 43 26 24 6 36 63 2 94 4.34 1.445 7.1 1.0 5.9 10.4
2014 31 CLE 2 3 3.92 49 24 10 43.2 34 21 19 6 30 51 1 96 4.71 1.466 7.0 1.2 6.2 10.5
2014 31 PIT 0 1 4.09 13 4 0 11.0 9 5 5 0 6 12 1 90 2.86 1.364 7.4 0.0 4.9 9.8
162 Game Avg. 5 5 3.40 68 42 23 65 56 28 25 6 32 78 1 117 3.43 1.346 7.8 0.8 4.4 10.7
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table


As you can see Axford has had trouble with his command and his control and averages 4.4 walks per nine innings in his career. Axford makes up for that by missing a ton of bats with a 10.7 K/9 ratio which would fit well into the Yankees bullpen. Axford is far removed from his glory days in the Milwaukee bullpen in 2010, 2011, and 2012  but at this point would be no better than Shawn Kelley or Adam Warren. If the deal came on the cheap I would invest in Axford for the 7th inning and if not I may have to pass, the WHIP, ERA, and walk totals really scare me. 

Rob Manfred Expects Domestic Violence Policy By 2015


The new commissioner of Major League Baseball Rob Manfred is doing something that neither the NBA nor NFL are doing, being proactive about domestic violence. Manfred expects there to be a policy in place written into the Collective Bargaining Agreement before the beginning of the 2015 season regarding domestic violence by the players representing MLB. Good for Manfred and great news that MLB seems to be the new morale police in the sports world, and that may sound sarcastic but I assure you that it’s not.

Manfred claims that negotiations are already underway between the players union and the league on a new domestic violence policy and expects the policy to be in place before the start of next season. Manfred has been quoted as saying “the tones have been very positive” by USAToday.com and assures the fans that they will take their time and get it right rather than simply put something out there for the sake of putting something in place.

They may not admit to this but this policy has to be reactionary from the NFL and Ray Rice situation that happened this offseason. Rice struck his wife in an elevator and the entire thing was caught on camera. The NHL also suspended Los Angeles Kings defenseman Slava Voynov indefinitely after he was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence even without being formally charged with anything. Sports are cracking down on domestic violence and all I have to say is that it’s sad it has come to this but it is about damn time that it gets done.


A big thank you goes out to Commissioner Manfred, the players union, and everyone involved in the process that are keeping the players’ families, wives, and children safe. 

TGP Daily Poll: Yankees Need a Hitting Coach


The New York Yankees need a hitting coach and all the good ones are being snatched up. New York will hire one before the end of the World Series.

Vote in our poll!

This Day In New York Yankees History 10/26: Zimmer Retires


On this day in 2003 Yankees bench coach Don Zimmer resigns from the position. The reason given was George Steinbrenner, which is enough said in that department no? Zimmer would join the Tampa Bay Rays as a Senior Baseball Adviser for the 2004 season.

Joe Torre would become the fifth manager in World Series history to win four World Series championships on this day in 2000 as well joining Casey Stengel (7), Joe McCarthy (7), Connie Mack (5), and Walter Alston(4). The Yankees would win their fourth World Series in five seasons on this day when they beat the Mets 4-2. This would be the Yankees 26th championship in their storied history. Luis Sojo had a ninth inning two out hit off Mets pitcher and former Yankee Al Leiter to win the series after Mariano Rivera closed the door. On this day in 2000 Derek Jeter became the first player to ever win the All Star Game MVP and the World Series MVP in the same season. Jeter finished the World Series with a .409 average and had nine hits including two doubles, a triple, and two home runs. The Yankees beat the Mets in the Subway World Series in five games.

On this day in 1999 Chad Curtis hit a home run leading off the 10th inning in Game 3 of the World Series with the Atlanta Braves. The Yankees would take a commanding 3-0 lead and would finish off the sweep the next day. Curtis would become only the 11th player in World Series history to end a game with a home run.

On this day in 1996 the Commissioner's Trophy finally came back to where it belongs in the Bronx for the first time since the 1978 season as the Yankees beat the Braves in Game 6 to capture the title. This will be the first of four titles in five years under Joe Torre and the Cour Four.

On this day in 1950 Phil Rizzuto would win the American League MVP as a member of the New York Yankees. Scooter would take home 16 of the 23 first place votes beating out Boston's Billy Goodman for the award. Just as an FYI on what stat line got you the MVP award back in 1950 Rizzuto finished the season with a .324 batting average with seven home runs and 66 RBI's.