Saturday, December 6, 2014

Nik Turley Signs w/ San Francisco

Nik Turley pitching for the Staten Island Yankees in 2010 (Robert M Pimpsner)



Nik Turley was not tendered a contract from the New York Yankees after being designated for assignment and assigned off the 40 man roster this past spring training and is now a member of the San Francisco Giants. Turley battled an arm injury in 2014 which led to the DFA before returning for 14 games while posting a 4.62 ERA.

Turley is headed to the Giants Triple-A squad after signing a minor league deal and will look to get back the extreme control that made him so attractive to the Yankees. Turley will not blow you away with his 90 MPH average fastball but he can spot an above average curveball and changeup about anywhere he wants to any time he wants to.

Good luck Nik, we hate to lose you in the organization but we wish you nothing but the best of luck in SF!

Update on the BYB Hub


From time to time we get one here and remind you guys about and update you on the BYB Hub, we haven't done one in a while so let's get to it. What is the BYB Hub? The Hub was thought of and created by the owner of Bleeding Yankee Blue (BYB) Robert Casey as a way to get everyone views and help with the hardest part of starting out, getting recognition. The Hub won't list sites like RAB, Lohud, Pinstripe Alley etc. because those guys get their views and they have their following and their readership. The Hub was designed to get the second tier and below the recognition they need and the recognition they deserve.

I respected the hell out of Mr. Casey before this and I really respect the hell out of him now for this. Not because we are listed there and it definitely helps us get views but because the Hub will list a blog that's only a month old and that has one post on it. Casey has a following and the readership to be right up there with the "gorilla's" of the Yankees blogosphere but rather than ignore your mentions and tweets on Twitter he wants to help you.

Anyway, I'm rambling now and not updating you on the hub like I said I would. Currently the Hub showcases 16 blogs that I try and read daily including The Greedy Pinstripes. There are plenty of talented writers out there and plenty of opinions to agree with, disagree with or garner ideas from.So check out the BYB Hub by clicking HERE and if you're interested in joining the Hub as an up and coming blogger follow and contact Mr. Casey on twitter HERE. 

Yankees Hire Marcus Thames to be Assistant Hitting Coach


The New York Yankees may be one step closer to catching up with the rest of the league and one step closer to actually having a hitting coach in place for the 2015 season. The Yankees signed Double-A Trenton Thunder hitting coach and former Yankees player Marcus Thames to be their assistant hitting coach. New York does not have a hitting coach in place but Bill Madden and Anthony McCarron of the NY Daily News predict that the team will sign minor league hitting coordinator James Rowson to fill the position.

Thames is just 37 years old and has been retired as a player for just three seasons and spent the 2013 and 2014 seasons as the hitting coach for the High-A Tampa Yankees and the Double-A Trenton Thunder respectively so the job would not be relatively new to the former Yankee.

Brad Miller for Jose Pirela, Pull the Trigger


I was reading through the potential free agent trade targets in the shortstop position when I had an epiphany, why not trade for Seattle's shortstop and second baseman Brad Miller. It's obvious that the Yankees farm system will not produce a major league ready and caliber shortstop any time soon and the free agent market looks about as barren as a middle class worker's refrigerator. Miller is blocked in the infield by Kyle Seager, Robinson Cano and Chris Taylor while the Mariners now need to replace Michael Saunders in their outfield. Enter Jose Pirela. Even after acquiring Didi Gregorius this deal still makes sense.

As much as I would love to have Pirela on the team as a mini Martin Prado playing all over the field this trade makes a lot of sense for the Yankees. Pirela can easily play the outfield and multiple infield positions making him attractive to the Mariners while Miller fills at least one need for the Yankees. Miller, as mentioned before, can play both middle infield positions and has been called a "natural" defensively. It is not out of the realm of possibilities to see Miller get time at first base or at one of the corner outfield positions in a pinch or a blowout. Miller is not an offensive standout to this point in his career but neither has Pirela outside of his first major league at bat and can be adequate at the position offensively. Miller has the defense to hang around with Stephen Drew and the bat to hang around with Jed Lowrie and the best of the rest at the position.

The Mariners and the Yankees have pulled off multiple trades in recent memory and the two GM's seemingly have a good working relationship, which never hurts. I said all that to say this, make the phone call and pull the trigger.

Complete The Three-Headed Monster

After the Yankees signed Andrew Miller it seemed as though the relationship between the team and David Robertson was coming to an end. While some fans were upset at this prospect because they hate to see homegrown guys let go, I was more upset about the fact that I believe David Robertson is simply better than Miller. If the Yankees are up by one run going into the 9th inning, who would I rather seem come out to save the game? Andrew Miller or David Robertson? My answer is simple... D-Rob.

"That's right, baby!"

Seeing what the Kansas City Royals did last year, and the fact that having the best bullpen in baseball was a huge help to their success (fun fact: the Royals and Yankees were actually tied for the highest fWAR among relievers), I can't help but think that there's a real possibility of the Yankees going into next season with a three-headed monster in the bullpen.

Can you imagine having Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller take care of the 6th and 7th innings, on top of being able to handle the 5th inning as well if necessary? And then, in the 9th inning, out comes one of the best closers in the game... David Robertson? Wouldn't that be incredible?

But thinking about this... having that strong of a bullpen doesn't just help the team in the last few innings of the game. To show you what I'm talking about, here are some career stats. These are the batting lines a pitcher gives up by inning, broken up into thirds (thanks to Baseball Reference). The first four guys listed will be around at some point in the 2015 season, while the final two very well could be (at least I hope so).

Masahiro Tanaka
1-3 - .249/.292/.380
4-6 - .232/.258/.382
7-9 - .237/.263/.395

Michael Pineda
1-3 - .186/.242/.313
4-6 - .214/.255/.313
7-9 - .323/.425/.581

CC Sabathia
1-3 - .242/.300/.382
4-6 - .260/.319/.397
7-9 - .235/.294/.339

Ivan Nova
1-3 - .261/.320/.400
4-6 - .286/.356/.455
7-9 - .264/.337/.419

Brandon McCarthy
1-3 - .257/.309/.377
4-6 - .283/.321/.454
7-9 - .258/.301/.457

Max Scherzer
1-3 - .232/.297/.385
4-6 - .259/.320/.411
7-9 - 210/.265/.333

Looking at those numbers makes me believe that starters come in three varieties...

  1. Come out of the gate on fire, then have their performances taper off as the game goes on (see Pineda).
  2. Start off strong, settle down in the middle innings, then empty the tank in the final three innings (see Scherzer).
  3. Start off strong, dial things back in the middle innings, then muscle up again at the end but save something just in case (Sabathia, Nova, McCarthy).

Actually, there seems to be a fourth variety, but I wouldn't count on that type to go on throughout a career. That would be the guy that's just awesome throughout the game (see Tanaka).

"O Ye, of little faith."

If you're a starter, knowing that you have a trio of relievers that can crush anybody, then there's no reason to go into cruise control at any point in the game. I believe a starter can be at his best for at least five innings, and when talking about really good to great starters then getting at least six innings of their best stuff is hardly a lot to ask. And with that in mind, go to the stats above and take out the worst batting lines, leaving you with a pitcher's best six innings.

Masahiro Tanaka
4-6 - .232/.258/.382
7-9 - .237/.263/.395

Michael Pineda
1-3 - .186/.242/.313
4-6 - .214/.255/.313

CC Sabathia
1-3 - .242/.300/.382
7-9 - .235/.294/.339

Ivan Nova
1-3 - .261/.320/.400
7-9 - .264/.337/.419

Brandon McCarthy
1-3 - .257/.309/.377
7-9 - .258/.301/.457

Max Scherzer
1-3 - .232/.297/.385
7-9 - 210/.265/.333

If you're mouth isn't salivating looking at this numbers, and imagining that that's what you could get out of the Yankees' starters, then there's a good chance you're actually dead. If that's the case then I'm really scared, because that means zombies are real, and it's only a matter of time before I have to turn myself into a Twinkie-loving bad-ass.

Little Rock: Who's Bill Murray?
Tallahassee: I've never hit a kid before. I mean, that's like asking who Gandhi is.

Yankees fans are worried, and for good reason, that the 2015 offense isn't going to be a whole lot better than the 2014 one. As things sit right now, the only upgrade the team has made offensively is replacing 2014 Derek Jeter's anemic bat with Didi Gregorius' not-much-better bat. That means we'd be left hoping Mark Teixeira, Brian McCann, and Carlos Beltran can provide the team with a hell of a lot more than they showed last season, while Alex Rodriguez won't be a zero (or worse) after more than a year and a half of nothing. And without a big trade happening, I don't see how things could bet much better in this area. Free agency simply has little to nothing to offer.

Therefore, making run prevention a very strong point is key to the Yankees finding success during the 2015 season. Which means re-signing David Robertson. Which means signing somebody like Brandon McCarthy. And could even mean signing a stud like Max Scherzer. Anything less than that and I'm going to find it hard to be too optimistic about the team's chances to win next year.

Yankees Should Have Acted Faster w/ Headley


The New York Yankees are on the verge of really screwing up, again, this offseason with Chase Headley. Instead of the team jumping out early and, for lack of a better term, setting the market with Headley by signing him early the team may be without him all together. Headley is the best infielder available entering the Winter Meetings, assuming he does not sign before then, which is not great news for a Yankees team that does not want to give the third baseman a five year deal or $65 million like the reported offer Chase already has in hand.

Could the Yankees have given him a lucrative deal and signed Headley already instead of posturing and reporting how the team does not want to go above three years for his services? I think absolutely they could have. They didn't and this is going to quickly become the second base and third base situation from 2014 when we ended up with Kelly Johnson and Brian Roberts. I understand Martin Prado can play one of the positions and guys like Jose Pirela and Robert Refsnyder can play second base but the team is still left without a true first base backup.

I think the Yankees really dropped the ball here on Headley and the team, and the fans, may end up paying for it. Fiscally or otherwise.

David Ortiz is "Angry" With Alex Rodriguez


Excuse me and accept my apologies for posting this, I usually stay away from the he said she said nonsense and the gossip columns but this was just too comical to pass up. Apparently David Ortiz is "angry" with Alex Rodriguez and has not spoken to him in a year over comments his lawyer, not A Rod, said last year on his "Free me I'm innocent" and "I'm suing everyone" tour. I believe the exact quote from Joe Tacopina, Rodriguez's lawyer, was "I'm not going to start naming all the other players, but some of them are God-like in Boston right now, and people seem to forget that."

First of all Rodriguez didn't say it and secondly Tacopina was just doing his job, what's the issue here? Plus, what many people conveniently forget or purposely ignore, is the fact that Ortiz used steroids. Ortiz got a pass on the subject and has moved on to taking selfies with President Obama and hugging Commissioner Bud Selig like he is the new face of Major League Baseball. Ortiz, you took steroids and you got called out for taking steroids, I'm not seeing a problem here.

We're not in High School anymore, grow up. Oh and before you go on MLB Network's Hot Stove and adamantly deny your steroid use again let's remember THIS New York Times article that mentioned you and Manny Ramirez both were on that same list as Alex Rodriguez the first time. I find it hard to believe that Manny and A Rod were users on the list, and that is confirmed, and you were wrongly accused.

Miller on Why He Chose the Yankees: "They Offered Some Things Other Teams Couldn't"

Andrew Miller signed with the Yankees for a simple reason: he just wants to win.

The 29-year-old agreed to a four-year/$36-million deal with the club Friday afternoon, guaranteeing him a spot in its 2015 bullpen. He then said hours later he did so due to his liking of the organization, one he's especially familiar with after spending four seasons with the Red Sox and Orioles. 

"The Yankees offered some things that other teams couldn't," Miller said during an appearance on MLB Tonight. "It's a good fit for my family and I've seen firsthand what the Yankees are all about and what their goals are. I really just felt like it was a great fit for me and a great chance to win."

The Yankees weren't the highest bidder for Miller, so that would have to be why. The Astros offered him four years and $40 million, but they haven't recorded more than 70 victories since 2010. 

Miller also commented on the possibility he'll close for the Yankees next season during the interview, acknowledging the idea has been mentioned. 

"It came up briefly," he said. "Basically I told them, from my standpoint, I just wanted to help them win. And that's my goal. I didn't seek out to be a closer or anything like that. I certainly feel I'm capable of that. But honestly, my biggest goal is to win."

If Miller isn't ultimately chosen to pitch ninth innings, it's a safe bet the role will go to Dellin Betances instead, as the latter was the Yankees' set-up man last year.

As always, though, David Robertson's name could also come up, but that doesn't seem likely at the moment. According to WFAN's Sweeny Murti, inking Miller "probably but not definitely" means the Yankees are out of the sweepstakes for the right-hander, who solidly recorded 39 saves for them in 2014.

This Day in New York Yankees History 12/6








this was left intentionally blank to emphasize my point.

Surprisingly not a single bit of news, a single trade, a single free agent signing, nothing happened on this day in New York Yankees history. Maybe Brian Cashman can make some news today so we can write about it next year.