Game Preview: New York Yankees vs. Toronto Blue Jays 9/10

TONIGHT'S CONTEST HAS BEEN RAINED OUT AND WILL BE MADE UP ON SATURDAY AS A DOUBLE HEADER, SINGLE ADMISSION!

The New York Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays will face off head-to-head for the next four games this week inside Yankee Stadium and that big series starts tonight in the Bronx. This is the biggest series of the year for both teams, well until the next and final series head-to-head inside the Rogers Centre later on in the season, as both teams continue to fight for American League East supremacy. The Blue Jays come into the contest with an 8-4 advantage in the season series and come into the series with the advantage in the division. The Yankees will send Luis Severino to the mound looking to turn things around for New York while the Blue Jays will counter with David Price. The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV.

• Severino will possibly be making his biggest start of his young Yankees career tonight in the Bronx against the Toronto Blue Jays. Severino has already beat the Blue Jays once this season but will draw David Price on the Yankee Stadium mound so it will not be an easy task getting his second win against the Yankees AL East rivals. 

• Price has been the ace that the Blue Jays were hoping they were acquiring when they sent their top prospect in a package to Detroit before the July 31st trade deadline. Price has made seven starts with Toronto since the trade and has posted a 5-1 record with a 2.15 ERA in a Blue Jays uniform. 

I cannot put into words how huge this series is for the Yankees. New York comes into the game with the news that both Mark Teixeira and Nathan Eovaldi are likely done for the regular season and come into the contest with many players “beat up” including Brett Gardner and Jacoby Ellsbury. You know what though? The Blue Jays are beat up and have done it all season long without the man, tomorrow’s starter Marcus Stroman, the team relied on to pitch on Opening Day. They aren’t making excuses and I know the Yankees aren’t either, excuses are for the fans. Start the battle cry and let’s do this! Go Yankees!

The Yankees “Interested” In David Price This Winter is NOT News

The worst part about having a blog I think is the emails that you get from people when you neglect to post “news” on your site. People quickly forget that people like myself, Beyan Van Dusen, Jack Niemuth and all the great writers we have here on The Greedy Pinstripes, people like our hardworking friends over at Bleeding Yankee Blue, etc. do this for free because we love to do it. But anyway that’s not the point of this post, the point of the post was that I opened my email on Labor Day and had an email from a person who will remain nameless wondering why I was, to paraphrase, “too lazy” to post the “news” about the Yankees being interested in David Price this winter in free agency. I’m not lazy, I think the workload and content that I put out DAILY for you guys is evidence of that, I just personally don’t think that it’s news.

We all know the Yankees are interested in and will remain interested in Price’s services when he becomes available. The team made a list of untouchable prospects that included stud starting pitcher Luis Severino and came out publicly stating that they would part with one or more of that list of untouchables for Price if he was willing to sign a contract extension before the deal was made official. Cashman was willing to mortgage the future once again for this guy as long as he could sign him to a big money contract for the bulk of his 30’s. You don’t think Cashman would be willing to give out that same deal this winter while keeping Severino, Aaron Judge, Jorge Mateo and Greg Bird? You bet your ass he’ll at least be in the discussion.

There aren’t too many teams that can afford to commit and potentially miss on a seven-year deal worth an estimated $210 million but the New York Yankees are one of them. Right around the time a potential Price mega-deal would go south the team would have players like CC Sabathia, Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira off the payroll, if the deal ever went south.

It’s September 10^th, not November or December 10^th. To start listing the teams that are “interested” in Price this winter is irresponsible. It’s not news and it’s not reporting, it’s a guess and an opinion being pushed off as news so excuse me if I don’t report on it. I’m more focused on winning this division and making the playoffs, not who the team is going to pick up this winter. Thanks for listening to my rant. 

That 2:00 Feeling – Soul of the Game – Full Movie

You remember those commercials for the Five Hour Energy drinks that described you as having the “2:00 feeling?” Well today I am feeling like I need a five hour energy drink, 15 straight days of sleep or something much more potent, I definitely have that 2:00 feeling. When I have that feeling I like to either lay in the bed or sit down on the couch with the AC on full blast and watch a good movie while I fall asleep. I think I’ll do that today, don’t tell me boss.

You can watch the entire movie “Soul of the Game” right here on the blog for free just by clicking the Youtube video above. The basic premise of the movie is that Josh Gibson, Jackie Robinson and Satchel Paige are fighting through the Negro Leagues trying to reach the Major Leagues when Branch Rickey finally comes calling.

It’s a good one, one of my own personal favorites. Enjoy. 

Chris Davis is the Ultimate #GetGreedy Move for 2016

I am in no way looking ahead towards the 2016 season because in my personal opinion the 2015 season is far from over. Even if the New York Yankees cannot chase down the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League East Division and have to settle for a Wild Card spot, even a second Wild Card spot and a road one-game playoff series, I believe this team is going to the playoffs and have the potential to go far. With that said would getting Chris Davis from the Baltimore Orioles in free agency this winter not be the biggest #GetGreedy type move the Yankees could pull off?

Not only would adding a guy with 40+ home run power help the Yankees offense immensely it would also land the hit on the jaw of the Baltimore Orioles that could end this recent streak of success. The question on everyone’s mind here is whether the Yankees have the money, a $3.5 billion company can cry poor all they want to but they have it if they want to have it, and whether they have a spot for him to play. Davis is probably best suited for a DH role at this point in his career but he’s not yet a defensive liability either at first base or right field as recent as this week when he played both positions against the Yankees. Davis could basically fill and expand the role that the team had for Garrett Jones when they picked him up this offseason.

Joe Girardi can shuffle players around and keep them fresh, he’s proven it time and time again, so having Davis play at first base, right field and DH giving nights off to Mark Teixeira, Carlos Beltran and Alex Rodriguez would be a good option to have off the “bench.” In a couple of years when Davis starts to slow down in the field you have the contract of ARod coming off the books and the DH slot opening up giving the Yankees a place to stash him for the latter part of the deal. Davis is likely to command a long-term contract for big money after hitting 40 home runs this season and if any team can afford it while keeping him away from the Toronto Blue Jays, the Baltimore Orioles or the Boston Red Sox it’s definitely the New York Yankees.

Davis strikes out a lot and he’ll never hit .275 in his career let alone .300 but with basically a month to go in the season what team would not take a .200 average with 41 home runs and over 100 RBI? You don’t harp on his inability to consistently hit the ball for average but you instead build around that with high average players that can pick up the slack or be on base when he connects. Davis is the type of player that you accommodate for in this day and age, not the other way around, and Davis is the ultimate #GetGreedy player, the entire premise of what this blog was built off of.

So I leave you with this seal of approval. Get Greedy, Get Chris Davis for 2016. 

Quick Hit: Yankees vs. Toronto Go Head-to-Head in 2015

The New York Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays are set to go head-to-head tonight for the ---th time this season in the first game of a significant four-game series this weekend in the Bronx. These head-to-head matchups will undoubtedly decide the winner of the American League East Division race so I thought it would be interesting to take a short look at what each team has done against each other thus far this season.

The Blue Jays, for the first time in what feels like a long time, seemingly have the Yankees numbers this season as Toronto has gone an impressive 8-4 thus far against New York. The Blue Jays have out-pitched and out-hit the Bronx Bombers this season posting a +17 run differential against the Yankees while holding the team to just 26 runs in their twelve matchups.

Rk	Gm#	Date	Tm		Opp	W/L	R	RA	Win	Loss	Save
1	1	Monday, Apr 6	NYY		TOR	L	1	6	Hutchison	Tanaka
2	2	Wednesday, Apr 8	NYY		TOR	W	4	3	Betances	Loup	Miller
3	3	Thursday, Apr 9	NYY		TOR	L	3	6	Norris	Sabathia	Castro
26	26	Monday, May 4	NYY	@	TOR	L	1	3	Dickey	Martin	Cecil
27	27	Tuesday, May 5	NYY	@	TOR	W	6	3	Pineda	Estrada	Miller
28	28	Wednesday, May 6	NYY	@	TOR	L	1	5	Buehrle	Sabathia
108	108	Friday, Aug 7	NYY		TOR	L	1	2	Cecil	Pinder	Osuna
109	109	Saturday, Aug 8	NYY		TOR	L	0	6	Price	Nova
110	110	Sunday, Aug 9	NYY		TOR	L	0	2	Estrada	Tanaka	Osuna
114	114	Friday, Aug 14	NYY	@	TOR	W	4	3	Nova	Sanchez	Miller
115	115	Saturday, Aug 15	NYY	@	TOR	W	4	1	Tanaka	Estrada
116	116	Sunday, Aug 16	NYY	@	TOR	L	1	3	Hutchison	Severino	Osuna
139	139	Thursday, Sep 10	NYY		TOR	7:05 pm			Game Preview, Matchups, and Tickets
140	140	Friday, Sep 11	NYY		TOR	7:05 pm			Game Preview, Matchups, and Tickets
141	141	Saturday, Sep 12	NYY		TOR	1:05 pm			Game Preview, Matchups, and Tickets
142	142	Sunday, Sep 13	NYY		TOR	1:05 pm			Game Preview, Matchups, and Tickets
149	149	Monday, Sep 21	NYY	@	TOR	7:07 pm			Game Preview, Matchups, and Tickets
150	150	Tuesday, Sep 22	NYY	@	TOR	7:07 pm			Game Preview, Matchups, and Tickets
151	151	Wednesday, Sep 23	NYY	@	TOR	7:07 pm			Game Preview, Matchups, and Tickets

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Weekly Check In: Trey Amburgey

Trey Amburgey has quickly established himself as one of the better prospects inside the New York Yankees farm system despite being drafted less than three months ago. Amburgey was drafted in the 13th round of the 2015 MLB First Year Players Draft and got into 58 games in his pro debut season leading the Staten Island Yankees to a 41-34 record. That record for the SI Yankees was enough to send the team to the Tri-City Playoffs and a best-of-three playoff series that begins tonight.

Amburgey put his name on the map quite quickly show power to the gaps, over the fence power and power with his arm in right field. Amburgey was drafted much later in the draft than current teammates James Kaprielian, Kyle Holder or Jeff Degano but he has far exceeded any of the Yankees top three picks in 2015 and will head into the playoffs and the subsequent winter that follows with his eye on the prize that is the 2016 season.

The Tell-All Book “Abused by the New York Yankees” is OUT!

For what feels like forever, although I just looked and it’s only been since 2007, we’ve been hearing about the tell-all book that was set to come out written by a former Yankees assistant equipment manager and the book has finally hit the shelves. I haven’t read it myself yet, and after reading the reviews I may not read it at all, but from what everyone is saying apparently it has been worth the wait.

Paul Priore, the assistant equipment manager for the Yankees and the author of the book, was fired back in 1997 allegedly because he is HIV-positive, something the New York Yankees and the New York State Courts say are absolutely false.

Here are some of the outlandish and damning accusations thrown out by Priore:

• Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada engaged in sexual relations in the clubhouse sauna at the end of their first season with the team. Jeter and Posada then allowed Priore to perform oral sex on them in order to keep him quiet. 
• George Steinbrenner spied on players using secret security cameras in the clubhouse, and was actively involved in the Iran-Contra Affair. 
• Outfielder Gerald Williams had sex with an underage concession stand worker in a storage closet. 
• Cecil Fielder played drunk on vodka, and Darryl Strawberry drank whisky during games. 
• Bob Wickman, Jeff Nelson and Mariano Rivera tried to sexually assault him with a baseball bat. 
• Joe Torre and Don Zimmer used 14-16 year old boys to place their horse track bets for them during games and also the duo bet on the Yankees to lose games while they were both managers and coaches for the team. 
• Batboys created a market of forged autographs on Yankees memorabilia.

This Day In New York Yankees History 9/10: Griffith Stadium & Home Runs

There has not been much in the way of good history on this day in New York Yankees history unfortunately so this was a tough post to type out. I considered talking about the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim clinching the AL West earlier than any other team in the history of the division with a 4-2 victory over the Yankees in 2008 but decided against it later. I also considered talking about Pedro Martinez of the Boston Red Sox pitching a one hit complete game victory against the Yankees in Yankee Stadium while striking out 18 batters. In the contest on this day in 1999 Pedro extended his own record to 40 consecutive innings with at least one strikeout per inning. Finally I remembered this day in 1919 the Cleveland Indians Ray Caldwell no hit the Yankees after being released by the Boston Red Sox a mere two months previously.

Instead I decided to keep my Wednesday morning positive and I instead focused on this day in 1950 when Joe DiMaggio became the first major league hitter to hit three home runs in Washington's Griffith Stadium. The Yankees would beat the Senators 8-1 while DiMaggio hit a trio of home runs for the third time in his career. Whether it be a coincidence or whether the dimensions at Yankee Stadium played into it but DiMaggio had three separate road games with three home runs and never had such a game at Yankee Stadium.