Tuesday, November 10, 2015

No Yankees Win a Gold Glove Award

Mark Teixeira, Brett Gardner and Didi Gregorius were up for the American League Gold Glove Awards for their respective positions and none of them won the award. Here is the complete list of Gold Glove Award winners for the American and National League's.

CATCHER
FIRST BASE
SECOND BASE
SHORTSTOP
THIRD BASE
LEFT FIELD
CENTER FIELD
ALKevin KiermaierRays
NLA.J. Pollock, Diamondbacks
RIGHT FIELD
ALKole CalhounAngels
NLJason Heyward, Cardinals
PITCHER
ALDallas Keuchel, Astros
NLZack GreinkeDodgers

BBWAA Finalists Announced



AMERICAN LEAGUE

Most Valuable Player
Lorenzo Cain
Josh Donaldson
Mike Trout

Cy Young
Sonny Gray
Dallas Keuchel
David Price

Rookie of the Year
Carlos Correa
Francisco Lindor
Miguel Sano

Manager of the Year
Jeff Banister
A.J. Hinch
Paul Molitor

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Most Valuable Player
Paul Goldschmidt
Bryce Harper
Joey Votto

Cy Young
Jake Arrieta
Zack Greinke
Clayton Kershaw

Rookie of the Year
Kris Bryant
Matt Duffy
Jung Ho Kang

Manager of the Year
Terry Collins
Joe Maddon
Mike Matheny

YES Network: Exit Interview with Mark Teixeira


Lou DiPietro did a slew of exit interviews with the players of the New York Yankees after their Wild Card lost to the Houston Astros and every night we've been linking to them. The links brings more views to DiPietro, a friend of the blog, and the YES Network while also bringing our readers something you may have missed. We hope you appreciate and enjoy these as we are coming close to an end. CLICK HERE to see the entire article or see below for a short sample from the YES Network's end-of-season interview with Mark Teixeira. Enjoy and thank you.

The New York Yankees' 2015 season ended at Yankee Stadium Tuesday night, thanks to a 3-0 loss to the Houston Astros in the American League Wild Card Game.

Following the game, many Yankees players, coaches, and officials were in a reflective mood, beginning both the look back on this year and the look ahead to 2016 - so much so that the YESNetwork.com team was able to conduct a series of "exit interviews" on the subjects.

Here now is the brief exit interview with a Yankees slugger who was unable to play in the Wild Card Game, first baseman Mark Teixeira.

Q. Can you give us an update on how your fractured leg is healing?

TEIXEIRA: It's going well, and I'll be 100 percent in about a month. Unfortunately, that's the bad timing of it. It's not a terrible injury, but it's a break, so you have to let it heal; it's not one of those things you can play through. I tried to, and I couldn't. I'll be fine in a month or so, but it's tough.

Q. How much might extra rest help in the future?

TEIXEIRA: Rest helps. It's a part of recovery, and it's a part of performance.

Q. How tough was it to not be able to be on the field (in the Wild Card Game)?

TEIXEIRA: It's pretty miserable, but there's nothing you can do, it's just really bad timing. If you're going to have a freak injury, you'd like it to be at the beginning of the season so you can be with your guys at the end, but that's life. Unfortunately, this happened in the wrong time of the year.

16 Yankees Minor Leaguers Hit Free Agency

16 members of the New York Yankees have officially hit the minor league free agent market. Here is the list:



Andury Acevedo (AAA)

Scottie Allen (AA)

Joel de la Cruz (AAA)

Diego Moreno (AAA)

Wilking Rodriguez (AAA)

Cesar Vargas (AAA)
Jose De Paula (AAA)

Aaron Dott (AA)
Francisco Arcia (AA)

Juan Graterol (AAA)

Kyle Higashioka (AAA)
Cole Figueroa (AAA)

Ali Castillo (AAA)

Jose Rosario (AA)
Ericson Leonora (Hi A)

Rico Noel (AAA)

Imagining a Lineup w/ Heyward & Zobrist

Zobrist's reaction when he learned the New York Yankees signed him. 

Earlier today and also earlier this week we announced here on the blog that MLB Trade Rumors predicted three free agents coming to the New York Yankees this offseason, Jason Heyward, Ben Zobrist and Chris Young. Young would fill his old role from the second half of the 2014 season and the entire 2015 season while Zobrist would presumably be the team's starting second baseman. You have to think with Young in the fold and a couple of no-trade clauses attached to the contracts of Carlos Beltran and Jacoby Ellsbury that Heyward would be playing left field on Opening Day 2016 for the Yankees. What would that Opening Day lineup look like for New York is the team was to sign these two men this winter?

Hopefully a little something like this:

Ellsbury
Heyward
Rodriguez
Teixeira
McCann
Beltran
Zobrist
Headley
Gregorius

2016 Hall of Fame Ballot as Impressive as 2015


The 2015 Hall of Fame ballot for Major League Baseball was one of the most impressive ballots you will see in all of sports. When all was said and done and the ink was dry four members stepped into the Hall including Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, John Smiltz and Craig Biggio. As impressive as the 2015 ballot was the 2016 ballot is shaping up to be just as exciting Ken Griffey Jr. and Trevor Hoffman highlight the new 2016 class.

Joining the already stacked class of Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mike Piazza, Lee Smith, Alan Trammell, Tim Raines, Curt Schilling, Jeff Bagwell, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa is Griffey Jr., Hoffman, David Eckstein, Troy Glaus, Mike Hampton, Mike Lowell and Billy Wagner. Hall of Fame voters have been cut from 600 to 450 after the Hall’s board enacted a rule that eliminated writers who had not been active in the game for more than 10 years.

Griffey is a 13-time All-Star and 10-time Gold Glove Award winner who also hit 630 home runs and won the AL MVP unanimously in 1997. Hoffman was the career leader in saves before Mariano Rivera passed him at 601 saves. Hoffman is also a seven-time All Star for the San Diego Padres.

Just as a reminder a player must receive 75% of the vote to achieve Hall of Fame status. Final tallies will be revealed on January, 6 2016.


MLBTR: Top 50 Free Agent Rankings & Predictions


MLB Trade Rumors has released their top 50 free agent rankings with a short prediction of which team the crew over there thinks the Top 50 players will sign with. According to MLB Trade Rumors the Yankees are signing three free agents this offseason in the Top 50 in Jayson Heyward, Ben Zobrist and Chris Young.

To be honest these may be two of the best all around players in the league and two or three of the best fits for THIS team. MLB Trade Rumors don't get these correct as often as you'd think so if you're not a fan of Heyward or a 10-year deal don't jump off the edge just yet.

2. Jason Heyward – Yankees. Ten years, $200MM. 

Since his 2010 rookie season, Heyward has quietly been one of the game’s best outfielders. He’s an excellent defender and baserunner with a solid on-base percentage and some pop. Heyward hit a career-high 27 home runs in 2012, but only 38 in the three seasons since. He doesn’t have the typical power output of a $200MM player, but his all-around game makes him a sabermetric darling with six wins above replacement this year. A very long term and an opt-out clause are on the table for Heyward because he broke into the Majors at age 20, and is now just 26. The Cardinals will try to convince Heyward to stay, but teams like the Angels, Yankees, White Sox, and Astros could make a play. For more on Heyward, click here.

21. Ben Zobrist – Yankees. Three years, $51MM. 

 Baseball’s Swiss Army knife would fit with more than a dozen teams, as he can handle second base and the outfield corners and even back up at shortstop. Offensively, Zobrist contributes a strong OBP and good pop, plus he’s ineligible for a qualifying offer because he was traded to the Royals. He’ll be vying for a fourth year, and Victor Martinez did get that, but with Zobrist turning 35 in May it’s still a tough sell. He remains a good fit for the Royals, while the Yankees, Orioles, Padres, Astros, and White Sox could also make sense.

46. Chris B. Young – Yankees. Two years, $12MM. 

Young is a lefty-masher who can play all three outfield positions. If the Yankees don’t bring him back, the Rangers could be a fit.

Baseball Making Its Pitch to Return to the Olympic Games


Despite being rather young when the Olympic committee decided that baseball and softball would no longer be a prominent sport in the Olympic Games I can remember being distraught and upset. I never watched much of the Olympics but I always watched the baseball and softball, baseball was my life at the time. The World Baseball Classic is nice and it also pits the world’s best athletes and players against each other on a grand stage with countries bragging rights on the line but it’s not the same, it’s not the Olympics. Baseball is finally making its pitch to return to the Olympic Games when the games move to Tokyo in 2020. That pitch began this week with the start of a new Premier 12 tournament last week.

The World Baseball Softball Confederation’s 12 best teams will face off head-to-head in a tournament that will be played from November 8th through the 21st of this month. The winner of the tournament will be granted an automatic qualification in the 2020 Olympic Games if the sport is reinstated.

Baseball has been out of the Olympics since the 2008 Beijing Games and the decision will not be made whether to bring the games back until August of 2016. The 12 teams that will participate in the tournament with the hopes of an automatic bid into the games, again if they are reinstated, are Japan, the United States, Cuba, Taiwan, Netherlands, Dominican Republic, Canada, South Korea, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Italy and Mexico in that order from 1-12.


The United States team is made up of players currently down on the farm systems of Major League Baseball teams. The first game that the USA plays will be today, November 10th, against the Dominican Republic inside the Taoyuan Baseball Stadium in Taipei. Go USA!

Weekly AFL Check In: Ian Clarkin


Ian Clarkin is healthy and slowly increasing his innings and pitch outputs with every start. In Clarkin's first two starts he was on a strict limit of just four innings in each start although in his third start the left-hander lasted 4.1 innings. The Yankees will take their time with Clarkin and the former first rounder is down in Arizona with the Surprise Saguaros simply to get his work in, that's it. The stats are less important than his clean bill of health after every start. That's not fun though, I like the stats so check them out below.

Ian Clarkin:

G: 4
GS: 8
IP: 16.1
W/L: 1-1
ERA: 6.06
K: 10
BB: 10
WHIP: 1.96

This Day in New York Yankees History 11/10: Enter Sheffield


On this day in 2006 the New York Yankees traded Gary Sheffield to the Detroit Tigers for pitching prospects Kevin Whelan, Humberto Sanchez, and Anthony Claggett. The deal included a two year extension for Sheffield worth $28,000,000 through the 2009 season. Nothing ever came of any of the three pitching prospects but Sheffield had to watch from home as we won the 2009 World Series so there is always that memory to hang on to.

Also on this day in 1978 the New York Yankees traded the 1977 Cy Young Award winner Sparky Lyle, Dave Rajsich, Larry McCall, Domingo Ramos, Mike Heath, and $400,000 to the Texas Rangers for left handed pitchers Dave Righetti and Paul Mirabella, right handed pitcher Mike Griffin, and outfielder Juan Beniquez. What made this deal interesting was earlier in the year Graig Nettles spoke of Lyle by saying he would go from "Cy Young to sayonara" making his prediction a reality.