Sunday, January 10, 2016

Joe Nathan and No Such Thing as a Bad Minor League Deal


The New York Yankees bullpen has undergone a cosmetic change this offseason as the bullpen went from a strength, to awfully thin and back to seemingly a strength again. The team still needs to replace Adam Warren, a reliable right-handed pitcher that can both start and relieve if needed, but the team upgraded from Justin Wilson to Aroldis Chapman. The bullpen is looking awfully left-handed with Chapman, Andrew Miller and presumably a combination of Chasen Shreve, Jacob Lindgren and James Pazos competing for spots so the Yankees should look to add another right-handed arm if possible, what about Joe Nathan?

Nathan is a six time MLB All-Star and has 377 career saves to his name. The Yankees wouldn’t need him to close, they would merely need him to fill some valuable innings from the right side of the pitching rubber. Nathan is coming off Tommy John surgery and is 41-years old but has plans on pitching in 2016. Would Nathan accept a minor league deal? I’m not sure, probably not but you don’t know until you ask. If not a modest one year deal wouldn’t be the worst low risk high reward type signing for New York, would it? Especially for a former New York native, Nathan attended Pine Bush High School in upstate New York and Stony Brook University on Long Island.


Nathan has a career 2.89 ERA and 1.18 WHIP in over 917 innings during his 15-year career and is looking for one final opportunity before presumably riding off into the sunset. New York can offer him that opportunity with a minimal investment in terms of both years and dollars while the team can promise him the 6th inning and plenty of opportunities. It makes sense but it will likely come down to whether Nathan wants to close or not. If not, come aboard and welcome to the family… in advance.

9 comments:

  1. YEAH,SURE.....The Joe Nathan we knew ? The sorta, kinda version of what
    he once was...yeah, sure.

    Tommy John, and 41-42...could be tough. How many guys hit the ground
    running after that procedure ? My guess, not many.
    But, for all we know, he may.

    An invite so spring training. Lets see if he's up to it. If so...
    A initial minor league contract, with a guaranteed call up date.
    If no call up, he would be free to go.
    I love veteran pitchers helping to bring along the younger guys.
    Yeah, sure !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. For all those reasons you listed is why it's a good idea. Yankees pay him less than 500K and if he flops he flops. Hal Steinbrenner pays more than that on wine in a month and Hank that much on cigs. But if he comes back, and some do with Matt Harvey as the worst possible comparison but the first that came to mind, the Yankees bullpen is officially unfair.

      Delete
  2. JOE NATHAN & HANS :
    Joe Nathan went to Stony Brook University here on Long Island.
    Not real close to where I live. Rather nice...but pricey.

    The way I figure it, when Hans comes to Long Island to sit on me...
    he can stop by Nathans old school, and take Basic Spelling 101.

    Just a thought, after this crappy weather day.

    ReplyDelete
  3. KIRBY YATES:...After hearing that the traded cash, for Kirby Yates,
    two things happened. How much cash ? Twenty dollars ?...After that
    I started mixing Maalox in with my beer.

    Did you know that Yates pitched 20 1/3 innings last year, and gave
    up 10 home runs? Ten.
    Or, nearly 1/3 of the balls hit in the air off him, went for home runs.
    That girls.....is 30.3%. That is simply awful.
    They traded for Kyle Farnsworth !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They traded 78,000 for him. Seriously. I don't know how I feel about that. Insert "I'm not cheap jokes" here.

      Delete
  4. THE CORE FOUR...one of the dumbest phrases ever.

    Always thought it was so elitist. Twenty one others, in a team game,
    and those four get all the hype / glory.

    They could have succeeded without the likes of Bernie Williams, David Cone, David Wells, Paul O'Niell....etc ?

    The answer is no.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No they couldn't win without the rest but the core is the rock, the constant. The other pieces are always revolving around the core. It may be elitist but that's because of the fans. Any team builds a core when they rebuild and it's usually all up the middle. Catcher, pitcher, middle infield and center.

      You fill in the rest with whatever. No for are going to beat 25 obviously.

      Delete
  5. RUNNING THE TABLE...was a term we used at another site where I was given
    three lifetime bans. I felt like El Chapo.

    What it means is ...Daniel has room for 25 comments at all times, in
    the comments section. One must put up 25 in a row. Each having something of substance. Not the..."duh, Castro should wear #81."

    Tonight I could have filled them all up, with thoughts bubbling up
    in my cerebellum. But, out of time, early riser.

    That's called running the table.

    Tommy Twasp made it look easy.
    Just thought I would share.

    ReplyDelete

Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)