Monday, June 27, 2016

Game Thread: New York Yankees vs. Texas Rangers 6/27


The New York Yankees and the Texas Rangers will kick off a big four game series tonight in the Bronx  that could be important to both teams. Obviously the Yankees need every and any win they can get right now as they are still within striking distance of the second Wild Card spot while the Rangers are looking to keep their strangle hold on the American League West Division. Both teams want to win so it will come down to who wants it more and who executes, but then again doesn't it always? Anyways the Yankees will send Ivan Nova to the mound looking to secure another Yankees victory this month while the Rangers will send Chi Chi Gonzalez to the mound to make his first start in his career against the Bronx Bombers. The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET inside Yankee Stadium and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV.

To see any of these four games with the Rangers including the start tomorrow with CC Sabathia and Cole Hamels click the Yankees Tickets link at the top of the blog. You also want to look your best while hanging out at the stadium so click the TGP T-shirts link also at the top of the blog to get the Jacoby Ellsbury milk carton shirt or any of the other great shirts seen at BreakingT.

Follow along during this game and every game this season via social media by either liking us on Facebook or by giving @GreedyStripes a follow on Twitter. Let's scrap out another victory Yankees family and start this series off right. Go Yankees!

Yankees, StubHub Announce New Deal



The Yankees Ticket Exchange is gone. Here is the official press release from the Yankees:




NEW YORK and SAN FRANCISCO – June 27, 2016 – The New York Yankees today announced a landmark, multi-year sponsorship agreement with StubHub, designating the company as the official fan-to-fan ticket resale marketplace of the New York Yankees.

The financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

The new product will allow StubHub to be completely integrated into the Yankees ticket system, replacing the Yankees Ticket Exchange. The new system will be fully integrated and operational by Thursday, July 7. The first ticket availability will be for the Friday, July 15 game, and extend through the remainder of the 2016 schedule.

“We are committed to providing our fans with a first-class ticket experience, and offering the safest, most secure and efficient platform for our fans to sell and purchase tickets,” said Randy Levine, President of the New York Yankees. “This new product was the result of many productive discussions with StubHub, which will allow them to fully integrate into our ticket system. We are confident this collaboration will best protect our fans in the resale ticket marketplace.”

“The New York Yankees are one of the preeminent brands in professional sports, and we are thrilled to join with them to create a best-in-class fan experience,” said Scott Cutler, President of StubHub. “StubHub’s goal is to ensure that fans have access to games that they love to attend, and I’d like to thank both the Yankees and MLB Advanced Media for their willingness to come to the table and reach a positive solution for all parties.”

The custom sponsorship deal will provide new features and functionality that will greatly enhance the consumer experience, leading to increased user efficiency and fan safety and protection. These added features will prevent speculative selling, adhere to the Yankees advertising resale price policy, generate verified bar/QR codes, and provide fully integrated mobile capacity, for the safest and most secure way to transmit tickets.

The New York Yankees introduced a mobile ticket system this year, and the agreement with StubHub will adhere to the existing mobile ticket policy. All tickets delivered will be mobile. Tickets will operate on both iOS and Android devices. Users can post hard stock tickets, but upon being sold, all will be converted to mobile format. To date, more than 250,000 fans have entered Yankee Stadium using mobile tickets (primary and secondary combined), and by the end of this season, the team expects to have welcomed

more than 600,000 mobile ticket users. This anticipated number is expected to be the largest among all teams in baseball.

With this new, technology-led sponsorship, the Yankees will join the longstanding StubHub arrangement that is in place with MLB Advanced Media.

While other secondary resale platforms will continue to remain an option for fans to buy and resell Yankees tickets, only StubHub will be fully integrated with the New York Yankees.



As part of the sponsorship agreement with the Yankees, StubHub will receive full marketing and sponsorship benefits, including in-stadium signage, suite access, and use of official team marks.

Most Popular Article of the Week: Weekly Prospects Check In: Where the Hell is James Kaprielian?


The New York Yankees drafted James Kaprielian with their first pick in the 2015 MLB First Year Players Draft with the hopes of getting him through the Yankees system quickly and into the Bronx. Why wouldn’t he move quickly? He was a college pitcher that was considered to be MLB ready straight out of the draft. The only thing besides an act of God or some higher power that could stop Kaprielian from reaching the Major Leagues this season was going to be an injury. That is exactly what has happened thus far to Mr. Kaprielian.


Kaprielian was placed on the MiLB disabled list on April 25th and was said to be “close to throwing” again on May 20th. Here it is June 21st and the Yankees top draft pick in 2015 is still shut down with elbow inflammation. Where the hell is James Kaprielian and when do we begin to worry about another Ian Clarkin or, gulp, worse situation?
YearAgeTmWLERAGGSIPHRERHRBBSOWHIPH9HR9BB9SO9
201622Tampa211.503318.086313220.6114.00.51.511.0

ICYMI: Yankees Sign 3rd Round Pick Nolan Martinez

In case you missed it, because surprisingly this did not get much attention, the New York Yankees signed their third round pick from the 2016 MLB First Year Players Draft Nolan Martinez. This is significant because unlike the majority of the second round pick Nick Solak and picks 4-10 (the rounds that affect the draft pool allocation) Martinez was a high school pitcher at the time of his drafting. Martinez is now in the fold leaving just #18 overall and the Yankees first round pick Blake Rutherford left to make his decision on whether to sign or not in the first ten rounds. Let's get to know Nolan Martinez a little.

Martinez came with a slot recommendation of $608,200 and ended up signing out of a California high school for $1.15 million. The Yankees saved over a million in slot money singing Solak and the rounds 4-10 guys and much of that money was thought to be allocated for Rutherford. Now with Martinez gobbling up basically $40K of it New York should still have more than enough to sign Rutherford (roughly $3.15 million available according to Mike Axisa and River Ave Blues) as well if he wants to sign.

Martinez is a solid pick with the 98th pick after Baseball American had the right-hander ranked as their 67th best prospect in the draft. Welcome to the family Nolan!


Game Preview: New York Yankees vs. Texas Rangers 6/27


The New York Yankees are done beating up on the Minnesota Twins and will now have to bring their "A" games to town as they welcome in the Texas Rangers. The Rangers are quite possibly the best team in the American League right now and that's before they get Yu Darvish back off the disabled list and back to 100% health and effectiveness. The Yankees will not win games on errors or with one or two runs in this series, Texas is too good for that. In the matchup the Yankees will have to get a great pitching performance from Ivan Nova as he looks to turn his season back around tonight while the Rangers counter with Chi Chi Gonzalez.

Nova has not been the Nova that entered the Yankees rotation when Luis Severino was demoted and CC Sabathia was injured. That Nova was effective and showed the team that he could get MLB hitters out but the Nova we have seen during the month of June has been an entirely different pitcher. Nova is pushing a 6.00 ERA in the month of June and overall this season and will have one more shot this month, tonight, to turn it around.

Gonzalez will be making his first start of the season tonight as the Yankees push Cole Hamels back a day to pitch tomorrow. The last time we saw Gonzalez was in 2015 when he made 10 starts and four appearances out of the bullpen not including the postseason while posting a 3.90 ERA. This will be the first time Chi Chi faces the Yankees in his career.


The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET inside Yankee Stadium and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV. The Yankees aren't going to lose to a guy named Chi Chi, are they? I mean I'm not making fun of the guy by any means, in fact I'm just having a little fun with this right now, but they can't go home to their wives and their girlfriends and tell them that they let Chi Chi beat them. Can they? No, surely not. Go Yankees!

Mets Fans Logic: Signing Jose Reyes is Okay, Acquiring Aroldis Chapman is Not


Excuse me as I rant a little bit this Monday morning because the amount of hypocrisy going on right now is simply too amazing to ignore. Remember back this winter when the New York Yankees traded for Aroldis Chapman after the Cincinnati Reds closer was accused of domestic violence and potentially faced a suspension from MLB's domestic violence policy? More importantly do you remember the outrage not only from the Yankees fans but the outrage from the local and national media and sports outlets? I read somewhere that the Yankees even "sold their souls" to acquire Chapman yet I haven't heard a word out of anyone after the New York Mets signed another player with domestic violence issues, Jose Reyes.

Where are the fans proclaiming to never watch a game again or buy another jersey or head to the ball park ever again? Where are the media outlets jumping all over the Mets for changing their character and selling their souls to acquire a player with talent but a colorful past?

Let's recap what happened with both players this offseason. Chapman was accused of hitting his girlfriend and firing a registered gun in an unattached garage in his registered home that he owns. Despite recantations and possible evidence and testimonies that Chapman may have been the one assaulted and not his girlfriend the league strong-armed him and held his impending free agency over his head to get him to agree to a 30 game suspension without pay. Reyes on the other hand was heard arguing with his wife in a hotel in Hawaii and the argument turned physical. Medics even treated his wife on the scene in Hawaii for injuries. Later on the wife denied any recollection of the incident and Reyes received a 51 game suspension.

So Chapman can be assaulted, allegedly, and fire a gun in an unattached (that means it was not attached to the house before anyone brings up the fact that a child was in the house) out of anger and frustration and you have to sell you soul to sign him but the Mets can sign a guy who choked and shoved his wife into a glass sliding glass door and people are actually excited about his return?

I'm done. I just don't get this, I don't get this league and I don't get this world. What's good for one should be good for the other. Whatever Mets fans, enjoy your Angel while we enjoy the Devil with the 105 MPH fastball and remorse. What a joke.

Weekly Prospects Check In: Nick Swisher


The New York Yankees first base situation is getting a little more clearer as we inch towards July baseball here in the Bronx which is a good sign for the organization and a bad, bad sign for Nick Swisher. See the Yankees got Mark Teixeira back over the weekend and at the time of this writing all signs point to Ike Davis clearing waivers and heading down to Triple-A as insurance and depth. Chris Parmelee is said to be progressing from his hamstring injury and Tyler Austin and Robert Refsnyder are far exceeding expectations with the RailRiders and the Yankees respectively.

Is there any more room for Nick Swisher?

YearLevGPARH2BHRRBISBBBSOBAOBPSLGOPS
2016AAA532261753572501452.252.296.376.673

This Day in New York Yankees History 6/27: Wade Blasingame’s Debut & Goodbye


On this day in 1972 Wade Blasingame made his last start of his career and his first career start for the New York Yankees. The Tigers would hit three consecutive home runs in the first inning when Aurelio Rodriguez, Al Kaline, and Willie Horton went deep. The Tigers would beat the Yankees 5-2.