Wednesday, November 30, 2016

The Obligatory “What About Chris Carter” Post


The New York Yankees have a long offseason ahead of them and the team is surrounded by more questions than answers unfortunately so when a player the caliber of Chris Carter becomes available you know we all have to ask the obligatory question, “Would Chris Carter fit in with the Yankees in 2017?” That is what we will look to explore in this blog post today, keep reading.

The New York Yankees need a DH type player and a player that can also play first base just in case would likely be near the top of Brian Cashman’s priority list coming into this offseason. Greg Bird is still a huge question mark, Dustin Ackley and Brian McCann are gone and the Yankees need depth now more so than ever. Another thing the Yankees need is power and Chris Carter checks every one of those boxes for a team.

Carter led the National League in home runs in 2016 with 41 but he didn’t do much else with the Milwaukee Brewers. His average will never be high but you’re not buying him for that, you’re buying Carter for his home runs and RBI totals in the middle of that Yankees lineup.

Carter is arbitration eligible this season and would likely come on a one-year deal. Should the Yankees get him in the fold? I’m leaning towards yes but I am honestly undecided. I like the 41 home runs and 94 RBI totals from 2016 but I am not entirely in love with the .222 batting average nor the 206 strikeouts last season. What say you?


Is Jorge Posada a Hall of Famer?


All this Hall of Fame debate and discussion that has been going on and not one time have we mentioned one of the pillars of the Yankees dynasty in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, Jorge Posada. Posada was a switch-hitting second baseman turned catcher for the New York Yankees that spent 17 seasons with the organization. Did he do enough in those 17 seasons to warrant getting into the Hall of Fame eventually? Let’s take a look.

Posada was a five time All-Star during his playing career while also finishing in the Top 10 in the AL MVP vote twice. Posada has a Silver Slugger Award sitting on his mantle while hitting over 20 home runs in seven separate seasons which is pretty impressive when you consider he was doing this as a catcher, a position not well known for their offensive prowess throughout the years.

When discussing Posada and his candidacy for the Hall it’s easy to simply look at his home run numbers or sabermetric stats like WAR across the board but I find that to be a bit unfair. I would prefer to compare him to players at his position with those stats instead as I make the case for or against him so using WAR I see that Posada had a higher WAR than Hall of Fame players Roy Campanella, Roger Breshnahan and Rick Ferrell. Posada is also 8th all-time in home runs for catchers with five of the seven players in front of him in that department already in the hall. Only Lance Parrish and Pudge Rodriguez, who enters the ballot for the first time this year, have more home runs than Jorge and are not currently in the Hall of Fame. 

Posada was a four-time World Series champion in six attempts in the Fall Classic not counting the 1996 season when he was just a September call up and had himself a second career while in the postseason as a whole. Posada has played in the second most games in the postseason and ranks fourth in hits and ninth in RBI all-time in the postseason.

Will Posada make the Hall? Eventually, I think so. Yes. Especially in a “dirty” era. Will it be in 2017 though? No, probably not. Unfortunately.


Expect to See Eovaldi & Rumbelow Back in Pinstripes


The New York Yankees did a bit of roster cleanup this week when the team decided to designate Nathan Eovaldi, Nick Rumbelow and Joe Mantiply for assignment. These three have cleared waivers and all were released on Monday. This should come as no surprise as both Eovaldi and Rumbelow will miss parts or all of the 2017 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery at some point in 2016 but the Mantiply decision did catch me off guard a bit if I’m being honest. Don’t fret though Yankees fans as I fully expect to see both Eovaldi and Rumbelow back in pinstripes in no time.

The Yankees have made this a habit lately of releasing minor league free agents or players only to sign them to new deals later which basically circumvents the collective bargaining agreement in a way. We’ve seen it with Slade Heathcott, we’ve seen it with Mason Williams and others in recent years and I believe we’ll see it again this year with Eovaldi and Rumbelow. All this does is buy the Yankees some time with Eovaldi while the team could easily hand Rumbelow a minor league deal without a 40 man roster spot attached to it in order to get him back into the organization. It’s actually probably already done truth be told and we just haven’t heard about it yet.

Expect these two back Yankees fans and it wouldn’t surprise me to see the team at least make an effort to bring Mantiply back as well. Stay tuned. It’s going to be a long offseason.


This Day In New York Yankees History 11/30: Jeter Wins Another Award


On this day in 2009 the Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter was named Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year. The Yankees captain would be the first Yankee to ever be named the winner of the award since SI started giving out the award in 1954.

Also on this day in 2000 the New York Yankees signed Mike Mussina to a six year deal worth $88.5 million stealing him from the rival Baltimore Orioles. Mussina would stay with the Yankees through the 2008 season and finally get his 20 win season in pinstripes before riding off into the sunset.
Finally on this day in 1952 Jackie Robinson went on a New York television show accusing the Yankees of being racist for not having a black player on their team. The Yankees would not sign a black baseball player until three years later when they signed Elston Howard, nine years after Jackie broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball.