Age Is Just a Number

For years, the fans, columnists, and anyone under the sun has claimed the Yankees are too old to compete for a World Series. When Jason Heyward signed with the Chicago Cubs earlier this offseason and indicated that the Cardinals age was a reason he left many reporters took that as an indication that the Yankees had no shot at signing him either.

With the infusion of young talent like Nathan Eovaldi, Didi Gregorius, Starlin Castro, Luis Severino and Greg Bird on the roster I wanted to see how many older players the Yankees are using in comparison to their five most recent World Series victories and the two years they failed to make the postseason.

The results are not what I thought they were going to be. First off the Yankees last five World Series victories.

In 1996, the Yankees used 48 total players, 5 players were 35+. Older players made up 10.4% of the roster.
In 1998, the Yankees used 38 total players and 6 players were 35+. Older made up 15.8% of the roster.
In 1999, the Yankees used 39 total players and 7 players were 35+. Older players made up 17.9% of the roster.
In 2000, the Yankees used 34 total players, and 11 players were 35+. Older players made up 32.4% of the roster.
In 2009, the Yankees used 45 total players, and 7 players were 35+. Older players made up 15.56% of the roster.

Next up the last two times, the Yankees missed the playoffs as well as 2015 to bring it all together.

In 2013, the Yankees used 56 total players and 8 players were 35+. Older players made up 14.3% of the roster.
In 2014, the Yankees used 58 total players and 8 players were 35+. Older players made up 13.8% of the roster.
In 2015, the Yankees used 56 total players and 4 players were 35+. Older players made up 7.1% of the roster.

The Yankees have been using fewer players 35 and older as the years have gone on which would seem contradictory for a team described as "old." The key, however, is the overall usage of the older players. They are using fewer players, but they are relying on them more.  In 2000 when the Yankees used 11 35+ players only 3 of them were regular contributors, David Cone, Roger Clemens and Paul O'Neill. In 2013, the Yankees used eight 35+ players, and all of them were expected to be regular contributors. The 2000 team had older players play in a combined 487 appearances. The 2013 team had older players play in a combined 589 appearances.

That trend continued in 2015 as three of the four older players the Yankees used were regular contributors. The Yankees look to reverse this trend through the on the fly rebuild they have been going through. In 2016, I estimate the Yankees will again have four 35+ players but younger players like Greg Bird, Aaron Hicks will allow them to use Carlos Beltran, Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez more effectively.

Could Stephen Drew’s Vestibular Concussion Explain His Woes in 2014/2015?

The end of Stephen Drew’s tenure with the New York Yankees came to an abrupt halt this season when the Yankees second baseman was diagnosed with a vestibular concussion late in September. Drew had a pretty severe concussion in 2013 when he was a member of the World Series Champion Boston Red Sox that took roughly three-and-a-half months to fully heal and recover from according to reports. Could that concussion and the lingering side effects be the reason or explanation for his less than stellar 2014 and 2015 campaigns?

Athletico describes a concussion as such:

A concussion is a serious brain injury and is very difficult to assess and treat as MRIs and CT scans are almost always normal. If not treated properly, these concussions can cause both short- and long-term problems. One treatment that is getting more and more attention is the use of vestibular physical therapy for individuals who have been concussed.

When someone first sustains a concussion, the initial treatment is rest. At that time they should be managed by their physician. Studies show that 80% of those who suffer a concussion have their symptoms go away completely within the first three weeks. Unfortunately, some people have symptoms that last even longer. Common symptoms include headaches, blurry vision, nausea, dizziness, noise and light sensitivity, balance difficulties, difficulty with concentrating, difficulty remembering, difficulty sleeping, and/or emotional symptoms. Oftentimes a concussed person will complain of difficulty with driving, difficulty with reading a computer, difficulty reading books, and difficulty changing gaze focus. One of the most common complaints that vestibular therapists hear is that they just feel “off” or “foggy.”

In a game where everything is analyzed and in a game where a matter of inches can make or break you every single play of every single night battling a head injury has to be difficult. The problem for Drew is, and I am speculating here as I do not have concrete evidence to back up this statement, that he reportedly felt fine and had no lingering effects of a concussion until almost the end of September. For all we know the problem may have been minor enough to adjust to or not even notice in your everyday life but it could have been something that could make or break you when trying to judge a pitch at 100 MPH.

An interesting nugget specifically linked to sports figures with vestibular concussions from medscape:

"Therefore, if this system is compromised in some way following concussion, it makes sense that a reaction time would be slowed. This is an important point, as athletes with this impaired reaction time may be at greater risk for subsequent injury until they are no longer impaired."

The participants in the study had sustained their injuries more than 21 days earlier and completed computerized neurocognitive tests and symptom reports at their initial clinical visits. They also received vestibular screening, which includes clinical interview and exams evaluating vestibular dizziness and vestibulo-spinal and vestibulo-ocular domains.

To be honest we’ll probably never know what happened to Drew and whether it was this concussion or Father Time merely catching up to him and his bat in 2014 and 2015. The article above says that most MRI's CT scans or tests come back normal. If the Yankees feel like they get nip this concussion in the bud then I am all for a bounce back type season on the New York bench in 2016 because at least now we may have a reason for his struggles instead of merely grasping at straws. 

2014 Predictions on Point for 2015

When the New York Yankees were officially eliminated from playoff contention in 2014 I harnessed my full Yankees Wizard powers in a few predictions for the 2015 season. I will showcase two predictions specifically that absolutely came true.

BRING BACK TOO MANY DAMN HOME RUNS

And they did... and they are in the postseason. Click the link to read the article.

YANKEES WILL GET YOUNGER IN 2015

Greg Bird, Luis Severino, Rob Refsnyder, John Ryan Murphy, Slade Heathcott and the bullpen.

TGP Daily Poll: Yankees June Slide

The New York Yankees have started out each of the last three seasons red hot and on fire only to have a June slide in both 2013 and 2014. That will happen again in 2015 as New York finishes the month out of first place.

Vote in our prediction poll on Knoda.com

The New York Yankees through May in 2013, 2014 & 2015

I meant to get to this post yesterday since it was the first of the month but the schedule was too full to fit in the post. I guess having too much content and not enough time is never a bad thing but I do apologize anyway. Today we take a look at the Yankees record through the month of May the last three seasons. We pick the last three seasons for obvious reasons as the Yankees missed the playoffs in their 2013 and 2014 campaigns and look to avoid that same fate for a third year in a row.

The Yankees record through May 2013: 31-23 (2nd place)

The Yankees record through May 2014: 29-25 (2nd place)

The Yankees record through May 2015: 26-25 (1^st place)

2013 Run Differential: +18

2014 Run Differential: -10

2015 Run Differential: +10

As you can see this team actually has the worst record of any of the three teams but thankfully for New York the team is also playing in the worst division of any of the three years. The Baltimore Orioles are not bashing people’s skulls in like they were in 2014 and the Boston Red Sox are no longer the juggernaut that they were in 2013 leaving at least some hope for New York. The bottom line is if the team wants to make the postseason it’s going to likely be as a division winner and not a Wild Card so they better at least win more than the Tampa Bay Rays or heads may begin to roll in the Bronx. 

ICYMI: The 2014 Yankees vs. the 2015 Yankees - Offense

We have seen a lot of turnover on this team since the beginning of the 2014 season to now and we still are likely to see some change between now and Opening Day. There are two types of change in this world with the first being change just for the sake of change. Sure you changed but you didn’t really gain anything and now things may be worse. The second type of change is change for the better, which is harder of the two to accomplish obviously. Which one have the Yankees accomplished since the beginning of 2014?

2014 1B: Mark Teixeira

2015 1B: Mark Teixeira

2014 2B: Brian Roberts

2015 2B: Stephen Drew

2014 SS: Derek Jeter

2015 SS: Didi Gregorius

2014 3B: Yangervis Solarte

2015 3B: Chase Headley

2014 LF: Brett Gardner

2015 LF: Brett Gardner

2014 CF: Jacoby Ellsbury

2015 CF: Jacoby Ellsbury

2014 RF: Carlos Beltran

2015 RF: Carlos Beltran

2014 C: Brian McCann

2015 C: Brian McCann

2014 DH: Alfonso Soriano

2015 DH: Alex Rodriguez

As you can see the Yankees have a push at five different positions because the same player donned the position last year. While I am banking on, even if marginal, improvements from all five of those players in 2015 but you cannot really analyze “banking” on players. What you can bank on, with stats like WAR to back you up, are the improvements at second base, shortstop, third base and probably the DH position. If you wanted to take it one step further you can probably count on the Yankees bench being better and more productive in 2015 with power options like Garrett Jones and Chris Young after losing out on the likes of Ichiro Suzuki, Dean Anna and Francisco Cervelli in 2014. This team won’t win 100 games by any stretch of the imagination but the team definitely has a chance for improvement in 2015. 

The 2014 Yankees vs. the 2015 Yankees - Offense

We have seen a lot of turnover on this team since the beginning of the 2014 season to now and we still are likely to see some change between now and Opening Day. There are two types of change in this world with the first being change just for the sake of change. Sure you changed but you didn’t really gain anything and now things may be worse. The second type of change is change for the better, which is harder of the two to accomplish obviously. Which one have the Yankees accomplished since the beginning of 2014?

2014 1B: Mark Teixeira

2015 1B: Mark Teixeira

2014 2B: Brian Roberts

2015 2B: Stephen Drew

2014 SS: Derek Jeter

2015 SS: Didi Gregorius

2014 3B: Yangervis Solarte

2015 3B: Chase Headley

2014 LF: Brett Gardner

2015 LF: Brett Gardner

2014 CF: Jacoby Ellsbury

2015 CF: Jacoby Ellsbury

2014 RF: Carlos Beltran

2015 RF: Carlos Beltran

2014 C: Brian McCann

2015 C: Brian McCann

2014 DH: Alfonso Soriano

2015 DH: Alex Rodriguez

As you can see the Yankees have a push at five different positions because the same player donned the position last year. While I am banking on, even if marginal, improvements from all five of those players in 2015 but you cannot really analyze “banking” on players. What you can bank on, with stats like WAR to back you up, are the improvements at second base, shortstop, third base and probably the DH position. If you wanted to take it one step further you can probably count on the Yankees bench being better and more productive in 2015 with power options like Garrett Jones and Chris Young after losing out on the likes of Ichiro Suzuki, Dean Anna and Francisco Cervelli in 2014. This team won’t win 100 games by any stretch of the imagination but the team definitely has a chance for improvement in 2015. 

Top Posts from 2014 on The Greedy Pinstripes

It's been a good year for the blog so there is no other time to look back and be appreciative then one Day One of a new year. Well I slacked, slept late and didn't get to this until Day Two.... whoops. It's officially 2015 but one last time we're going to look back at 2014 and not so much at what the Yankees were doing as much as what we on the blog were doing. Hope you enjoy.

The most viewed post this season was far and away the one that showcased another possibility to terminate the contract of Alex Rodriguez. The hate of the centaur continues....

Dan Pfieffer broke Twitter without a champagne glass when he reported that the New York Yankees had offered Max Scherzer a contract. That was on November 29th, FYI. 

For some reason our third highest viewed post of the calendar year reported the news that the Yankees had sent Chase Whitley down to the minors and called up Zelous Wheeler in a corresponding roster move. Weird but okay, we'll take it. 

By far my favorite post, maybe of all time, was my George Steinbrenner and the Ghosts of Yankees Past Christmas themed post I did on Christmas Eve. It didn't do nearly as well as a quick two minute Zelous Wheeler post which was discouraging but it was still far and away my favorite. 

Just a day earlier another very time consuming post was posted showcasing every single significant trade of the Brian Cashman tenure in pinstripes. 

The First Annual #TGP Awards Show

Welcome ladies and gentleman to the first annual TGP Awards brought to you by the New York Yankees. Tonight we’ll take a look at who will win each of the major awards, Most Likely to Bounce Back in 2015, The Andruw Jones Award (the player I want off the team in the worst way by June) and of course the big one, the Get Greedy Award given to the greediest Yankee of the year. We’ve got a busy night so let’s get to it.

Here to present the award for most likely to bounce back in 2015 is Yankees first baseman and host of Foul Territory, Mr. Mark Teixeira. “And the award goes to….. Carlos Beltran!” How could Beltran not win this award? He could almost literally miss half the season and still play more games in the outfield in 2015 than he did in 2014 and bat for a higher batting average with more home runs and RBI. Congrats Carlos.

For the second award we bring in former Yankees player Andruw Jones to present to inaugural Andruw Jones Award. “And the award goes to….. Chris Capuano!” Capuano is here to provide insurance to the Yankees staff and eventually, hopefully, the bullpen when Ivan Nova comes back. There is a reason a team like the Boston Red Sox and Colorado Rockies give up on a pitcher so soon. Capuano falls into the Brandon McCarthy role for me as the player we got the most out of in 2014 and should move on or be disappointed with in 2015. I was ready for Capuano to leave the rotation before he got in pinstripes so I have a feeling it won’t take until June this year for me to want him gone.

And for the final award of the night, the big award of the night, we bring in Hal Steinbrenner to present the Get Greedy Award which is given to the greediest member of the Yankees in 2015. “And the nominees are…. Alex Rodriguez….. CC Sabathia….. Mark Teixeira….. Carlos Beltran…… and Jacoby Ellsbury. And the #GetGreedy award goes to….. Alex Rodriguez.” While you could make the case that any or all of these players are “greedy” they all look to be every day and integral parts of the team except for Rodriguez. Rodriguez has now two bad hips and two steroid allegations to go with his $61 million in remaining salary as he rides the bench and “fights” for playing time in 2015.

We want to thank everyone for coming out and tuning in at home for the first ever TGP Awards Show. We hope you enjoyed and will stop by next year. Goodbye, and Happy New Year!

Remembering 2014: Derek Jeter Day

Derek Jeter Day 2014

Remembering 2014: Brett Gardner's Highlights

Brett Gardner's Highlights

Remembering 2014: Chase Headley's First Yankees Game

Spoiler alert, he walked off. 

Remembering 2014: Derek Jeter Highlights

Derek Jeter's 2014 Highlights 

Remembering 2014: Mark Teixeira Highlights

Mark Teixeira's 2014 Highlights

Remembering 2014: Masahiro Tanaka

Masahiro Tanaka's 2014 Highlights

Remembering 2014: Brian McCann

Brian McCann's 2014 Highlights

Remembering 2014: Jacoby Ellsbury

Remembering 2014: Dellin Betances

The New Years Eve and 2015 countdown has officially begun. Let's remember 2014, the good stuff about 2014 anyway, by taking a look back at what Dellin Betances brought to the team. Enjoy.

Alex Rodriguez May Improve the 2015 DH Position

Believe it or not, and many out there reading this are leaning towards the “not” already after reading the title, Alex Rodriguez may improve the team by being the DH in 2015. Hear me out and remember that in 2014 New York’s DH’s combined to hit just .230/.290/.372 ranking 12^th out of 15 teams in the American League. Alex Rodriguez’s worst two seasons as a major league player came in 2012 and an abbreviated 2013 where he batted .265/.352/.428. Those are not huge upgraded numbers, especially if he continues to decline despite the year off to rest, work out and rehab, but his presence alone from the right side of the plate may actually improve the team.

The last we saw Alex in 2013 when he was passing Lou Gehrig on the all-time grand slam’s list he was not hitting for much power. What was encouraging to me, using the eye test of course, was the fact that he hit so many of his hits and home runs to the opposite field. The power was still there and the extension was still there for A Rod and that’s something that cannot be taught or mended by a surgeon or doctor. Whether that’s still going to be there in 2015 remains to be seen…

The Yankees best case scenario here is to hope he is healthy and ready to improve on that ugly triple slash from 2014 from the DH’s or to hope that he is physically declared unable to play and perform which allows the team to collect insurance money (up to 80% of the $61 million still owed) and void his contract.

Stay tuned.

$500 Million Doesn't Buy What It Used To

The New York Yankees went on an absolute shopping spree this winter and spent in excess of $500 million bringing in the likes of Jacoby Ellsbury, Carlos Beltran, Brian McCann, Masahiro Tanaka, Brian Roberts, Kelly Johnson,  and others but the team actually did worse, record wise, than the 2013 Yankees did. Is the record column the only place where the 2014 Yankees were lacking in comparison to the 2013 Yankees? The answers may surprise you, keep reading.

2014 Yankees: record 84-78 (-31 run differential) -- Pythagorean W/L 77-85

Rk	Pos	Name	Age	G	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
		Team Totals	32.9	162	633	1349	247	26	147	591	112	452	1133	.245	.307	.380	.687	93
		Rank in 15 AL teams			13	13	13	8	7		3	9	4	11	14	10	12
		Non-Pitcher Totals	32.9	162	633	1347	247	26	147	591	112	452	1127	.246	.308	.381	.689	94
Rk	Pos	Name	Age	G	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

2013 Yankees: record 85-77 (-21 run differential) -- Pythagorean W/L 79-83

Rk	Pos	Name	Age	G	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
		Team Totals	31.9	162	650	1321	247	24	144	614	115	466	1214	.242	.307	.376	.683	88
		Rank in 15 AL teams			10	13	14	5	14		5	10	9	12	12	14	13
		Non-Pitcher Totals	31.9	162	650	1321	247	24	144	613	115	466	1202	.243	.308	.377	.685	89
Rk	Pos	Name	Age	G	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

So $500 million got you an older team by a full year, although Hiroki Kuroda, Ichiro Suzuki, and Derek Jeter all returning from 2013 another year older did not help. The team also scored 17 runs less, won one less game, drove in less RBI, and had comparable numbers pretty much everywhere else across the board. Was Robinson Cano THAT valuable to the Yankees and their offense or were these stats skewed a tad by Alfonso Soriano's incredible second half? I don't really think it matters, both teams missed the playoffs when their All Star's were retiring.