The Chase Headley/Scott Brosius Comparison I Absolutely Love

As many of you may have figured out by now I am an absolute addict and nut when it comes to New York Yankees baseball. I crave information and gratification when it comes to the team and I want to watch them play as often as I can. When I’m not watching I am reading and writing about them and I read an interesting article over on ESPN from Andrew Marchand which was reporting on the Gleyber Torres Tommy John surgery news. In the article Andrew made an interesting comparison that I absolutely love and that I want to expand on a bit since he didn’t. Marchand opines that current Yankees third baseman Chase Headley is “basically the same player” as a former Yankees great Scott Brosius. Let’s compare.

Obviously comparing different eras and different players is difficult but with the advancement of sabermetrics and advanced statistics you can get closer than you ever could before with a simple eye test and backyard discussion. For this discussion we are going to mainly focus on the Yankees tenures (although you will see some career stats and comparisons thrown in as well) of both Brosius and Headley to see if Marchand may have been on to something with his comparison. All stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, big shout out to those guys.

Brosius spent four seasons in the Bronx and posted a career .267/.331/.428/.729 slash line with 65 home runs and 282 RBI. Brosius’ tenure in the Bronx equated to an 8.3 WAR which was more than half of his career 15.7 WAR. Meanwhile Headley is in his fourth year with the Yankees and has posted a .255/.333/.377/.711 slash as of the beginning of this week with 35 home runs and 159 RBI. Headley has posted a Yankees WAR of 6.4 which is far less than the 19.4 WAR he posted while he was a member of the San Diego Padres. The numbers may not be exact but they are certainly comparable. When you mix in the fact that both play a tremendous third base defense and both have the tenacity needed to come through in the clutch I can totally see and agree with Andrew Marchand on this one. Good call, Andrew.

So why do Yankees fans adore and love Brosius yet seem ready to light their torches and man their pitch forks to get Headley out of town? The easy argument can be made for the postseason performances of both men. Brosius was the Yankees third baseman for three of the Yankees World Series championships during their dynasty years and Brosius came up with clutch hit after clutch hit along the way, see the 2001 World Series as an example of that and his postseason career .245/.278/.418 slash with eight home runs and 30 RBI as evidence of that. Meanwhile Headley has been in just one playoff game with the Yankees, the Wild Card Round loss to the Houston Astros in 2015. That’s not Headley’s fault by any means but the Yankees fan base has never been accused of being reasonable, fair or very patient either. Maybe Headley and the Yankees can turn that around in 2017. Stay tuned. 

Report: Michael Pineda Drawing Trade Interest

The New York Yankees went into this offseason seemingly willing to trade away any veteran or high priced player that wasn’t tied down. We’ve seen it with the Brian McCann trade and we’ve heard rumbles of potential Chase Headley and Brett Gardner deals but what about another player from the team that is reportedly drawing trade interest this offseason. What about the potential idea of trading away Michael Pineda before he gets too expensive or before he reaches free agency after the 2017 season? Would it work for New York?

There’s no denying the potential and the talent that Pineda has. What you can deny is whether he will ever put it all together over the course of an entire season or whether he can get out of his own way, Pine Tar Gate anyone?, long enough to put it all together long enough to have a great career. For that reason alone there will at least be some teams that will be intrigued and interested in Michael Pineda if he were to come available this winter via trade. I believe that a lot of teams could see the right-hander as a one-year stop gap and/or a buy-low candidate this season due in large fact to his peripherals, his raw stuff, talent and his age.

Last season Pineda finished the season with a 4.82 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP, neither of which are very impressive by any means, but when you look at his FIP you can see that according to sabermetrics he was a much better pitcher. Pineda had a 3.80 FIP, a 3.30 xFIP, a 10.61 K/9 ratio, a 3.91 BB/9 ratio and a .339 BABIP (batting average on balls in play) which suggest that his defense, and maybe a bit of bad luck, didn’t do him any favors in 2016.

According to Andrew Marchand of ESPN New York the Yankees have fielded offers for Pineda but have denied all trade requests to date due in large part to their lack of quality arms in the rotation. Plus it’s worth noting that the Yankees have always been high on his upside and would presumably rather see him flourish or finally figure it all out in the Bronx rather than for another time like we’ve seen far too many times in recent years.

This is it for Pineda though as time is running out on his tenure in the Bronx. Pineda is set to hit free agency after the 2017 season so it’s time to put up, or shut up. Let’s hope for the former and not the latter although it could be either and he could still be traded this summer if the Yankees are out of contention. Stay tuned. 

Trade Deadline: Click Baiting & What Happened to Actually Reporting on News?

Sources: Yankees may deal Chapman to Cubs https://t.co/NJ6ED6uLvP the story is via @ESPNChiCubs Send your comments his way, he loves them

— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) July 25, 2016

What the hell happened to actually reporting on the news? I’m sorry to start your Tuesday morning off with a rant but I feel like there is a lot of things I have to get off my chest right now and this is the best place for me to do so because I don’t want to be blocked by half of twitter or hated on by half my friends. What happened to actual journalism and why is click baiting so damn “necessary” in an era where news is always up to the minute and people are going to be reading anyway? It’s sickening and it’s why I got into blogging, not to change the world but to show people that it can be done the “right” way. 

On Sunday night I went on a bit of a sarcastic rampage because anyone and everyone was reporting what they “knew” about the potential Aroldis Chapman trade to the Chicago Cubs. Now I was on twitter when people like Chris Cotillo were still essentially “nobodies” in the grand scheme of things so I’m not knocking on people because they just own a blog or don’t have millions of followers but I saw people “breaking news” that had 36 and 46 followers citing “sources.” To complicate matters you then had real and true insiders citing these same “sources” with the vaguest titles or the most click baiting titles I have ever seen in my life. 

Andrew Marchand of ESPN “reported” that the Yankees “may” trade Chapman to the Chicago Cubs a good three-or-four hours into the whole debacle where names were being leaked and the trade was reportedly close. And of course they “may” trade him, they may not trade him as well. What’s your point? And where did the journalism in all these things go? Are there anymore journalists left in the world or are we as fans subject to the same recycled crap with a few words changed around for the rest of our reading lives? 

Twelve hours prior to the Yankees being “close” to trading Chapman to the Cubs these same “sources” and insiders had him going to the Washington Nationals. Six hours later they had him going to the Cleveland Indians. Then the Cubs. Do you guys actually believe anything that you write or is being first, whether it’s accurate or not, or does being first mean THAT much to you? What happened to integrity first? Come on guys you are better than this. I know it because I’m old enough to have seen it. Believe it or not you may get more clicks and more views, which I understand is what pays your bills, for being real than being a d-bag. Ask Robert Casey and his Bleeding Yankee Blue site who probably get more clicks per day than you do. Why? Because they are awesome and better yet they are ACCOUNTABLE. 

Oh and Cubs fans. You ought to be ashamed of yourself talking to Julie DiCario the way that you do. Shame the hell on you and I hope I’m around when karma comes back to bite you in the ass. Sad and pathetic little people. Rant over!

First Twitter Poll of 2016: Where Will the Yankees Finish This Season?

@GreedyStripes The Yankees will finish the season in a parade down the Canyon of Heroes to celebrate their 28th World Series championship.

— Karen Mercury McCoy (@KarMerCoy) April 5, 2016

Someone who used to be a daily reader and a subscriber once told me that it was irresponsible journalism to do Twitter polls on the blog. It is irresponsible to let the fans opinions be heard and it’s not something that someone like Jack Curry, Andrew Marchand, Wally Matthews, Chad Jennings and others do. You know what? Good. We set out on this journey looking to be different, a breath of fresh air and to put the social back into social media no matter how big we got, how many views we received or how many Twitter followers we had. We held up our end of the bargain so onward with the first Twitter poll of the 2016 season!

It’s quick, simple and to the point. When Game 162 is over and the dust settles on the 2016 campaign where will the Yankees finish the season?

@GreedyStripes In Yankee Stadium, in October, against the Orioles.

— Mike Brodsky (@brodskyme) April 5, 2016

@GreedyStripes Behind the Blue Jays!

— TheBudsAreBack (@Thebudsareback) April 5, 2016

This is from an obvious Blue Jays fan that follows us. Don't troll, he is a nice guy and it's all in fun. We know that and he gets his fair share back as well.

@GreedyStripes shaping up to be a tough division. They could finish 2nd & potentially not make the WC as other divisons are also stacked

— CloudyDay (@Uh_Cloudy) April 5, 2016

@GreedyStripes Underrated rotation will pitch to its full potential and push the Yankees into first

— Gianmarco Castronovo (@gianmarcocast6) April 5, 2016

To be involved in our next Twitter poll, and yes former subscriber and daily emailer there will be another Twitter poll this season, give us a follow on Twitter (@GreedyStripes) and be on the lookout for our next Twitter Poll first. We won’t use your responses without telling you first!

The Goose is Still on the Loose

Goose Gossage has fallen into the trap that the media likes to set. Gossage was interviewed by ESPN’s Andrew Marchand earlier in the month and he had a few one-liners that became instant news headlines. He called Yoenis Cespedes and Jose Bautista a disgrace, with a few expletives thrown in between, and also called anyone who went to Harvard or studied analytics a “nerd.” Goose is talking again and he’s not holding back this time either, the Goose is still on the loose!

This time Goose was speaking with Kevin Kernan of the New York Post and he reiterated what he said in the ESPN interview. Goose also went out and took a shot at Cam Newton, the Carolina Panthers quarterback in the NFL, saying “it’s a shame, it breaks my heart to see the direction this game is going. What, do we want a bunch of Cam Newton’s running around?”

Goose also doesn’t like instant replay although he still does like using the “F” word just as an FYI. Goose was quoted as saying “Now you sit there for five minutes and wait for a f***ing replay. And half the time you can’t even tell.” Goose went on to also say “who’s died in the last 100 years because of a bad call? Well, they lost a World Series and the kid lost his perfect game. Who died? Leave the human element in the game. You cannot take the human element out of baseball because it is the fabric of the game.

Oh and Bryce Harper is fair game too. “What does this kid know? This kid doesn’t know squat about the game, and no respect for it.” And Goose what are you doing exactly? Representing the game, a kid’s game that many children follow, and representing the Yankees and the Hall of Fame by dropping f-bombs every other word in every interview that you are doing every other day? You didn’t hear my last post obviously or take it to heart so I’ll put it in a language you can understand and relate to.

Goose, shut the **** up. You’re embarrassing yourself nerd. You, my friend, are the disgrace and you are better than this. You’re a Yankee, an advocate for the game, an adult and a role model to children. Act like it or go home. And I don’t condone the use of that kind of language and frankly I only used it to drive home a point with you directly, truth be told I have the utmost respect for you as a person and as a ballplayer, but as a fan your act is getting old. Don’t give in to the machine that is the media because they don’t care about you or what you have to say. They just want you to get fired up, use the “F” word, and sell some papers or subscriptions to their blogs. That’s all. Be better than that. 

Yankees Family, What is a Blog?

Hello Yankees family and I hope you are having a great weekend. I come to you today with a question that has been bugging me, what is a blog? The dictionary defines a blog as “a website containing a writer’s or group of writers’ own experiences, observations, opinions, etc., and often having images and links to other websites.” The reason I bring this up is because I have recently come under fire for the way I run my blog and for the content that I create. I have been called too emotional, I’ve been told I push my opinions and beliefs on people and my words are sometimes taken out of context. I am okay with this, you are allowed to disagree with my and all that, but why am I being attacked for putting out my observations and opinions on a blog that I own? 

I am under no illusions that I am a beat writer or a journalist although sometimes bloggers and their work are compared to them. I write from a fan’s perspective, I’m not an insider and I don’t work for the team. I was being compared in these emails to people who work for the Yankees, either directly or indirectly, and who presumably have their opinions, their observations and their emotions limited by the team and the people signing off on their paychecks. I don’t live under those restrictions and I am not Jon Heyman, Andrew Marchand, Wally Matthews, Chad Jennings,  or Jack Curry (all men I have an enormous amount of respect for FYI), I am Daniel Burch and that’s all I’m ever going to be. 

When I started this blog along with Bryan Van Dusen we didn’t go out of our way to be different, but we are. We are fans first and foremost and we’re not the GM. If I want Cliff Lee in pinstripes I’m going to write about it, if you don’t then don’t click the article. I don’t push my material on anyone, I don’t even post links to my stuff 99% of the time. I am a fan so yes I have an opinion and yes I am emotional and yes I may be dramatic and over the top sometimes, so what? I’m human. I’M A HUMAN BEING TOO. My feelings are hurt and that's why I've been quiet. 

I have done things my way for better or worse since the first day of the blog until today and I will continue to do so until I decide to close up shop. If that means I never become more than what I am today as far as writing then that’s A-OK by me. I’m happy where I’m at and as much as I would love to turn this into a career I am quite content with it not being. My wife and kids have everything they need and then some and I have a hobby, a hobby I enjoy and I’m told I’m quite good at most of the time. This blog is not changing and if emotions and opinions and observations and the use of common sense to make determinations isn’t for you then maybe this blog isn’t either. 

I have respected anyone and everyone that has ever come my way in this industry whether it be in emails, on Twitter, in comments etc. and I expect the same in return. If I don’t get it then I burn the bridge. Life is too short to be disrespected and I feel disrespected. This is just something I had to get off my chest and I appreciate you all listening. Thank you.

Oh and FYI apparently it’s unprofessional to do Twitter polls despite the fact that you guys all enjoy them and enjoy being on the blog. That’s not changing either. Thanks again, love you guys!

ESPN & Their Ridiculously Low Expectations for the New York Yankees

ESPN is not a publication I trust, I have to preface with that before I start this article. This is my opinion and I could be totally off track here but I feel that the sports channel seems to lean towards Boston and Red Sox Nation. They are bias, especially on their Sunday Night Baseball showcases, and they don’t attempt to hide it anymore. It’s blatant, it’s a slap in the face and 99 times out of 100 I don’t watch them unless I have to. Now that may change a bit this upcoming season with the removal of Curt Schilling and John Kruk from the booth and with the addition of Aaron Boone and non-bias Jessica Mendoza but while their Sunday night broadcasts will become bearable their preseason 2016 predictions still seem to be showing that bias just a tad.

Again, I may be off track here but last season ESPN had the Yankees winning 78 games and finishing in last place in the AL East Division. As we all know the Yankees finished with 87 victories last season and had it not been for a late season collapse they would have been a 90+ win team. This year the sports channel is once again down on New York and once again hovering around the .500 mark. ESPN has the Yankees ranked 17^th best in the league and has the team finishing with an even 81-81 record.

The common gripes about the team have been heard everywhere. Masahiro Tanaka can’t stay healthy, the team is old, Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira cannot replicate their 2015 seasons and Aroldis Chapman has a potential suspension looming over his head. All this while ignoring the absolute plethora of minor league depth New York has in the farm system and also ignoring the depth and versatility placed on what should be one of the strongest benches the team has seen in ages. All this while ignoring the fact that the team has a shutdown bullpen with 11 or 12 potential pitchers all capable of locking down a spot while four spots, at most, are up for grabs which could shorten the games, keep the starting pitching healthy and boost production across the board.

But hey, ESPN, if you want to harp on all the negatives and completely ignore the positives that’s 100% okay. You’ve been doing it for years in my opinion and as a whole nobody likes change. I get that, I just won’t change the fact that I basically ignore your publications and channel on my DirecTV. Andrew Marchand and others are your one saving grace, appreciate them because apparently they don’t make them like that anymore.