Winning is Better...

Photo Credit: John Minchillo, AP

Why can’t all wins be this easy?...

Friday night’s win over the soon-to-be renamed Cleveland Indians was one of the rare times the Yankees have won in a cake walk this season and it was nice…very nice. With homers flying everywhere, the Yankees easily backed starter Corey Kluber and the bullpen (thank you for not inserting Andrew Heaney), thumping the Indians 8-0. It was probably bittersweet for Kluber as he’ll never face his former team again while they wear Indians gear.  Next season they become the Cleveland Guardians and will have a different look. 

Things looked so sunny and bright for the Yankees a few weeks ago when they were on the 13-game winning streak, and then, as we know, they fell hard with miserable play to undo the strong wild card advancement they had made, putting them back into the mix with the Red Sox and Blue Jays.

As hard as it was to get swept by the Blue Jays earlier this month, Thursday’s ugly loss to the Baltimore Orioles was probably one of the toughest losses, for me, to accept. The Yankees have lost a few games this season they should have won, and Thursday’s game was obviously the latest example. They scored two early runs and couldn’t put more insurance runs on the board, and let the Orioles steal the victory in walk-off fashion, thanks to ineffective late relief and sloppy play. The Yankees inability to figure out the Orioles this season while the Tampa Bay Rays were beating them in 18 out of 19 games is why the Rays are in first place and the Yankees are not. 

When the Yankees can’t beat a truly inferior opponent, it leads me to believe there will be no October magic in the Bronx this year. They do not seem to have the “it” quality teams destined for championships have. They have not given me the confidence they can sustain excellence and steamroll opponents when the chips are on the line. It’s within the realm of possibility they can win, if they can win one of the wild card spots, but they need to play more like Friday night and less like Thursday night. Of course, I hope and want them to win, I am just not overly confident they will. Please, Yankees, prove me wrong.

I had started to see ugly comments from the Yankees fan base when Joey Gallo wasn’t hitting dingers, but honestly, I never lost faith in the guy. Even when he is not hitting, he is helping with strong defense and getting on base. He also seems like a cool dude to have in the clubhouse which helps team chemistry. Now that he’s been placed in the lower part of the batting order (which is apparently more comfortable for him), he’s seemingly crushing homers every day. Two last night.  He is certainly heating up at the right time, and I am happy that I’ve supported him from the start.

When the Yankees designated reliever Brooks Kriske for assignment last week and subsequently lost him to the Orioles, it rubbed salt in the wound for how badly the Yankees’ front office botched it last winter when they protected Kriske on the 40-man roster, leaving Garrett Whitlock, now enjoying success in Boston, unprotected, and subsequently lost in the Rule 5 Draft. Not that Kriske has enjoyed any major league success, but it was disappointing that the guy who took his place on the roster, Sal Romano, was lost to injury in his first game back with the Yankees. 

Thanks to former Yankee Michael Pineda, the Yankees are back in the second Wild Card spot. Pineda and his current team, the Minnesota Twins, beat the Blue Jays last night.  The Red Sox hold the top Wild Card, but the Yankees, Red Sox and Blue Jays are in a virtual dead heat with 65 losses. They are only separated by the number of wins (84, 83, and 82 wins, respectively) which means the Yankees and Blue Jays can make up ground when they play an equal number of games (assuming they win those games).

I am happy the Yankees finally pulled Gleyber Torres from shortstop and put him back at second base. I like having Anthony Rizzo on the roster, but I do wish the Yankees had been successful in prying Trevor Story from the Colorado Rockies at the trade deadline. It will be interesting to see what the Yankees do in the off-season. With strong young shortstops in the system, like Anthony Volpe and Oswald Peraza, still a couple of seasons away, will the Yankees make a play for a top free agent shortstop like Story or Corey Seager, or do they just try to find an average player that can fill the spot until one of the young shortstops is ready to ascend to the position? If they don’t go big, it sort of feels like they are wasting the prime years of Gerrit Cole and Aaron Judge. Both Volpe and Peraza are targeted for 2023 which is not too far away. Big off-season decisions for the Yankees, especially if they miss out on the play-offs or take the one and done route. 

Photo Credit: David Gravely, Southwest Times

Speaking of off-season decisions, please fire hitting coaches Marcus Thames and P.J. Pilittere. The Yankees have made significant upgrades with pitching instruction with innovative, new-age hires like Matt Blake and Sam Briend. They need to do the same with the hitting coaches. Sorry P.J., I know you are a company loyalist, and you were cheated out of a bonus a few years ago, but the Yankees can do better. 

Hopefully the Yankees can ensure the Cleveland “Indians” never win a game against the Yankees ever again. Just win today and tomorrow, please. Every game counts. No more room for poor play. 

As always, Go Yankees!

OFFICIAL 2016 MLB Draft Yankees Recap

The deadline has come and gone for each team to sign their draft picks from the 2016 MLB Draft and the Yankees did just that more times than not this season. New York signed each of their Top 10 draft picks this season including 18th overall pick Blake Rutherford and 3rd round pick Nolan Martinez which were part of an impressive haul by the Yankees this season. Here is what the Yankees got done before the draft signing deadline.

The top 10 picks for the Yankees were OF Blake Rutherford, 2B Nick Solak, RHP Nolan Martinez, RHP Nick Nelson, OF Dom Thompson-Williams, RHP Brooks Kriske, C Keith Skinner, 1B Dalton Blaser, 1B Tim Lynch and LHP Trevor Lane.

Outside the Top 10 rounds New York also signed 18 of their remaining 30 draft picks including every single player in the first 15 rounds of the draft. Pinstripe Alley has the complete list and it's awesome and well done so go check it out. HERE

When all was said and done the Yankees spent $7,123,000 in this year's draft.

Meet a Prospect: Trevor Lane

The New York Yankees went very college heavy in the early rounds of the 2016 MLB First Year Players Draft and for good reason. The Yankees farm system is loaded with talent but much of the talent hasn’t sniffed Double-A competition yet leaving New York desperate for depth from their farm system at the Major League level. The quickest way to get a draftee to the Major Leagues is to draft a college pitcher or position player that is considered to be polished and more MLB ready and let them loose to fly through the system. That’s exactly what they did with their 10^th round pick in this year’s draft Trevor Lane. Let’s meet him.

This is Meet a Prospect: The Trevor Lane Edition. Lane was drafted 307^th overall by the Yankees out of the University of Illinois. Lane is a left-handed power relief pitcher who began his collegiate career at Campbell before transferring to Lower Columbia Community College and then UL. While in the Horizon League Lane was considered to be one of the top relievers in all of the conference after transferring from the rotation to the bullpen this season.

As a starter in 2014 Lane posted a very impressive 12.46 K/9 ratio but he saw that same ratio drop to 7.02 in 2015 forcing his coaches to move him to the bullpen. As a senior reliever in 2016 Lane threw 70.1 innings and posted a 1.41 ERA with five saves and a 90/35 K/BB ratio despite missing time with a concussion. That impressive strikeout rate jumped Lane back to a 12.49 K/9 showing Lane and the Yankees that his coaching staff made the right decision in the move.

Lane is not a big guy by any means, 5’11” and 185 lbs., but he has good mechanics and a good delivery that should quell some of the durability concerns that come with smaller framed pitchers. Lane, like Brooks Kriske who the Yankees took with their 6^th pick out of USC, should move through the Yankees farm system rather quickly and into the Circle of Trust with Joe Girardi relatively soon. Think Jacob Lindgren circa 2015.

Welcome to the organization Trevor and welcome to the family as well.

Meet a Prospect: Brooks Kriske

Continuing with our daily Meet a Prospect series post-draft we take a look at the Yankees sixth round pick and 188^th overall pick Brooks Kriske. Kriske was your stereotypical college senior and closer that you draft in order to sign quickly, move quickly through the farm system and save some slot money with in order to increase your chances at signing one of your top picks but that doesn’t mean Kriske can’t and won’t be useful in the Bronx going forward so let’s meet him. This is Meet a Prospect: The Brooks Kriske Edition.

Kriske was the closer for the University of Southern California Trojans baseball team in 2016 and as I mentioned before he was a four-year college senior without many alternatives options as far as baseball after college. Kriske was ranked 29^th overall and 41^st best in the state of California by Baseball America but you know how the Yankees and specifically Damon Oppenheimer love their California arms.

Kriske is 22-years old and in his senior season at USC the right-hander posted a 2.55 ERA with a 2.80 K/BB ratio and 10.70 K/9 ratioin 35.1 innings. Kriske has six saves in 26 games and Fangraphs ranked him as one of the top pitchers in all of the Pac-12 before the 2016 season began back in March. Kriske has a big pitcher’s frame standing at 6’3” and 190 lbs. with tons of room to grow into his frame and into his stuff.

Kriske possesses a 95-96 MPH fastball to pair with an average slider although he did show signs of life and consistency with it this season. Kriske is not a Chance Adams or Jonathan Holder that will likely be tried out as a starter in the Yankees system, Kriske was drafted to fly through the system and make a difference in the bullpen much like Jacob Lindgren was when he was drafted in 2015 out of Mississippi State University.

Kriske might not make Brian Cashman and his scouting crew look like a genius as a sixth round pick but he could still turn into a very useful relief pitcher as soon as the later parts of the 2017 season. That has to count for something, doesn’t it? So Brooks I want to be one of the first to welcome you not only to the organization but to the family as well. You deserve it. 

Yankees Sign Five Draft Picks

The New York Yankees have signed five of their draft picks from this year's draft just days after the draft wrapped up. No one too notable, not Blake Rutherford or anything, but New York has an ability of getting a lot out of these later picks so it's worth staying tuned to.

• 4th round pick Nick Nelson signed rather than heading to the University of Florida. 

• 6th round pick Brooks Kriske signed as a college senior and a closer. Easy sign, probably for $100K. 

• 9th round Tim Lynch signed. Another college senior and another no-brainer. 

• 23rd round pick Braden Bristo signs for $55K.

• 27th round pick Phillip Diehl signs for $50K.