Late June, Last of the Teen Losses...

  

Giancarlo Stanton / Photo Credit: EPA

Next loss is almost Legal Drinking Age…

Sadly, there was no ‘rally in their bones’ last night as the Yankees fell to the Houston Astros, 3-1. The loss dropped the Yankees to 52-19, still the best record in Major League Baseball. Every other team in the AL East won yesterday but the Yankees lead over the second-place Toronto Blue Jays is eleven ½ games so there is room in the waistband. I certainly did not expect the Yankees to sweep the Astros this series, as much as I would have liked them to. The Astros are clearly the best team in the American League that the Yankees will face this year. Depending upon how the final standings align, Yankees-Astros could be a preview of the American League Championship Series in October. So, reaping the soul of the Astros in October is far more important than a four-game set in late June.

I am hoping for at least a split of the four-game series although three of four would be quite beautiful. Gerrit Cole and Nasty Nestor Cortes Jr provide reason for optimism. Well, that is true of any of the Yankee starters this year, but now, the ageless dick, Justin Verlander, is out of the series having pitched last night.

Gerrit Cole / Photo Credit: AP

Keeping Aaron Judge a happy man is a good thing. I was glad the Yankees and Judge were able to avert yesterday’s arbitration hearing. While it was thought the hearing was originally scheduled for Wednesday and subsequently pushed to Friday, Mike Axisa wrote in his blog yesterday that the hearing was always scheduled for Friday. Regardless, I was fearful of the negative feelings that can be generated from an arbitration hearing when the team’s primary goal is to prove why the player is not good enough for their salary demand. I think Judge is such a professional, he would not have let it alter his strong emotional attachment to the 2022 Yankees, but it is better that we never find out how the bond would have been tested.

Aaron Judge

The Judge camp had asked for $21 million, while the Yankees countered with $17 million. Initially, there were reports yesterday morning that Judge had rejected the Yankees’ meet-in-the-middle counteroffer of $19 million. The tragic part of this is Judge is worth every penny of the $21 million he is asking for, but that is not how this game is played. Fortunately, it was not long before word came that Judge had accepted the Yankees’ revised offer, $19 million plus $250,000 for AL MVP and $250,000 for World Series MVP (both incentives strongly possible if Judge keeps playing at his current level). The best $19.5 million the Yankees will spend this year.

It was not fun reading Buster Olney’s words yesterday predicting that Aaron Judge will not be a Yankee in 2023. Under the premise of ‘all it takes is one inspired owner,’ he thinks the Yankees will be outbid in their clinical approach when Judge reaches free agency after the season. No doubt, if the Yankees let Judge walk, it will be one of the greatest travesties of the organization in my life as a Yankee fan. It was difficult to see Robinson Cano leave, and while I am not trying to discredit Cano, his loss was not a blip on the radar compared to how wrong it would be for Judge to pull on another jersey. I am hopeful that resigning Judge is as important to Managing General Partner Hal Steinbrenner as it was to snag Gerrit Cole a couple of years ago.

Sign Judge to a huge deal that makes sense for both sides and make him the next Captain of the New York Yankees. I hope this is the prime objective once we reach the off-season.

The disappointment of Reggie Jackson. I do not know the circumstances that caused Reggie Jackson to leave his role as a consultant for the Yankees to join the Houston Astros organization a few years ago (not sure that I really care), but it sucked to see Jackson show up at Yankee Stadium wearing an Astros cap this week. Compare Jackson to Yankees Hall of Famer Derek Jeter. When Jeter was CEO of the Miami Marlins, you did not see him show up at Yankee Stadium wearing a Marlins cap when his Marlins visited the Bronx. Jeter is respectful of his Yankees legacy, whereas Jackson proves once again, it is all about him. It always was, why should he change who he is now. Good riddance.

Reginald Martinez Jackson / Photo Credit: Twitter via @mroctober

Welcome back, Albert Abreu. Abreu, along with minor league LHP Robby Ahlstrom, helped to bring popular Yankees catcher Jose Trevino from the Texas Rangers to New York this past Spring. Abreu’s time in Texas was short. He was designated for assignment at the end of May and traded to the Kansas City Royals on June 3^rd for a minor league prospect. Abreu’s control problems led to a very brief stay in the Royals organization. He was designated for assignment a few weeks later and claimed on waivers by the Yankees on June 21^st.

Albert Abreu

I always liked Abreu and there was a time he was one of my favorite prospects. The Yankees had originally acquired him in the November 2016 deal that sent catcher Brian McCann to the Houston Cheaters. Now 26 years old, Abreu is no longer a prospect. I think if the Yankees thought they could fix his control challenges, it would have happened already. I view Abreu as a placeholder. His time on the 40-man roster, unless he suddenly becomes a revered part of the bullpen (unlikely), will be almost as short as his Royals career. When it comes time to add Aroldis Chapman, Jonathan Loaisiga, Domingo German, and later, Zack Britton, there will be no room for Abreu.

Many fans were upset when Clarke Schmidt was demoted to Triple A to make room for Abreu on the active roster. I am not sure that I ever saw the two moves related to one another other than Schmidt’s temporary trip to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre is an opportunity to get him more work and more specifically, starting work. The pitching staff knows Abreu and he afforded the Yankees an opportunity to help strengthen Schmidt for the long haul of the season. The Yankees’ starting rotation has been wonderful this season, but injuries are part of the game. Schmidt and JP Sears represent the rotation depth. I like the job Sears did earlier this season, but between the two men, I would rather have Schmidt in the rotation if something were to happen to one of the fabulous five currently in the Yankees rotation.

Clarke Schmidt / Photo Credit: Bebeto Matthews, AP

So, fans should not fret about Schmidt. He will be back, and he will play a part in the road to the World Series. His trip to Eastern Pennsylvania will only make him stronger. I am all for it. When champagne is dripping on the clubhouse floor, Schmidt will be getting alcohol stains on his jersey while Abreu will be home watching the World Series on television. For the record, I would love to see Abreu succeed, suddenly overcoming his flaws, but I am not optimistic.

To make room for Abreu, the Yankees traded reliever David McKay back to the Tampa Bay Rays. Watch McKay go from nothing special to a trusted high leverage reliever. That is how it usually works for the Rays. Seriously, it was no loss. The same as it will be when Abreu’s jersey is taken from him by Yankees clubhouse personnel. Life in baseball. It is necessary to have some Gypsy blood, knowing that travel is not limited to games but to different teams when you are not quite as talented as a guy like Aaron Judge.

As always, Go Yankees!

 

Looking Ahead to the 2017 Offseason Pitching Will Be a Key for New York

The 2016 MLB Playoffs are now in full swing but no one invited the New York Yankees to the part unfortunately so instead we, “we” being the fans, the team and the GM Brian Cashman, are left getting prepared for the offseason before the 2017 season. It’s not hard to see what did the Yankees in this season, an aging core that finally got old and less than stellar starting pitching, and while the Yankees have seemingly addressed one of these issues the other will have to wait until free agency and the trade markets officially open up. With the retirements and trades of Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira and Carlos Beltran the Yankees are a whole lot younger but with a staff anchored by Masahiro Tanaka and a bunch of questions marks the pitching is still an issue.

First and foremost, and I don’t care if Buster Olney said it, Rich Hill is not and should not be coming to the Yankees. He is 36-years old, injury prone and all he does is block potential youth from making the club both in terms of a roster spot and in terms of the pretty penny he is going to command in a weak free agent market this winter. Hill won’t command $100 million, don’t think I’m saying that, but I could see him commanding $50 million on a three year deal or so and that, again in my opinion, is the biggest overspend and reach the Yankees could make this winter.

Instead it looks like the Yankees may have to once again scour the trade market and that may begin Colorado with Chad Bettis. Acquiring players like Bettis though requires prospects and right now the Yankees need all the prospects they can keep in my opinion. That’s where an old plan becomes a new plan, stockpile the bullpen and simply let Chad Green, Luis Cessa, Luis Severino, James Kaprielian and others fight it out. Add Mark Melancon to be the closer, move Dellin Betances back to the 8^th inning and let Tyler Clippard and Adam Warren fight it out for the 7^th. If Warren loses, or maybe you could do it anyway, stretch him out back as a starter and let him compete with the young kids.

The ultimate goal is to leave the team with too many options where statistically and mathematically they can’t, and I use the word can’t lightly, fail. Make them “too big to fail.” One thing is for certain though the Yankees have to add pitching and they have to add more than one arm. One arm has to be added to the bullpen at least and another has to be added to the rotation if possible. If not we could see a repeat of what happened here in 2016 and nobody reading this wants that to happen again. Do we?

The Cubs Reportedly Interested in Nathan Eovaldi

Source says one of the pitchers the #Cubs are focusing on for possible deal is #Yankees SP Nathan Eovaldi. Nothing imminent.

— Julie DiCaro (@JulieDiCaro) May 29, 2016

The MLB trading deadline has been pushed back from July 31st to August 1st which on paper means very little but in the general aspect of the game a day could make all the difference. It could mean all the difference not to a team like the Chicago Cubs whose ticket may already be unofficially punched to the postseason in 2016 but it may make a huge difference for a fringe team like the New York Yankees. Just one day, and we've seen ti in years past with other teams, could make the difference between buying at the August 1st trade deadline and selling and if the Yankees are doing the latter the Chicago Cubs may be listening. According to Julie DiCaro who is a writer and anchor for the Cubs in various media outlets and forms the Chicago Cubs have already begun calling around looking for pitching and especially have their eye on Yankees stud Nathan Eovaldi.

Now while I usually ignore "sources" tweets unless it's from someone like a Jon Heyman or a Buster Olney I figured the blue check on Julie's Twitter account counted enough to post this. While I post this it does not mean I believe that the rumors are true, I know no more than you, so I leave it with you with a grain of salt. Believe it or don't believe it, I'm not doing that I am merely reporting the news.

I don't know the state of the Cubs farm system or their strengths and needs but everyone needs more pitching, especially pitching that is young and under team control for one more season. Would the Cubs give up a lot for Eovaldi? Would New York receive any Major League caliber talent like Jorge Soler, which yes I understand does not help the team but could preface another trade like one involving Carlos Beltran or Brett Gardner, in return for Soler? I honestly don't know.

I'm not even sure if the Yankees and Cubs will hook up with a deal or whether the rumor is true or not. I'm trying to be responsible and I'm simply reporting the news. What say you? Leave your thoughts below in the comments section.

Most Popular Article of the Week: Buster Olney Suggests Trade Involving Brian McCann

The best thing that ever happened to Major League Baseball viewing in my opinion was the inception of MLB Network. I may be overreacting a bit as I pull the "poor pitiful me" routine but for a long time it seemed like ESPN was pretty anti-Yankee and it was getting to me more and more blatant and more and more obvious. I stopped watching for the most part but I continued to read some of their analysts including Buster Olney who made a mock trade proposal on Baseball Tonight that I really, really like. Olney suggested that if the Yankees deem themselves out of it in 2016 that they should call the Texas Rangers, who need lots of help at the catching position, and offer their catcher Brian McCann for a Rangers top prospect.

Olney suggested the Yankees call Texas and offer McCann and his two-plus years of team control for Joey Gallo, the Rangers top prospect and third base prospect. While the Rangers would be unlikely, well no it isn't going to happen, to trade Gallo at all let alone for a catcher on the wrong side of 30-years old it is worth the call to see if that could be the beginning of a deal.

Now the Yankees fans in general would never accept a fire sale but if a fire sale brought back a top and recognizable name like Gallo then you have to make the deal. Gallo's left-handed swing and power already reminds many of Baltimore's Chris Davis and would be an enormous upgrade over Chase Headley who currently mans the hot corner. This also allows the team to bring Gary Sanchez up and allows them to give him the baptism of fire as the every day starter with Austin Romine as the backup.

Would the Rangers do a straight up deal? Lord no. Would the Yankees? Hell yes. But could these two teams add a little here and take a little there (the Yankees throw in someone else and agree to pay some of McCann's salary down for instance) to make a deal work? I think so, yes. Make it happen.

Buster Olney Suggests Trade Involving Brian McCann

The best thing that ever happened to Major League Baseball viewing in my opinion was the inception of MLB Network. I may be overreacting a bit as I pull the "poor pitiful me" routine but for a long time it seemed like ESPN was pretty anti-Yankee and it was getting to me more and more blatant and more and more obvious. I stopped watching for the most part but I continued to read some of their analysts including Buster Olney who made a mock trade proposal on Baseball Tonight that I really, really like. Olney suggested that if the Yankees deem themselves out of it in 2016 that they should call the Texas Rangers, who need lots of help at the catching position, and offer their catcher Brian McCann for a Rangers top prospect.

Olney suggested the Yankees call Texas and offer McCann and his two-plus years of team control for Joey Gallo, the Rangers top prospect and third base prospect. While the Rangers would be unlikely, well no it isn't going to happen, to trade Gallo at all let alone for a catcher on the wrong side of 30-years old it is worth the call to see if that could be the beginning of a deal.

Now the Yankees fans in general would never accept a fire sale but if a fire sale brought back a top and recognizable name like Gallo then you have to make the deal. Gallo's left-handed swing and power already reminds many of Baltimore's Chris Davis and would be an enormous upgrade over Chase Headley who currently mans the hot corner. This also allows the team to bring Gary Sanchez up and allows them to give him the baptism of fire as the every day starter with Austin Romine as the backup.

Would the Rangers do a straight up deal? Lord no. Would the Yankees? Hell yes. But could these two teams add a little here and take a little there (the Yankees throw in someone else and agree to pay some of McCann's salary down for instance) to make a deal work? I think so, yes. Make it happen.

ESPN's Preseason Predictions Not Good to the Yankees

ESPN, like many news outlets and blogs including my own, made their predictions for the standings and playoffs teams in Major League Baseball before the season started and the predictions were not good to the Yankees. Only one man, Mr. Buster Olney, had the New York Yankees making the postseason as the second Wild Card in the American League. See below for the predictions and a big hat tip to Buster for showing confidence in the Yankees. Also a few had the Blue Jays winning the AL East Division and I don't think many saw that coming so kudos to you as well. Enjoy the rest of the evening and what is left of your weekend.

*photos courtesy of ESPN.com

Kimbrel to Yankees? Team reportedly contacts Padres about star closer

The phrase "you can never have too much pitching" is alive and well in the Yankees' front office.

The club recently engaged the Padres in talks for closer Craig Kimbrel, CBS Sports' Jon Heyman reports.

Kimbrel, 29-for-30 in save opportunities this year, currently wields a .204 opponents' batting average -- the worst of his six-year career. 

But with his 12.6 K/9 and knack for pitching in big spots, some have speculated Kimbrel would fit well with the Yanks' bullpen -- already one of the best in the league.

From Heyman: 

"The name of superstar closer Craig Kimbrel has at least surfaced in the Padres' talks with the Yankees. The chances for a deal aren't known, but at first blush it would not seem to be the most logical or likely landing spot.

The Yankees have said they have no intention of trading any of their top four prospects -- pitcher Luis Severino, outfielder Aaron Judge, first baseman Greg Bird and shortstop Jorge Mateo -- in any deals. And a person familiar with the Padres' thinking suggested the Yankees' stance would have to change for a deal to have any chance of happening."

ESPN's Buster Olney also contemplated such a trade in an appearance on Sportscenter earlier this month, ultimately reaching the same conclusion. Kimbrel is under contract through 2017, and the Padres are likely to have a high asking price because of it. 

Then again, the thought of Kimbrel joining the likes of Dellin Betances, Andrew Miller and Chasen Shreve is an exciting one to say the least -- and the Yankees would be smart to consider it with the deadline nearing.

What do you think? Is a Kimbrel-Betances-Miller arrangement worth promising youngsters, or should the Yankees stick with what they have? 

Yankees Need to Manage CC like Rays Manage Pitching

I found an interesting article this week on the USA Today that revealed the secrets to the Tampa Bay Rays success this season despite losing half their team, their GM Andrew Friedman and their manager Joe Maddon all in the same offseason. The key to the Rays success in a nutshell in how they manage their pitching staff and bullpen which got me thinking, could the Yankees learn a thing or two from the Rays when it comes to the way they manage CC Sabathia?

The Rays have had success this season despite losing ace Matt Moore to Tommy John surgery, Alex Cobb to Tommy John surgery and Drew Smyly to a shoulder injury because the team is using common sense. The third time an offense see’s an opposing pitcher they are likely to do better against that pitcher. The pitcher is dealing with fatigue the third time around through the order and the batter has seen anywhere from five to twenty pitches off this pitcher already on the night. So what do the Rays do to combat this? They don’t let their pitchers see the opposing team’s offense three times in a night. Sounds simply enough, right?

In 2015 MLB hitters have a .696 OPS in their first at bats in a game, a .728 OPS in their second at bats and a .760 OPS in their third at bat of the game showing a no so surprising trend. These numbers are up from the 2014 marks of .681 in the first at bat, .708 in the second and .749 in the third at bat respectively. The Rays are on pace to let opposing offense’s see their pitchers three times in a game less than 1,000 plate appearances this season, by far the lowest in Major League Baseball this season. 

If the Tampa Bay Rays have an offense that sports just a .700 OPS at the time of this writing, 11^th best in the American League out of 15 teams, and are still in first place over the mighty Yankees then they must be doing something right. Buster Olney tweeted out the stats from CC when he faces an order a third time in a night and the stats were atrocious, and so is his record. Is it time to take notice and simply allow CC two times through the order before turning it over to the bullpen? If you’re asking me I have to say yes after seeing these Tampa Bay Rays stats. 

The Growing Debate for the Yankees Franchise Four

Major League Baseball has an initiative this season to vote on all 30 team’s “Franchise Four” which is basically a Mount Rushmore for every team. While some team’s decisions are pretty simple, see teams like the Miami (Florida) Marlins and the Arizona Diamondbacks for instance, while some teams are extremely difficult. Then you have the New York Yankees where you could ask 100 different people and get 100 different answers and technically all 100 could be correct. It was a discussion that the ESPN Sunday Night Baseball crew had during the Yankees victory and after some Twitter debate with Buster Olney, which was cool to see him interact with us on Twitter, I decided to come out with my picks for the Franchise Four.

Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio are locks in my opinion and in the opinions of about every single person who has asked the question so we won’t cover them too much. The real debate is for the final spot in the Franchise Four and it truly is a race with names like Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, and even players like Don Mattingly and Roger Clemens getting honorable mentions. While I am not crazy enough to include Clemens or Mattingly on my list, and no Whitey Ford is not on it either, I will make the case for Mantle, Berra, Jeter and Rivera briefly.

First I’ll start with Rivera who Mr. Olney picked on his Franchise Four list. No closer, however dominant, is more valuable in my opinion than a player that plays every single day. Especially when you consider that one player has more World Series rings than he does fingers (I exaggerate a little on Berra, but not by much) while transcending the offensive catcher position while the other has over 500 home runs and without a drinking problem and two balky knees could have hit 700 in his career. Mantle may be considered the 3^rd best center fielder of all time behind DiMaggio and Willie Mays but Yogi played for a team where their excellence and worth was judged by how many rings they have and he has more than anyone… how can it not be him for THIS team?

Jeter is a popular pick, and probably a nostalgic pick, as he holds many of the team’s all-time records due to his longevity, durability, the DH, 162 games, advanced medicine, not losing time to major World War’s etc. but he hasn’t done enough to surpass Mantle or Berra in my eyes. He’s probably Top 6 or Top 7 on my list but I’m being held to just four and he doesn’t make the cut, same for Rivera. So it comes down to Mantle and Berra. Berra has the rings and Mantle has the towering 500 foot home runs but while the team is nicknamed the Bronx Bombers you don’t become worth $3.2 Billion and the most successful team in major league history by just hitting home runs, you do it by winning World Series championships. That’s why I go with the man with the rings, the “nobody goes to that restaurant anymore because it’s too crowded,” the “it’s getting late pretty early,” Mr. Yogi Berra. 

Masahiro Tanaka Looked Good and All But…

Masahiro Tanaka made his spring debut on Thursday night in George M. Steinbrenner Field when the New York Yankees played host to the Atlanta Braves and looked like the Masahiro Tanaka of old. Tanaka looked to have zero restrictions from the elbow as he placed every one of his 18 pitches wherever he wanted to whenever he wanted to. His velocity looked great, topping out at 94 MPH, for where he is at in this stage of the spring and more importantly he had no issues with the elbow that day or the next day. While the impressive and quick work will keep the Jon Heyman’s and the Peter Gammons and the Buster Olney’s at bay for the next four days us as Yankees fans should temper our expectations for Tanaka.

Tanaka didn’t exactly go rogue when he decided to skip the Tommy John surgery and instead opted to rest and rehab the partially torn ulnar collateral ligament. Tanaka spoke to four highly respectable doctors who reiterated the same prognoses including Dr. James Andrews. While there have been success stories in Adam Wainwright you are still merely delaying the inevitable. Tanaka’s elbow could last the rest of his career and his elbow could blow out tomorrow when he is flushing the toilet.

That’s the scariest part of it all Yankees family, we’re really in uncharted territory. Even in the success of Adam Wainwright he still eventually had the surgery so you just never know. Tanaka could pitch the rest of his seven year contract and be just fine, he could make it to his opt out date and have it blow out, or it could require the surgery tomorrow. I’m not saying all this to scare everyone I just don’t think I personally will be getting too comfortable with Tanaka until he is no longer in pinstripes because you just never know. 

Quick Hit: The Interesting Story Behind the AJ Pierzynski Signing

I know this is not exactly New York Yankees related but when I read this I had to share with the readers an interesting story regarding the Atlanta Braves signing of AJ Pierzynski. Apparently a Braves fan Aaron Lunsford and his father were in line at the Honeybaked Ham location in Woodstock, GA when they noticed they were standing behind Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez. According to a set of tweets (@darrenstains, seen below, the group got talking about baseball when Gonzalez leaked a signing that the big guys had not reported on yet. Gonzalez leaked the news that the Braves had signed Pierzynski to a couple of random fans waiting in line for his ham sandwich.

Fredi after mentioning grilli signing "we signed a catcher today, pierzynski" dad - "AJ?" Fredi - "yep. You're the first to know"
— Aaron Lunsford (@darrenstains) December 24, 2014

Source: @braves and AJ pierzynski agree to deal. No details. Check it @Buster_ESPN @Ken_Rosenthal @jcrasnick @jessespector not kidding
— Aaron Lunsford (@darrenstains) December 24, 2014

Take that to the Jon Heyman and Buster Olney’s of the world.  In response, and somewhat as a joke, Lunsford started a blog called hamrumors.com which went on to basically attack Dave O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal Constitution and Mark Bowman for falsifying the story that Lunsford and his father told. It’s an interesting read and let’s be honest, you’re either at home with nothing better to do or at work with nothing better to do. Give it aclick and check it out. 

New York Yankees Spring Training News & Notes 3/10

The Yankees had a complete off day today, no workouts, no throwing sessions, no batting practice, nothing. This will be short and sweet but a few things were reported today that really don't warrant their own post so I will lump them here, hope you are enjoying the off day.

Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon thinks the best offseason signing for the Yankees was Brian McCann. Personally I think it is Masahiro Tanaka, but cool either way.

Mark Teixeira told reporters that he was willing to teach Yankees like Kelly Johnson, Alfonso Soriano, and others how to play first base this spring. If anyone is going to teach them might as well be Teix who has been great with the glove since I have been watching him in his Georgia Tech days.

Buster Olney thinks the Yankees could trade their fourth outfielder Ichiro Suzuki to the Philadelphia Phillies to be their fourth outfielder. Let me get this straight we are going to trade a guy we respect the hell out of when he could be close to getting a ring so he can be on a much lesser team in Philly? For what?