There’s Time For Rest in November…

Sleep?  Who needs stinkin’ Sleep!  The Yankees arrived in Cincinnati, Ohio at 5:08 a.m. yesterday following their 18-inning marathon win over the Chicago Cubs and by the end of the day, they had their sixth consecutive victory with the 10-4 pounding of the Reds.  The Yankees treated their former top prospect Rookie Davis, banished to Ohio in the Aroldis Chapman trade, like, well, a rookie.  Run-scoring singles by Gary Sanchez and Didi Gregorius put three runs on the board in the first inning and the sleepless Yanks were in charge early.

It was another okay, but not great, pitching performance by Masahiro Tanaka.  He definitely went the ‘bend but not break’ route in picking up his fifth win of the year.  The Reds had the bases loaded with no outs in the fourth inning, trailing the Yankees by three.  But a pop out and a double play ended the threat.  It was probably the game-defining moment.

Credit:  John Minchillo/AP

In the seventh inning with former Washington Nationals closer Drew Storen on the mound, three Yankees were hit by three pitches.  It wasn’t intentional but that’s a lot for one inning.  The last one, a pitch that hit Chase Headley on the bone just below his knee (ouch!) with the bases loaded, scored a run.  Ronald Torreyes, after being knocked down by a high, inside pitch from the wild Storen, singled to put the Yankees up 7-2.  The second runner, Gary Sanchez, was easily thrown out at the plate, for the final out.   

In the bottom of the seventh inning, with Tanaka running on fumes after reaching the 100-pitch mark, he walked Zach Cozart and then gave up a no doubt-about-it home run to Reds slugger Joey Votto.  With his 112th pitch, Tanaka somehow got Adam Duvall on a swinging strikeout to end the inning.  As Tanaka walked off the mound, he was clearly upset about the Votto home run but his night was done with the Yankees leading 7-4.

The eighth inning featured another long home run to right by Brett Gardner, scoring two runs, and a solo shot by Matt Holliday, playing his second straight game at first base.  

From there, it was up to the depleted Yankees bullpen.  With most of the relievers unavailable, the Yankees went with Tyler Clippard for the eighth.  Clippard was his usual self with a quiet inning that saw three up and three down.  I have to admit that I got a sick feeling to my stomach when I saw lefty Tommy Layne warming up for the ninth inning.  A six-run lead should make one feel fairly secure, but if any Yankee could blow a large lead, it’s Layne.  It didn’t help when the first batter reached on an infield single.  The next batter hit into a ground out but the Yanks were unable to turn a double play, capturing only the lead runner.  That brought the speedy Billy Hamilton to the plate.  Layne fell behind in the count very quickly with three successive balls.  I started to have chills, knowing the heart of the Reds order was coming up.  After a couple of well-placed strikes, Hamilton hit a grounder to Didi Gregorius.  This time, the Yankees were successful in turning the double play and it was game over.  Yankees win, 10-4.

The Yankees (21-9) maintained their half-game lead over the Baltimore Orioles.  The O’s withstood a late challenge to beat their former catcher Matt Wieters and the Washington Nationals 6-4.  The O’s have won five in a row as they seemingly match the Yankees step-for-step on a nightly basis.  The Boston Red Sox had the night off.

Prior to yesterday’s game, there had been speculation the Yankees might send down Sunday night heroes Chasen Shreve and/or Jonathan Holder to bring up fresh arms.  But in the end, it was Rob Refsnyder who got the ticket to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.  In his place, the Yankees recalled pitcher Chad Green.  

For the Reds, the loss cost them first place in the NL Central as they were overtaken by the St Louis Cardinals.  

The Yankees face a more challenging pitcher today in Tim Adleman (1-1, 4.22 ERA).  For the Yanks, CC Sabathia (2-1, 5.45 ERA), who hasn’t instilled confidence in anyone except opposing hitters in recent starts, takes the mound.  I expect to see a much stronger Reds team today so hopefully the Yankees offense can rise up to the challenge.  It will be good to see a rested Aaron Judge back in the lineup.  

Tomorrow is a day off so the Yankees will be able to catch up on some much needed sleep.

Have  a great Tuesday!  Let’s grab a W and head back to New York!

Are the Blue Jays Close to Blowing It Up?

The Toronto Blue Jays came into the 2016 MLB season as the defending American League East champions and a team that was fresh off a trip to the American League Championship Series. While David Price had left for Boston via free agency and Mark Buehrle had retired, unofficially, the team felt good about their offseason additions and a full season of Marcus Stroman in the rotation but that plan hasn't gone as planned thus far. Over the weekend while the Yankees were whooping up on the Oakland Athletics the Blue Jays, who come to town tomorrow night, slipped into last place in the American League East Division. Also over the weekend the team announced that they are making relief pitcher Drew Storen available leaving many, or maybe just me, to wonder if the team isn't as confident in their chances this season as they originally thought.

The trade of a relief pitcher is relatively minor in most cases but I think it's especially important for Toronto. The reason they got Storen from the Washington Nationals this winter was because their bullpen was suspect and with the injury of Brett Cecil a trade of Storen would leave their bullpen suspect once again. Now this isn't as simple as having a warm body in the bullpen, the Blue Jays have their reasons for wanting to trade Storen, but I think this may be just the beginning of trades for Toronto if the losing continues to occur.

Storen hasn't been the Storen that was bumped out of the closer role in Washington by Jonathan Papelbon since coming over to Toronto. He's allowing a hit and a half roughly per inning and over a run per inning pitched although the sample size of 15 innings is hardly something concrete in my opinion. Storen is still healthy and still striking out almost 10 batters per nine innings while limiting walks but the production just hasn't been there in Toronto like it was in Washington. Maybe his dip in velocity is to blame?

Even with Storen struggling I think it's far too early in the season to make him available if the team wants to compete. If the team plans on competing in 2016 they wouldn't be making him available in May after just 15 innings. That's just my opinion and maybe I'm wrong but the last time I saw an AL East fire sale coming I got killed on Twitter for announcing it early. About 15 traded later with the Tampa Bay Rays and the fire sale was over. I was criticized for being right then, will I be this time as well?

Stay tuned.

Spring Training Competitions & Fantasy Baseball

Pitchers and catchers have reported to their various spring camps and first workouts are already underway as we inch closer to the 2016 regular season. As we inch closer to the 2016 regular season we also inch closer to the 2016 Fantasy Baseball season and your fantasy baseball drafts if you haven’t had yours already. I tend to like to wait until March, sometimes even late-March, before having my draft because so many things can happen between the beginning of spring training and the beginning of the regular season with injuries and spring training competitions being at the top of my precautionary list. You can’t predict or analyze injuries for the most part but you can analyze and take a stab at predicting the spring training competitions though and I will attempt to do just that in hopes of helping you with your upcoming fantasy baseball drafts.

We’ll start in the American League East with the Toronto Blue Jays and their closer situation. Will it be Roberto Osuna or will it be recently acquired Drew Storen? Storen could close and the Blue Jays could opt to place Osuna in the starting rotation or they could place Aaron Sanchez in the rotation and let Osuna and Storen battle it out for the 9^th inning. In my opinion I think the team attempts their own dominant back end of the bullpen and at least starts the season, barring one disaster or amazing spring training from either one of these men, with Storen in the 8^th and Osuna in the 9^th.

Sticking with the AL East theme we head down to Tropicana Field with the Tampa Bay Rays to try and sort out their outfield, first base and DH position battle they have going on. As it stands now Kevin Keirmaier is a lock for the team with Corey Dickerson, Steven Souza, Desmond Jennings, Steve Pearce, Logan Morrison and Mikie Mahtook vying for playing time. The team also has James Loney at first base but with capable first base options like Morrison and Pearce his job may be on the line as well. This is going to be one of the tougher ones to predict but you have to think Dickerson gets one of the starting spots with Keirmaier and Jennings while Loney stays at first base and Morrison spends much of his time at the DH position. Pearce should see plenty of time off the bench though and is eligible at multiple positions this season once again.

I’ve said many times this winter that even the worst team is going to have around 30-50 saves throughout a season. Even a team that loses 100 games is going to have 62 wins so giving a team 30-50 saves is not out of the realm of possibilities. The real question is will all those saves go to one person, which is ideal in fantasy, or to multiple people, which obviously is not. This is the question you should be asking if you’re in need of a closer and trying to decide who will close games for team’s like the Miami Marlins, Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies and Milwaukee Brewers to name a few. Spring competitions are all over with Will Smith battling Corey Knebel and Jeremy Jeffress in Milwaukee, David Hernandez battling Ernesto Frieri and Edward Mujica in Philadelphia, AJ Ramos battling Carter Capps in Miami and Jason Grilli battling former Yankees prospect Arodys Vizcaino in Atlanta. If I had to pick a winner in each of these competitions I would have to go with Will Smith in Milwaukee, David Hernandez in Philadelphia, AJ Ramos in Miami and Jason Grilli in Atlanta but all will have extremely short leashes on from Opening Day on. If you’re set elsewhere and you absolutely need a closer it may be worth grabbing two options from one team just to make sure you have the saves situation handled, one can easily be traded or passed through waivers to the free agent market later on.

So there you have it, the spring competitions that could impact your fantasy baseball draft and league this season. There are more, the Yankees bullpen, the Washington Nationals shortstop situation, the Tigers center field situation, whether Hanley Ramirez will stick at first base in Boston, various starting pitching competitions around the league and almost the entire Atlanta Braves team is up for grabs. Spring training is close and I can’t say how excited I am to be talking about it and how excited I am to be talking about fantasy baseball. That means real baseball is near and that makes me smile. Hope this information helps and if it does pass it on!

Fantasy Baseball: Who are the Toronto Blue Jays?

The Toronto Blue Jays have easily the best offense in the American League East and may have the best offense in all of Major League Baseball, we all know they did in 2015 anyway, and we also know they have one of the best young starting pitchers on the planet in Marcus Stroman but will it be enough to capture the AL East Division crown once again in 2016? That remains to be seen but the way they will do that is the same way they did it last season, they will use their farm system to bring in the pieces they need via trade and they will use their core of young guys to fill in the gaps. The Blue Jays have plenty of reinforcements up inside Rogers Centre but in the spirit of Prospects Month here on the blog do they have enough reinforcements down on the farm to get by if needed?

Toronto will get a bit of pass here because during Prospects Month we’ve not only covered prospects but we’ve also covered the young guns on the team as well and showcased how they can help you win your fantasy baseball drafts and leagues this season. Most of the Blue Jays offense will be gone by at least the second round but I’m not sure if people know what to do about Marcus Stroman. Sure he went 4-0 with a 1.67 ERA in September last year after recovering from what was supposed to be a season-ending knee injury but surely he can’t keep up that torrid pace… can he? I’m honestly on the fence about him because part of me feels like he is a true ace in the making and is a 20-game win threat even without the Toronto offense behind him. With it, who knows how many he can win.

Roberto Osuna is another that I’m on the fence about because I’m not quite sure of his position with the club. You have to think the Blue jays acquired Drew Storen from the Washington Nationals to have him as their closer but the young right-hander did struggle after his former team acquired Jonathan Papelbon. Was that because he felt slighted and needed a change of scenery or is the proof simply in the pudding and we’re too busy making excuses for him to see it? That answer won’t only affect Storen himself but it will affect Osuna as well. Osuna isn’t as valuable in fantasy as a set-up man as he is as a closer so keep him on your watch list this spring training and during your draft. If he falls far enough he may be worth it anyway.

Finally you have the combination of Devon Travis and Ryan Goins. Goins will start the season at second base while Travis recovers from a shoulder surgery that derailed his rookie season in 2015. Travis is expected to be ready around the April/May timeframe so if you have the room on the roster he may be worth grabbing and hold onto for a while. If you can’t afford to wait then Goins might be a suitable replacement, but honestly I doubt it. Someone will likely grab up Travis, especially in the deeper leagues, and sit on him and wait so why not make that person you, you know?

ICYMI: This Ain't A Scene It's A --- Damn Arms Race

Prepare yourselves Yankees fans because the American League East is not a scene anymore, it's about to become an arms race. The New York Yankees have beefed up their bullpen with Aroldis Chapman and put out a potential CC Sabathia-less starting rotation with every pitcher under 28-years old while the Boston Red Sox added David Price and Craig Kimbrel. Not to be outdone the reigning and defending AL East Champions added Drew Storen from the Washington Nationals along with JA Happ and a severely underrated Jesse Chavez to beef up their pitching staffs. There won't be many easy inter-division games this season, even the Rays and Orioles are pesky, and it's all going to come down to pitching.

The Yankees have a plethora of options in case one of their starters go down and Joe Girardi, as he loves to do, has a ton of options to mix and match in his bullpen as the season goes on. Names like Bryan Mitchell, James Kaprielian, Luis Cessa and Chad Green can step into the starting rotation alongside presumed long reliever Ivan Nova while the list of bullpen options for Girardi and the Yankees would take me until late into the weekend to list. To hit the high points you have Jacob Lindgren, James Pazos, Chasen Shreve, Nick Rumbelow, Nick Goody, Johnny Barbato, Kirby Yates and the minor league signings like Vinnie Pestano.

Could the options be better? Sure, most teams could say that though. Are there plenty of options now and plenty of insurance? Again, sure. As it stands now with everyone healthy and ready to go, obviously a lot can change between now and then. I'm just glad the Yankees have plenty of available arms ready for the arms race that will soon become the American League East Division.

* The title references a song by Fall Out Boy and is not my own. Send them the hate mail :)

This Ain't A Scene It's A --- Damn Arms Race

Prepare yourselves Yankees fans because the American League East is not a scene anymore, it's about to become an arms race. The New York Yankees have beefed up their bullpen with Aroldis Chapman and put out a potential CC Sabathia-less starting rotation with every pitcher under 28-years old while the Boston Red Sox added David Price and Craig Kimbrel. Not to be outdone the reigning and defending AL East Champions added Drew Storen from the Washington Nationals along with JA Happ and a severely underrated Jesse Chavez to beef up their pitching staffs. There won't be many easy inter-division games this season, even the Rays and Orioles are pesky, and it's all going to come down to pitching.

The Yankees have a plethora of options in case one of their starters go down and Joe Girardi, as he loves to do, has a ton of options to mix and match in his bullpen as the season goes on. Names like Bryan Mitchell, James Kaprielian, Luis Cessa and Chad Green can step into the starting rotation alongside presumed long reliever Ivan Nova while the list of bullpen options for Girardi and the Yankees would take me until late into the weekend to list. To hit the high points you have Jacob Lindgren, James Pazos, Chasen Shreve, Nick Rumbelow, Nick Goody, Johnny Barbato, Kirby Yates and the minor league signings like Vinnie Pestano.

Could the options be better? Sure, most teams could say that though. Are there plenty of options now and plenty of insurance? Again, sure. As it stands now with everyone healthy and ready to go, obviously a lot can change between now and then. I'm just glad the Yankees have plenty of available arms ready for the arms race that will soon become the American League East Division.

* The title references a song by Fall Out Boy and is not my own. Send them the hate mail :)

Washington Has “Significant” Interest in Aroldis Chapman

This sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. The Washington Nationals are said to have “significant” interest in Cincinnati Reds closer Aroldis Chapman. Chapman, as we all know by now, was thought to be traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for a pair of prospects before it came to light that he was involved in a domestic violence case that involved choking his girlfriend and expending eight bullets into the air from a gun.

So let me get this straight you want a guy who reportedly fired eight shots and choked his girlfriend in the same bullpen as the guy who choked out the team’s star player in the dugout for all to see on national TV and sit them both next to who Twitter has nicknamed “Emo Storen.” This sounds, again, like a disaster waiting to happen. Aroldish Chapman, Drew Storen and Jonathan Papelbon in the same bullpen? In the same stadium? Wow.

That’s a whole lot of personalities and not a big enough locker room or bullpen if you ask me, but that’s only if you ask me. 

The New Pecking Order in the Yankees Bullpen

The New York Yankees rebuild on the fly mission continued through the Winter Meetings and will likely continue all winter long if Brian Cashman has his way. The Yankees have traded away a ton of innings out of their bullpen already with the Adam Warren and Justin Wilson trades all while trading two of their most trusted relief pitchers in the process. A new pecking order or totem pole is being established in the Yankees bullpen and on paper it’s far from the super bullpen that Cashman set out to build and emulate just a few season’s ago. 

Andrew Miller is still here for now holding down the 9^th inning while Dellin Betances seems like a lock for the 8^th inning but what else? Presuming the Yankees bring a 12 man pitching staff with them to Yankee Stadium on Opening Day there are five bullpen slots wide open right now in the Bronx. Bryan Mitchell likely fills one of those roles, although not likely the 7^th inning role, while Ivan Nova leads the charge for the long relief role but what about the other three? Take your pick I guess, remember the Scranton Shuttle we all saw in 2015? 

Fresh arms like Nick Goody, Nick Rumbelow, James Pazos, Caleb Cotham, Branden Pinder and Jacob Lindgren to name a few were called upon more times than most to fill the void in the Yankees bullpen. The best arm, in my opinion, out of the bunch here is Lindgren and he will likely earn a spot if healthy. Remember Lindgren has bone spurs removed from his elbow last season and missed the second half of the year after looking good in a small sample size earlier in the season. Chasen Shreve is also likely to get a spot out of spring training and will likely slide into the 7^th inning role for Joe Girardi. There is evidence that his downfall last season was due to fatigue (release point issues, over throwing, etc.) and not mechanics or injury so it’s also very likely that he returns to his first half form in 2016. 

Two more slots for a whole lot of arms. Obviously Brian Cashman could flip prospects for another relief pitcher, Drew Storen maybe, but as of right now you have to think that James Pazos gets a roster spot as well as Branden Pinder. These two were used more often than any others in their short time on the roster and both did exceptionally well when called upon. It’s hard to work your way into the Circle of Trust and one bad outing can get you out of that circle but both men were on the postseason roster in 2015 and both men seem to have earned the respect of the manager, which goes far here in New York. 

So there you have it. The Yankees bullpen, as of today, will consist of Andrew Miller, Dellin Betances, James Pazos, Branden Pinder, Chasen Shreve, Ivan Nova and Bryan Mitchell. That’s far from the super bullpen that Brian Cashman reached for in multiple offseason’s but it could definitely get the job done in my opinion. It will take a lot of mixing and matching and bullpen management but that is one of the few areas where Joe Girardi excels. 

Fantasy Baseball: The Closer Position

We are about 1/5 of the way through the Major League Baseball season and if you’re bullpen is in shambles in your fantasy league you may want to keep reading. I am by no means a Fantasy Baseball guru but I do like to think I know a thing or two about MLB in general so hopefully this post can help you shore up the back end of your bullpen and propel you to a victory in your league.

If you don’t already have Aroldis Chapman, Kenley Jansen, Craig Kimbrel, Greg Holland, David Robertson, Andrew Miller, Glen Perkins, Trevor Rosenthal, Huston Street, Joakim Soria or Hector Rondon you may or may not be in trouble in your league right now. Every pitcher on this list with the exception of Kimbrel (flirting with a 6.00 ERA that has to come down soon) and Holland have been dominant all season long notching save after save and K after K but what if you weren’t lucky enough to get these players? I may have a few names that may be available via trade or even in the free agent market if you league size, team wise, is small enough to help you make your second half push.

Koji Uehara has bounced back from a slow start this season and a DL trip and looks more like the guy the Red Sox hoped they were getting when they signed him to an extension at 40 years old. Zach Britton, Drew Storen, Jonathan Papelbon, Santiago Casilla and Francisco Rodriguez seemingly have no one in their bullpens to challenge them for the jobs so it seems like even if the ERA’s and peripherals are inflated a bit these men are shoe-in’s for every save opportunity their respected teams get this season unless traded.

Jeurys Familia has done well with the New York Mets and you could snatch him up in a trade with someone thinking they got the best of his hot start and who are thinking they are selling high. The same can be said for A.J. Ramos who stole the job from Steve Cishek in Miami and has done well in a very limited sample size in the 9^th inning.

The final list of players include a few that are shaky at best but are the walking poster child of high risk high reward type signings. Players like Cody Allen, Brett Cecil, Jason Grili, John Axford, Mark Melancon and whoever comes out on top of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers closing competition on the fly may get you above water just enough to do some damage in your leagues. If not I offer a money back guarantee on all my Fantasy advice, good thing it’s free right?