The Red Sox Offense vs. CC Sabathia Career

All stats and imagery credit go to ESPN and Baseball Reference. 

The Red Sox Offense vs. Masahiro Tanaka – Career

Masahiro Tanaka wants Red Sox blood, and he is going to have all he can handle tonight inside Fenway Park. Do these stats matter tonight? Probably not, especially given how much rest the Japanese-born right-hander will have tonight. Enjoy!

All stats and imagery credit go to ESPN and Baseball Reference.

The Red Sox Offense vs. JA Happ – Career

JA Happ was held back from the AL Wild Card Game specifically to pitch against the Boston Red Sox twice in a potential five-game series. Was that a wise choice? History would seem to indicate that it was, but will it mean anything in October? Stay tuned…

All stats and imagery credit go to ESPN and Baseball Reference.

The Yankees and Red Sox Head-to-Head Comparison for 2018… Thus Far!

As we learned in our game preview this morning the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox will renew their rivalry and write the next chapter in their storied franchise’s history head-to-head with a three-game set inside Yankee Stadium over the weekend. What have the Yankees and Red Sox done against each other thus far, and can that maybe tell us what is to come for this latest three-game set?

Team Game-by-Game Schedule

Gm#	Date		Tm		Opp	W/L	R	RA	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance
11	Tuesday, Apr 10	boxscore	NYY	@	BOS	L	1	14	Sale	Severino		32,357
12	Wednesday, Apr 11	boxscore	NYY	@	BOS	W	10	7	Tanaka	Price		32,400
13	Thursday, Apr 12	boxscore	NYY	@	BOS	L	3	6	Porcello	Gray	Kimbrel	36,341
35	Tuesday, May 8	boxscore	NYY		BOS	W	3	2	Robertson	Hembree	Chapman	45,773
36	Wednesday, May 9	boxscore	NYY		BOS	W	9	6	Holder	Barnes	Chapman	47,088
37	Thursday, May 10	boxscore	NYY		BOS	L	4	5	Kelly	Betances	Kimbrel	46,899
79	Friday, Jun 29	preview	NYY		BOS	7:05	7:05	7:05	Game	Game	Game	Game
80	Saturday, Jun 30	preview	NYY		BOS	7:15	7:15	7:15	Game	Game	Game	Game
81	Sunday, Jul 1	preview	NYY		BOS	8:05	8:05	8:05	Game	Game	Game	Game

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Stat set thanks to Baseball Reference.

So, what did we learn? We didn’t exactly learn anything to be completely honest. Both teams are great this season and both teams have played each other tough head-to-head. I expect nothing less tonight and into the weekend as well. Both the Yankees and the Red Sox, even when one or both are struggling, tend to bring their “A” games when they face one another, so it should be another fun weekend in the Bronx. It will be even more fun if David Price can’t find his pitching glove or hurts his back getting out of the shower between now and Sunday, but that is another post for another day.

Comparing the Yankees and Red Sox Potential 2018 Lineups

Spring training is just about over, and Prediction Season is officially over here on the blog but have no fear for Opening Day is almost here! As the New York Yankees prepare to travel to Toronto to face off with the Toronto Blue Jays inside the Rogers Centre on March 29^th the team is also preparing for something else at the same time, the absolute dog fight that is going to be the American League East crown here in 2018. With presumed down years from the Tampa Bay Rays, Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays it once again looks like this will be a two-horse race to the top of the AL East between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. With that in mind let’s compare the potential starting lineups, defensive alignments and positional player comparisons to see who, in my opinion of course, gets the edge.

Please reference the below table, I have bolded the layer that I would give the edge, or victory, to for the sake of this post. These are my opinions only, but I have researched recent and career stats from Baseball Reference as well as their projections for the 2018 season when making my decision. Plus, I have included the eye test from my personal experience as well, which may or may not sprinkle in a tiny bit of bias and “homerisms.”

*Dustin Pedroia listed as a bench player after undergoing knee surgery that will delay the start to his 2018 campaign. Once he returns it is presumed that Eduardo Nunez, listed as the every day second baseman, will return to the bench as the utility infielder for the Red Sox.

Obviously, this is not a complete list of ALL the positional players for each team, but I think it is enough to paint the portrait that I am trying to lay out. According to this table there are 12 positional players listed and the New York Yankees have the edge, again in my opinion, in seven of them leaving Boston with the edge in five slots. In a perfect world and on paper, neither of which the games are played in, this would give the offensive and defensive edge to the New York Yankees for the upcoming 2018 season. Like John Sterling says to Suzyn Waldman all the time though, “Suzyn, you just can’t predict baseball.”

Stay tuned to the 2018 season to find out how these comparisons and rankings shake out and check back later when we take a look at each team’s starting pitching and bullpen staffs. Enjoy your day!

Brandon Drury vs. the AL East Pitching

PHOTO CREDIT: NJ.COM

Earlier in the day we took a look at what the newest member of Red Sox nation, JD Martinez, had done throughout his career against the pitching staff of the New York Yankees so it seems only fair that we do the same for the newest member of the Yankees family, right? Brandon Drury has played just three seasons at the Major League level and has spent all three of those seasons in the National League West with the Arizona Diamondbacks, so the sample size will be much smaller here than with Martinez, a former Detroit Tiger before he was also Drury’s teammate down in the desert, but these stats should paint a decent picture nonetheless. It is worth mentioning that Drury has been hitting in a pitcher friendly park out in Arizona and that his stats should improve somewhat while playing many of his games inside hitter friendly parks like Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park, Oriole Park and Camden Yards, the Rogers Centre and Tropicana Field.

Drury vs. Boston Red Sox

Drury vs. Baltimore Orioles

Drury vs. Tampa Bay Rays

Drury vs. Toronto Blue Jays

Big thanks to ESPN.com and Baseball Reference for the stats and for the images above.

JD Martinez vs. the Yankees Pitching

The Boston Red Sox felt like they needed to do just one thing this offseason to not only compete, but to win the American League East in 2018, and that was add some power to an already deep team and lineup. The team did just that this week when they added free agent JD Martinez to the club on a five-year deal worth $110 million. This post will not be about the extremely front-loaded contract or about the multiple opt-out clauses that the team needed to entice Martinez with just to get him to sign there, but instead we will focus on what Martinez has done against the pitching of the New York Yankees that he will have to see 20-or-so different times here in 2018. The sample sizes are small, the ballparks will be different, but the information will remain the same if history is any indicator of the future so here is a good look at what to expect here for the upcoming regular season.

Big thanks to ESPN.com and Baseball Reference for the stats and for the images above.

Here’s An Idea, Jacoby Ellsbury to the San Francisco Giants

Brian Cashman, or someone in Brian Cashman’s ear anyway, reads my stuff so Brian, let me help you out a little bit this offseason. You have an outfielder on your roster that doesn’t need to be there, an outfielder that is taking precious at-bats away from players like Clint Frazier and Aaron Hicks. You also have a team out there that is seemingly always in the market for speedy, top of the lineup hitting outfielders that are said to be “flush with cash” this offseason but are also a team that are said to be lacking in terms of prospects in the San Francisco Giants. The Giants may want Giancarlo Stanton but they won’t have the prospects or MLB ready talent to make that happen so do you think maybe you should pick up the phone and dump, I’m sorry…. I mean trade, Jacoby Ellsbury to the Giants… even if you don’t exactly get the best prospects in return for him? Or am I making too much sense right now for you guys?

Ellsbury can be the latest Giants center fielder to head out there after struggling with their former teams, see Angel Pagan as a recent example of this. San Francisco knows they cannot make a big splash if the moves involves prospects and the Yankees could move Ellsbury without eating any, or much, of his salary with that in mind. Ellsbury is an excess part, it truly doesn’t and shouldn’t matter what the team gets back from San Francisco because the salary relief (insert luxury tax threshold and austerity line here) in itself should be sufficient to the Yankees.

Ellsbury hasn’t been horrible and he has actually been pretty durable during his tenure with the Yankees, a concern of many when he was signed, so it’s not like I am asking to dump absolute trash on the Giants here without eating his salary. Ellsbury is still a useful player, he just isn’t as useful in the Bronx as he could be elsewhere with the emergence of all this young talent with New York.

Moving Ellsbury to San Francisco is likely easier said than done and a lot of chips would have to fall before this happened including the signing of JD Martinez and the trade of Giancarlo Stanton but this is definitely an idea that the Yankees and Cashman should keep in their back pocket. Or maybe we can just keep the guy and keep stunting Frazier’s growth and Hicks’ development, either way. Your call, I’m just a blogger.

Get Greedy: Sign JD Martinez

"Please, God. Make me a Yankee!"

We’re back and we are greedier than ever with the latest idea to break the bank, blow all the austerity talk out the window and blow the baseballs out of Yankee Stadium with even more consistency here in 2018. I know it is out of the realm of possibilities fiscally, but I don’t worry myself with the financials much anymore, instead I worry about getting the best 25 players that I possibly can out on the field on any given night. With that in mind it is time to get greedy once again and sign former Detroit Tigers and Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder JD Martinez. Yeah, I went there.  

Now earlier today in my free agent post where I outlined what free agents I thought the Yankees should at least have discussions with I alluded to the fact that I was happy with keeping the designated hitter position a revolving door for the Yankees outfielders to use for half-days off and here is the reason. Adding another outfielder is more of a luxury than a need at this point but New York added a $13 million DH last offseason in Matt Holliday and got little to show for it in return. Could you imagine if the Yankees were to add a bat like JD Martinez’s who could play in the outfield and DH a few days a week to keep everyone fresh, healthy and productive? The hell with the Bronx Bombers and Murderer’s Row, that would be downright unfair. 

Now I know this is a bold statement and a bold request of the Yankees to sign possibly the best positional player on the free agent market in a year where the team is going to give austerity a try but hear me out. Giving Martinez the security of a longer contract could conceivably keep the average annual value of the contract down while giving the team a leg up on the competition in terms of negotiations, because what player doesn’t want security and peace of mind?  

Martinez has possibly been the best kept secret in MLB over the past couple of seasons which is a scary thought since Martinez was a 4.1 WAR player in 2017 with Detroit and the Arizona Diamondbacks. Martinez has eclipsed 20 home runs in each of the last four seasons including hitting 45 home runs in 2017 and 38 home runs in 2015, both inside extremely pitching-friendly ballparks. You can add 10-15 home runs to that total in the Bronx assuming he is healthy and has a healthy Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, Didi Gregorius etc. behind him protecting him in the lineup. Again, downright unfair. 

Martinez just turned 30-years old recently and is in the middle of his prime, so I would feel comfortable giving him a six-year deal with an option for a seventh year if that were a sticking point in the negotiations. Martinez is good in the field, great with the bat and I think he would be an incredible addition to the team. Whether Hal Steinbrenner opens up the wallet strings or not is one thing, but I think the Yankees should make the move if the money allows. Martinez could be the Paul O’Neill to the 2018 dynasty that O’Neill was to that 1996 team. Just get it done.  

Looking Ahead to 2018: Potential Free Agent Offensive Additions

So we saw who the Yankees could be potentially losing via free agency this coming offseason so let’s once again look ahead to 2018 and see who the team could potentially fill those holes with. Let us first take a look at the potential offensive upgrades that the Yankees could add this coming offseason and at a later time we will look at the pitching. Keep in mind that this is all hypothetical and as it stands today, everything is subject to change in a moment’s notice.

Remember when I, and many Yankees fans, clamored so hard for Justin Upton in Yankees pinstripes? Well that didn’t happen but the beating of the drum could happen again in 2018 if the Tigers outfielder opts out of his six-year deal with Detroit with four-years and $88.5 million remaining. The Tigers are looking to rebuild and Upton has continued to produce which means even if he doesn’t get a pay raise the right-hander would get on a better team and that alone is worth its weight in gold. I don’t think the Yankees need an outfielder though so cross Upton off the list for New York.

Greg Bird is the first baseman of the future but let’s just assume that Bird isn’t healthy heading into the offseason and let’s assume the Yankees want a bit of insurance at the position for the 2018 season. It isn’t really all that far-fetched since the team signed Chris Carter this past offseason to platoon with Bird so who is to say the team won’t again in 2018? There’s many free agent first baseman expected to be available including Yonder Alonso, Lucas Duda, Logan Morrison, Mitch Moreland, Mike Napoli and Mark Reynolds to name a few. Presumably the Yankees would prefer a right-handed option to compliment Bird meaning that Reynolds, a former Yankee, and Napoli move to the front of the line. Neither are ideal, Reynolds strikes out a lot and his defense is mediocre while Napoli is aging and is more of a DH-or-bust at this point in his career, but the Yankees have been dealing with a less than ideal situation at the position all season long anyway. Could it get much worse? You could also throw Todd Frazier into the mix here although I believe the third baseman will prefer to stay on the other side of the diamond as he hits free agency this offseason.

Sticking with the first base position but looking in areas that will likely exceed what the Yankees are willing to pay you find the bats of Carlos Santana of the Cleveland Indians and Eric Hosmer of the Kansas City Royals. Santana has taken a step back in 2017 after posting 34 home runs and a 3.7 WAR in 2016 but his walk rate has been steady and his stats this season have been in line with his career norms. The problem is Santana is going to want to cash in after that strong 2016 season, even if 2017 hasn’t gone exactly according to plan, and even in a stacked free agent pool there should be plenty of money to go around for Santana. Meanwhile Hosmer is not someone who has ever really impressed me much. Sure his bat is nice and he is just 28-years old but advanced metrics show Hosmer as a very limited fielder and his -0.2 WAR in 2016, a season in which he made the All-Star team for the first time in his career, doesn’t exactly make me want to run home screaming to mom about him. Hosmer is durable and Hosmer can hit but his career wRC+ (109) is lower than Lucas Duda’s (124) who can also be had on the free agent market and if I were a betting man I’d say Duda gets significantly less than Hosmer in 2018 in terms of both years and dollars respectively.

The final player I want to showcase here is a bit of a “Get Greedy” kind of player. This player isn’t a player that the New York Yankees necessarily need but is a player that could rotate in and out of the outfield as well as the soon-to-be vacant DH position. J.D. Martinez has somehow flown under the radar for years now and that was never more evident than when the Arizona Diamondbacks acquired the outfielder from the Detroit Tigers without giving up a single blue-chip prospect. Since the start of the 2014 season only Mike Trout, Nolan Arenado and Giancarlo Stanton have put up higher slugging percentage numbers than Martinez, and keep in mind that Martinez was doing this inside Comerica Park in Detroit which is historically a pitcher’s park, yet somehow still Martinez is not what I would consider a household name. Now the teammate of another player, Paul Goldschmidt, who isn’t really a household name but should be, Martinez is gearing up to cash in on the free agent market in 2018. If anyone notices that is. If no one does notice it would behoove the Yankees to not make a run at him on a shorter term deal in my opinion to see if they could snag a great free agent option for less. Dare I say, Ninja Cashman. Martinez is not going to win you a Gold Glove out there in the outfield, hence why I said he could split time as the DH as well, and has been a bit injury prone throughout his career but he is just 30-years old and would likely only command a three-or-four year deal while having the same wRC+ (145) as Miguel Cabrera has had over the past three seasons.

Get Greedy and get Martinez if you can. If not and if the team wants a platoon and an insurance option at first base then sign a Mike Napoli and call it a day. Either way it looks like there won’t be much offensive help coming or much heavy lifting to be found in the Bronx before the 2018 season on the free agent market. Or I could be completely wrong, that’s happened more than once. 

Random Thoughts After the GM Meetings

The general manager meetings are done and after a few days of sitting under palm trees in the Sonora

Desert resort not a whole lot got done. This is not uncommon, the big event where players move around the most is usually the winter meetings which take place next month, but it is a bit unusual to see exactly zero trades done during the four day event.

The Yankees have a viable trade piece in Brian McCann, the Pittsburgh Pirates have one also in Andrew McCutchen while the Detroit Tigers will listen to offers on anything that isn’t tied down including Justin Verlander, Miguel Cabrera, Ian Kinsler, J.D. Martinez and Victor Martinez. Chris Sale could be had from the Chicago White Sox with the right deal along with a slew of names I’m sure we the fans just aren’t hearing about.

There is an eerie calm around the league right now. Maybe it is the upcoming collective bargaining agreement that is set to expire. Maybe it’s the rumors of the luxury tax threshold potentially rising with any new CBA. Maybe it’s just the fact that the free agent class is weak and these players know it so they are going to take their time, make opposing teams sweat and ultimately bid against themselves in order to get the maximum contract.

I don’t know why but I just get a weird feeling about this offseason. It’s either going to be really great for the Yankees, great being Brian Cashman pulls off a few trades and puts an actual World Series caliber team out there for once, or a really disappointing offseason for the Yankees. One thing is for sure I don’t see how they can go another offseason without signing a free agent to a MLB deal… so stay tuned.

What About JD Martinez?

The New York Yankees have a vision for the 2017 season. The vision includes watching more products of their farm system meet the Major Leagues and be successful but it also includes competing for at least a Wild Card position in the American League. If the team wants to reach both goals they will have to rely on their farm system but they also may have to fill in some gaps from the free agency and trade markets as well and one name that I keep seeing mentioned around Yankees blogs and the internet is that of Detroit Tigers position player J.D. Martinez. Could he be had and would he be a good fit for the Yankees in 2017?

As recently as the 2015 season Martinez slugged 38 home runs with 102 RBI in a very pitcher friendly park in Comerica and while he took a step back in 2016, 22 home runs in just 120 games, his right-handed power is not something that you see become available every day. His power is especially rare when you consider his 2016 triple slash of .307/.373/.535 showing that he is a well-rounded player that can hit for average, take his walks and slug when he has to. The Yankees would presumably be interested in adding the outfielder to the fold based off these numbers alone but you have to wonder if there will be room.

The Yankees, at least this is what they are telling everyone, will give Aaron Judge every opportunity to fail in 2017 at the right field position and the team also has roster spots currently occupied by Brett Gardner, Jacoby Ellsbury, Tyler Austin and Aaron Hicks. On paper a deal doesn’t make sense but it begs the question, would it be worth trading Brett Gardner in a separate deal to make room for Martinez? Would it be worth it to trade Judge in a deal for a starting pitcher to make room for Martinez? Yes and no. Trading Gardner to make room for Martinez hurts less than losing Judge for Martinez because of the sole reason that Martinez is a free agent after the 2017 season. Trading Gardner in a deal that could bring back a pitcher though, that could work.

Having Martinez in the Bronx for one year could give players like Judge and Clint Frazier to name a few the time they need to develop and ultimately succeed at the Major League level while the Yankees outfield production gets a big shot in the arm. It’s a win, win and could be a triple “win” if Gardner brings back a young starting pitcher. Cashman, are you reading?

Justin Upton, the Tigers and Fantasy Baseball

If you leave defensive metrics out of the discussion the best offensive free agent this winter may have been Justin Upton and not Jason Heyward. Obviously both players will play the outfield for much or the duration of their contracts so you have to include the defensive metrics but still Upton was a catch and the Detroit Tigers got him on a huge six-year deal. Upton, who is no defensive slouch himself mind you, will join the lineup in Detroit that already showcases Miguel Cabrera and Ian Kinsler which should help the Tigers immensely as they look to climb back to the top of the American League Central Division. Upton will help the Tigers both offensively in defensively when the team plays this season but how much will he help your fantasy team?

Last season while hitting in Major League Baseball’s equivalent of Yellowstone National Park (if you don’t get the reference Petco Park, like Yellowstone, is HUGE) Upton managed to hit for just a .251 batting average and .790 OPS with 26 home runs and stole 19 bases in what many deemed as a down year for the 28-year old. While the batting average isn’t exactly where you’d like it the home runs, defense and stolen bases is where you get your value out of Upton. Upton’s 26 home runs in 2015 marked the third consecutive year he hit at least 26 homers and the fifth time in the last seven years he has done so. His power is consistent, even inside the biggest parks around the league.

Upton has not been on great teams over the past few years and has seen his RBI total shrink to about 80 RBI per season with 85 runs scored but that’s a product of the team around him and not him as much. Playing with a stacked lineup around him in Detroit should help with both of those numbers as they both likely climb above 100 during the 2016 season. Upton strikes out a ton, more so than ever actually, but he takes his walks, hits for power and hits it to the gaps. You can live with the strikeouts if a player does that making Upton a second or third round pick in my opinion.

Upton will be the second hottest Upton commodity in Detroit this season behind the beautiful Kate Upton but he should be first on your fantasy team. If you see him then get him as early as you can. I wouldn’t let him slide past the second or early third round personally but I expect big things out of him inside Comerica Park in 2016. Hitting behind Anthony Gose and Ian Kinsler and hitting in front of Miguel Cabrera, Victor Martinez and JD Martinez will only help Upton even if Comerica will likely hurt him just a tad.