Game Thread: New York Yankees vs. Kansas City Royals 5/10

The New York Yankees defense has taken the field, the pitchers are done throwing their warm up pitches in the bullpen and the Kansas City Royals leadoff man is ready to take his first at bat of the night. This is Yankees baseball ladies and gentleman and this is the second game of these team’s four-game set head-to-head this week in the Bronx. The Yankees send their stopper and their ace to the mound tonight in Masahiro Tanaka while the Royals will look for a bounce back start from Kris Medlen tonight in the Bronx. The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET inside of Yankee Stadium and can be seen on the YES Network, MLB Network and MLB TV.

These two teams have two more games to go in this four game series before the Royals kiss the Bronx goodbye for a while and if you want to see either of these games live you need to act now. No longer can you print your tickets at home obviously so you need to click the Yankees tickets link at the top of the blog now to get your tickets or at least your ticket barcode on your phone in hand before the game. It supports the Yankees and it supports the blog, and we thank you for it in advance. If you can’t make it out to the Bronx this week then you can simply follow along on Twitter and live tweet with us by dropping us a line @GreedyStripes. We are around for each and every Yankees game this season like we have been since day one.

Tanaka, just like the last time. Go! And Go Yankees!

Game Preview: New York Yankees vs. Kansas City Royals 5/10

The New York Yankees and the Kansas City Royals are back at it again tonight in the Bronx in the second of their three-game set in the Bronx. Unfortunately as you read earlier this morning I will be missing this game but I will be there in spirit rooting on the home team. In the contest the Yankees will be sending Masahiro Tanaka to the mound looking for another gem, and maybe some offensive support to help, while the Royals will counter with Kris Medlen.

Tanaka pitched an absolute gem in his last start against the Baltimore Orioles but while he delivered just what the doctor ordered the offense fell asleep in a no-decision. Tanaka ended up throwing eight shutout innings in the start but the Yankees did not break through until the bottom of the 10^th when a Brett Gardner solo home run sent the Yankees fans home happy with a 1-0 walk off victory.

Medlen had the exact opposite kind of start as Tanaka did last time out against the Washington Nationals. Medlen lasted just two innings in the contest while allowing nine runs, six of them earned, on six hits. Please sir, may we have some more?

The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET inside of Yankee Stadium and can be seen on the YES Network, MLB Network and of course MLB TV. Medlen is one of those pitchers I’ve watched a lot since moving to Atlanta and while with the Braves I suffered through a pair of Tommy John surgeries with the right-hander. I’m glad to see him back on the mound and back with a contending team because I always kind of liked him when I watched him pitch either live or on television. I’m a Yankees fan through and through but when you live afar and you’re a baseball junkie like me it’s hard not to latch on and at least follow the “home” team. Medlen pitching or not though you need to best believe I’ll still be shouting GO YANKEES each and every time.

Go Yankees!

Any of These Remaining Pitchers Intriguing?

Are any of these second and third tier starting pitchers intriguing to the New York Yankees as possible depth signings and potential free agent acquisitions? I hope not but let's take a look at the non James Shields and Max Scherzer's of the world to see if the Yankees are done singing starting pitching this winter.

- Kevin Correia, Aaron Harang, Chad Billingsley and Kyle Kendrick seem like National League only type pitchers at this point in his career.

- I wanted to mention Brandon Beachy as a possible Yankees option but after Kris Medlen got a two year deal from Kansas City with a guaranteed $8.5 million I think that kills any chances of that happening.

- Eric Stults = Chris Capuano

- Jake Peavy.... more on him later

The Best Remaining Options on the Starting Pitching Board After Scherzer/Shields

It seems like all the good starting pitching besides Max Scherzer and James Shields are off the free agency board in a time when the New York Yankees need it most. Besides the two aforementioned aces the remaining crop of pitchers does not look too enticing, should the Yankees take a shot?

Hiroki Kuroda is undecided whether he even wants to pitch next season or not but right now you have to welcome him back to the club if he wants to pitch. He would be a rock in a shaky rotation right now after posting a 11-9 record with a 3.71 ERA in 2014 with New York.

Edison Volquez posted a career best 3.04 ERA with a 13-7 record last season which leads you to believe his control issues are finally behind him. Volquez posted a career best 1.97 K/BB ratio in 2014 with Pittsburgh and has stepped up as the best "second tier" free agent available.

Brandon Beachy and Kris Medlen both are coming off their second Tommy John surgeries and both will likely be available on short termed and cheap deals. Neither will be available to start the season but both should be ready around the time Ivan Nova is ready to return. Maybe a split contract for both which keeps them off the 40 man roster until their ready?

We finish with Jake Peavy who probably has the least eye popping stats at 7-13 with a 3.73 ERA but may come with the most experience for the back end of the rotation. Peavy struck out 158 batters in 2014 between Boston and San Francisco and is playoffs and World Series tested after getting a ring this season. Peavy's sinkerball would fit in well in Yankee Stadium and he misses enough bats to succeed not as an ace but a viable middle of the rotation type starter.

Are the Atlanta Braves Rebuilding on the Fly?

The Atlanta Braves have shaken up the National League East pecking order a little this week when they traded second baseman Tommy La Stella for RHP and former Atlanta Brave and New York Yankee Arodys Vizcaino. The team then traded away homegrown talent and local boy Jason Heyward to the St. Louis Cardinals along with RHP Jordan Walden for RHP Shelby Miller and a highly regarded pitching prospect. Maybe I have become accustomed to expecting to win every season and I am losing my understanding on what it’s like to be in a smaller market with a smaller payroll but this sounds like a rebuild to me. This sounds at least like a rebuild on the fly anyway.

Pitching reigns supreme right now in that division and the Braves have lost, at least for now, Ervin Santana to free agency along with Brandon Beachy and Kris Medlen to Tommy John surgery so I understand the need for pitching. At what cost does the pitching get too heavily relied on? Ask the 2014 Yankees who had a great pitching staff, injuries and all, and an even better bullpen but lost far too many 1-0 type games because of an inadequate offense. The Braves offense was already suspect with Heyward and La Stella so I can only imagine what Atlanta will be like without them.

I understand that it’s only November, 19 and there is a ways to go in this offseason but you have to wonder what new GM John Hart is thinking. Atlanta does not have a second base prospect less than a year away and the market for middle infielders is barren so why does a team trade away a guy with five years left of team control at what is becoming a premium position? Also one would think the Braves have a lot better chance at re-signing Heyward after 2015 then they do Justin Upton who is also a free agent at season’s end so why not trade Upton? The return is bigger and better and it still opens a position up for Evan Gattis.

I don’t think the Braves are done dealing soon to be free agents for controllable players and I think Upton and Gattis may be next because if it looks like a rebuild and smells like a rebuild and walks like a rebuild, it’s a rebuild. 

Ervin Santana Comes Off The Yankees Board, For Real This Time

The last time we had this discussion we were fed some bad information that Ervin Santana had agreed upon a one year deal worth $14 million with the Toronto Blue Jays, that obviously was not true. Almost a week later Santana was signed today by the Atlanta Braves on a one year deal worth exactly $14.1 million, a qualifying offer in 2014 and much like the one Santana rejected from the Kansas City Royals way back in November.

The Braves likely Opening Day starter Kris Medlen left a spring training game with pitching stiffness in his arm and is likely to require a second Tommy John surgery to repair the ligament. Atlanta wasted no time jumping into the Santana sweepstakes and swooped him up today to bring him to Turner Field.

The Yankees never really seemed interested in Santana, whether they should have been or not is another discussion for another post, but this discussion has officially bee put to bed. Santana is in Atlanta for at least the 2014 season.