Was the Mark Teixeira Injury the End of the 2015 Season

The New York Yankees were flying high through the month of July and held a substantial lead in the American League East entering the month of August. The Toronto Blue Jays were fresh off making multiple acquisitions including David Price, LaTroy Hawkins, Mark Lowe and Troy Tulowitzki while New York added Dustin Ackley. The Yankees didn't feel like they needed to add much or had the room to add much, and at the time I agreed with that stance, but we all know how that worked out. The Yankees lost their pitcher with the most wins in Nathan Eovaldi and they also lost their best offensive weapon in Mark Teixeira. Essentially Eovaldi was replaced with Luis Severino after Michael Pineda returned off the disabled list while Greg Bird essentially replaces Teixeira at first base. Was the Teixeira injury the end of the Yankees season or did Greg Bird do enough to essentially replace his production?

I am a firm believer that along with a general eye test that the stats don't lie. When looking at the stats, which I have given to you below, you can see that Bird either met or exceeded Teixeira's average statistics for the remainder of the month of August and the month of September. Bird was great, no doubt about it, but he's no Teixeira.

Teixeira:

Split	G	GS	PA	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
April/March	21	20	90	13	16	5	8	18	0	13	14	.216	.322	.608	.930
May	27	26	107	12	23	4	6	17	1	16	12	.258	.383	.506	.889
June	24	24	101	10	22	6	5	19	0	12	18	.259	.366	.506	.872
July	23	23	102	17	29	7	9	19	1	13	21	.333	.422	.724	1.146
August	16	15	62	5	10	0	3	6	0	5	20	.175	.242	.333	.575

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Bird:

Year	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
2015	46	178	157	26	41	9	11	31	0	19	53	.261	.343	.529	.871	137

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

The Yankees offense was exposed against left-handed starting pitching at the end of the season, no if's and's or but's about it. Replacing that middle of the order bat that gave Alex Rodriguez plenty of fastballs to hit and Brian McCann enough chances for RBI was damn near impossible for the Yankees. Bird did great hitting clutch home run after clutch home run but he wasn't protecting anyone in the lineup. He didn't make any opposing pitchers fear him and no opposing pitchers feared this Yankees offense for the last month and a half or so of the season. Maybe the stats do lie, but like I said you also have to use the general eye test as well. That's when the stats don't lie and they don't here either for the reasons I have stated above.

Get well soon Mark, the team needs you in 2016, gluten-free or not.

Jose Reyes to the Yankees: Redux

The Jose Reyes to the New York Yankees rumors are gaining steam after Jon Heyman kicked around the idea before the July 31st trade deadline and after we mentioned it here on the blog. Reyes has now cleared revocable waivers and can be traded to any team for the remainder of the season. Reyes would be expensive in terms of dollars, as you will read here in this article, but if Colorado is willing to eat a lot, or most, of the contract then he is an obvious upgrade at second base.


Here's the original article, agree or disagree? Leave it in the comments section or drop us a tweet @GreedyStripes.


When the Toronto Blue Jays and the Colorado Rockies hooked up for a trade before the July 31st trading deadline the entire market and leagues were turned on their heads. LaTroy Hawkins and Troy Tulowitzki went to the Toronto Blue Jays in the deal while Jose Reyes and a stable of prospects went back to Colorado in the deal. After the shock and awe wore off that the face of the Rockies franchise was finally traded the focus turned to the fact that this deal really made little to no sense for Colorado. Trading Tulowitzki was one thing, trading him for Reyes was another thing unless the Rockies planned on flipping Reyes.

While Colorado never really gained any traction on any trade involving Reyes there were many, including CBS Sports own Jon Heyman, that believed the New York Yankees may get involved. Would that make sense for a team that desperately needed an upgrade at second base and would the financial burdens be worth it when it was all said an done?

Reyes is owed the remainder of his $22 million contract in 2015, $22 million in 2016, $22 million in 2017 and has a $22 million team option in 2018 along with a $4 million buyout. Reyes is on a steep decline as a shortstop and may benefit from a move to second base that requires less range and less of a throwing arm. That gaudy contract is not worth even a Gold Glove defender at second base without a steep upgrade offensively, and that is not Reyes unless the Yankees have a time machine that can turn back the clock to around the 2011 season.

It wouldn't make sense for Colorado to eat the contract because the point of the deal was pinching pennies, and the team saved $50 million worth with the deal despite the huge contract for Reyes, leaving the Yankees and Rockies as less than ideal trade partners. Reyes to the Yankees would have beat Stephen Drew or Brendan Ryan any day in 2015 but it would be just another deal that blocked Robert Refsnyder and that, in my opinion, is not an option.

Jose Reyes to the Yankees?

When the Toronto Blue Jays and the Colorado Rockies hooked up for a trade before the July 31st trading deadline the entire market and leagues were turned on their heads. LaTroy Hawkins and Troy Tulowitzki went to the Toronto Blue Jays in the deal while Jose Reyes and a stable of prospects went back to Colorado in the deal. After the shock and awe wore off that the face of the Rockies franchise was finally traded the focus turned to the fact that this deal really made little to no sense for Colorado. Trading Tulowitzki was one thing, trading him for Reyes was another thing unless the Rockies planned on flipping Reyes.

While Colorado never really gained any traction on any trade involving Reyes there were many, including CBS Sports own Jon Heyman, that believed the New York Yankees may get involved. Would that make sense for a team that desperately needed an upgrade at second base and would the financial burdens be worth it when it was all said an done?

Reyes is owed the remainder of his $22 million contract in 2015, $22 million in 2016, $22 million in 2017 and has a $22 million team option in 2018 along with a $4 million buyout. Reyes is on a steep decline as a shortstop and may benefit from a move to second base that requires less range and less of a throwing arm. That gaudy contract is not worth even a Gold Glove defender at second base without a steep upgrade offensively, and that is not Reyes unless the Yankees have a time machine that can turn back the clock to around the 2011season.

It wouldn't make sense for Colorado to eat the contract because the point of the deal was pinching pennies, and the team saved $50 million worth with the deal despite the huge contract for Reyes, leaving the Yankees and Rockies as less than ideal trade partners. Reyes to the Yankees would have beat Stephen Drew or Brendan Ryan any day in 2015 but it would be just another deal that blocked Robert Refsnyder and that, in my opinion, is not an option.

Are the Blue Jays Better w/ Troy Tulowitzki?

As we all either saw very late Monday night and early Tuesday morning the Toronto Blue Jays and the Colorado Rockies shook up the trading market with a deal involving Jose Reyes, Troy Tulowitzki, various prospects and an absolute butt-ton of money. The Blue Jays will acquire Tulowitzki and closer LaTroy Hawkins in a deal that sent Reyes and three prospects back to Colorado. No money will change hands despite Colorado saving around $50 million overall in the deal but did the deal really make Toronto all that much better and should the Yankees be worried?

Tulowitzki was slashing .300/.348/.471/.818 at the time of the trade with 12 home runs and 53 RBI in a very hitting friendly Coors Field while Reyes was slashing .285/.322/.385/.708 with four home runs and 34 RBI. It is hard to compare the two since Reyes is primarily a leadoff type hitter while Tulowtizki is a middle of the order type bat but Tulo seemingly has Reyes beat in almost every standard category and statistic as well as in the peripheral department. The question is not whether Tulo is the better hitter than Reyes, anyone who has watched a game the past two or three seasons can tell you that he is, but it is whether this is a better match for the Jays.

Toronto now has Tulo as long as Tulo wants to play his home games inside Rogers Centre after a full no-trade clause triggered in his deal with the trade. Toronto is taking on more years and more money, around $50 million to be exact, to take on Hawkins and Tulo and Tulo alone doesn’t really help the team. Toronto’s biggest issue this season has been with the pitching, it’s definitely not been the offense, and while Tulo helps the offense and probably helps on the defensive side of the ball, although with his recent hip surgery and injury history playing on turf may not be the best idea for Tulo, I’m not entirely sure he helps the team much this season.

Hawkins was also acquired in the deal and although he’s 42 years old and likely to retire at the end of the season making him a pure rental he may help a Toronto bullpen that is in dire need of some help. Hawkins was no longer the closer in Colorado, although he has loads of closing experience, and was pitching to a 3.63 ERA in a very hitting friendly ballpark at the time of the trade. Hawkins was pitching to a 123 ERA+ and 1.164 WHIP, although his 1.2 HR/9 and 8.9 H/9 aren’t anything to write home about. Hawkins still misses enough bats to survive and doesn’t walk many batters at all giving the Blue Jays an upgrade in their bullpen. Is it enough of an upgrade to make up 6.5 games in the American League East? Probably not even close, but then again its only July 29^th…

Two Players Still Active from 1994 MLB Strike

I read an interestingly article yesterday from the USA Today that I felt compelled to share. The article showed how there were only two players active today that were active in 1994 when Major League Baseball was shut down due to a strike that cancelled the World Series. One player is currently on the Colorado Rockies, LaTroy Hawkins, and the other is a member of our very own New York Yankees, Mr. Alex Emmanuel Rodriguez.

Through the 1995 season Major League Baseball went through five strikes, three lockouts, the cancellation of 1,720 games and the 1994 playoffs and World Series and the league has been labor conflict free since. When the new collective bargaining agreement expires after the 2016 season there may not be a single player left in the league that remembers the 1994 work stoppage. Rodriguez, a member of the Seattle Mariners at the time, could be retired by then while Hawkins, a member of the Minnesota Twins in 1994, will more than likely be sipping drinks on a beach somewhere by the start of the 2017 season.

The World Series may have been cancelled, wages may have been lost and the game may have gotten a black eye but in the long run the bruises have seemingly healed, the fans are flocking back to the game and the ends look to justify the means of what those players have fought for. The average salary for a MLB player is now $4 million with the highest AAV eclipsing $30 million per season while the league minimum has gotten all the way to $507,500 in 2015. Players are also, if practical, guaranteed first class jet air, hotel accommodations and single rooms on every single road trip since the 1997 season.

762 players were on active 25 man rosters the day the strike began and none of them are on 40 man rosters today. Both Hawks and Rodriguez were on their respected team’s 40 man rosters and saw their minor league seasons cut short due to the strike. When these players are gone and the new CBA is being negotiated the parties involved will have little to no knowledge or understanding of what a strike or work stoppage could mean to the players and mean to the game. That is scary when you think about it because we aren’t sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing. If one does not learn from the past they are doomed to repeat it and we see a lot of that going on these days… Stay tuned.