The Addition Of Andrew McCutchen Means So Much More

You've likely already read dozens of people's takes on the trade for Andrew McCutchen, so you're either reading this because you're bored or because you actually care what I think.

Either way, thank you. So here goes...

My first reaction to seeing the trade was something like "oh no".

That's not because I think McCutchen is bad. On the contrary, I think he makes a good addition to the team. Andrew may not be a Most Valuable Player award candidate anymore, but he's still an above average hitter (OPS+ of 110 this season). And while I think he's a bit overrated defensively, as I've heard some say go as far as to say he's a "great" outfielder, McCutchen will not hurt you with his glove (-0.9 UZR/150 as a right fielder this season).

See, with Judge returning, I saw the addition of another outfielder being unnecessary. Especially since that would mean the Yankees may have to give up something decent in a trade (for the record, thankfully that's not true as the organization has plenty of pitching as good as, or better than, Juan De Paula, and I don't see Avelino being anything more than a bench piece in MLB). Sure, Shane Robinson is far from ideal, but he's not single-handedly responsible for the Yankees losing the series to the White Sox. In fact, the Yankees are 13-7 in games that Shane started since August 1st, which is a better winning percentage than the Yankees have for the season (.650 to .627).

The big thing I take away from this deal is that Aaron Judge may be further away from returning than we hoped. To be honest, this could mean Judge doesn't return at all this season. Even though the Yankees have shown us that they can win without Aaron in the lineup, that doesn't mean the loss of Judge for the rest of the season wouldn't be a huge blow. Frankly, there's no way any team, in any sport, can lose their best player and be as good.

Just add Judge's return to the large list of things we Yankees fans hope...

1. Giancarlo Stanton keeps tearing the cover off the ball. By the way, I'm so glad #300 is out of the way, as milestones such as that have to get into a players head.

2. Luis Severino turns things around. Oh, check out this article.

3. Didi and Sanchez return strong from their injuries.

4. J.A. Happ is more like the pitcher we saw in his first five starts with the Yankees, rather than the guy we saw last night.

5. Aroldis Chapman returns and is able to continue dominating the way he was before he went on the DL.

6. Luke Voit and/or Neil Walker can provide some stability at first base, something Greg Bird hasn't been able to do there all season.

7. Andrew McCutchen gets fired up playing for a real contender and is closer to the player he was last year with the Pirates, when he had an OPS+ of 123.

8...

yeah, I'm going to stop there. I'm starting to get really depressed.


Although Twitter, like Facebook, can be full of some really stupid junk, it's a good place to chat and get some up-to-the-minute information. You can chat with me @BryanVanDusen. 

Adam Warren's Back, Baby!

As excited as I am over the Yankees adding top prospect Gleyber Torres to their already nice farm system, not to mention another good outfield prospect in Billy McKinney, I'm more intrigued by Adam Warren.

"He's back, baby!"

I guess this is because in the past I've been more about what a player can do for the Yankees now, rather than what they might be able to do down the road. Sure, I've come around to rooting for the team to keep improving their minor league system, but I can't help but put more focus on the guys that are a factor to the team's success right now than in two to three years.

That's why I ran right over to Warren's Baseball Reference page to see how he's been doing this season. Mind you, I knew it wasn't anything special, but I was in for a bigger disappointment.

Up to this point of 2016, Adam has been pitching quite poorly. In 35 innings this season, all but five of which have come as a reliever, Warren's ERA is 5.91. For comparison, in 287 innings spanning three seasons for the Yankees, Adam had an ERA of 3.23. I'm betting that Cubs fans were extremely disappointed with that performance, as most people thought he'd be a very solid contributor to any team's bullpen.

So what has gone wrong? I mean, there must be some explanation for why Adam Warren's pitching has fallen so far. Heck, we're not talking about a guy in his late 30s, whose career has been on the decline for years. Warren is just 28 years old, and a healthy 28 year-old at that.

Well, here's what I found...

For starters, Adam Warren is walking more batters. During his 2014 and 2015 seasons, Adam walked 2.75 and 2.67 batters per nine innings. However, that rate has nearly doubled to 4.89 batters per nine innings this season. That alone could be a big factor in Adam's declining performance, but there's more.

As bad as walks can be for pitchers, at least there's a chance they won't come around to score. That's not the case when it comes to giving up home runs, something that Adam has done a ton this season. In 2014 Warren gave up .46 home runs every nine innings pitched, and that number was a low .69 again in 2015. So how bad is Adam's homer rate this season? 1.8 per nine innings!

Another way to look at Adam Warren's homer issues this season is this... Between 2014 and 2015 he gave up 14 home runs, which spans 210 innings. However, in just 35 innings this season, Adam has given up 7 long balls

I had to keep looking at his stats to try and figure out just why in the World Warren is giving up so many homers this season. What I found was a nice jump in his fly ball rate. See, in the two years before going to Chicago, batters hit the ball in the air 31.5% of the time. However, nowadays opposing hitters are lifting the ball into the air 40.4% of the time. That's a significant jump, and it indicates to me that he's changed how he's pitching to batters.

Warren's pitch selection backs me up on that thought...

As a matter of fact, little about Adam Warren's pitch selection has remained the same with the Cubs. He's not throwing as many sliders (25.5%, as opposed to 31% between '14 and '15), not as many curveballs (7.5%, as opposed to 10.2% the previous two seasons), and more changeups (22.1% instead of 15.7%). And while Adam is throwing more fastballs than before (34.2% in '16, 28.6% between '14 and '15), a much smaller portion of them are of the cutter variety (.6% in '16, next to 2.95% in '14 and '15).

This has led to batters changing their approaches against Adam Warren, too. Batters from 2014 to 2015 swung at 30.3% of pitches outside of the strike zone (harder pitches to hit), but are only doing that 25.8% of the time this season. Furthermore, they are swinging at more pitches in the zone (better pitches to hit), 73.8% in 2016 instead of 65.9% in his previous two years.

I'm not a pitching coach, so I can't say what Adam Warren needs to do to get back to his pre-2016 self. Although it doesn't seem to hard to figure out... More sliders, less curveballs, a lot less changeups, and more cutters (hey, Mariano, get back here and straighten this kid out!). All the while keeping the ball down, so opposing batters can't get the ball into the air as often.

In conclusion, Adam Warren does not seem like a lost cause. Fans' opinion of Larry Rothschild would go way up if he can get Mr. Warren back to being the guy Yankees fans thought he could be for the team coming into this season. And to be honest, the trio of Warren-Betances-Miller could very well keep teams from scoring nearly as much as No Runs DMC did.

Time to get working on a new t-shirt design.

Should The Yankees Have Gone All-In?

When I first saw the current standings in the American League East, with the Yankees sitting 4.5 games behind the Toronto Blue Jays, I shook my head in disgust. On August 1st the Yankees were 5 games in first place... ahead of the Baltimore Orioles (now there's an ugly story). The Blue Jays were actually 6 games back at the time.

"Ahhhhh!"

But then I remembered that Toronto's future is not good. For starters, they are unlikely to re-sign David Price. Until they traded for Troy Tulowitski, the Jays' largest contract was Russell Martin's 5 years and $82 million. $82 million to $200 million? I don't see that, especially now that they'll be paying Troy $94 million through 2020 (not including the 2021 club option, which has a $4 million buyout).

So I decided to do what Daniel does a lot of, and start a Twitter Poll.

I asked our followers... "Would you rather the Yankees did little or went all in on a World Series push like the BlueJays?" Here are a few replies...

@GreedyStripes Did little. We'll see where Toronto is in three years.

— Sean Manning (@SeanManning_DP) September 13, 2015

When it all comes down to it, this is exactly what I was thinking. Toronto fans can beat their chests now, but sooner or later we're going to be the one's laughing.

@GreedyStripes I think there could have been a middle ground. They needed a person off the bench who could hit lefties, another bullpen arm

— Terry Holden (@Terry_Holden3) September 13, 2015

While I agree with Terry that the Yankees could have added a little something to the bench, I disagree with the bullpen part. The team's bullpen was fine at the time. I say "was", because injuries have taken away the depth the bullpen had.

@GreedyStripes think they're playing for 2016 and beyond. I'm okay with that.

— Baierman (@Baierman) September 13, 2015

I can see the Yankees building something close to another dynasty. No, I don't expect four more World Series titles in five years, but a few titles within the next ten years is feasible.

@GreedyStripes do little. When the Yankees youth takes over in a few seasons and the Blue Jays are irrelevant again well thank Cashman..

— Action B (@Hoosiers531) September 13, 2015

A compliment to Brian Cashman? Wow!

@GreedyStripes I wouldnt complain either way. Nice to hold on to prospects. However, will need to invest in offseason to remain relevant.

— Terry Holden (@Terry_Holden3) September 13, 2015

Whether or not I complained would depend on who they traded for who. If the Mateo for Kimbrel/Gyorko trade happened, I would have complained a little because Jedd is almost worthless. But while losing Mateo would have stunk, having a three-headed monster in the bullpen (Betances-Miller-Kimbrel... WOW!) would have been awesome.

@GreedyStripes when they don't win the WS (if they even make it there) Jays will realize they wasted $. Yankees did best for the long term

— Rach (@RachelG48NYY) September 13, 2015

When I said "sooner or later" in response to Sean Manning's tweet earlier, the "sooner" referred to this.

@GreedyStripes All in, always

— Lisa (@mochachick8) September 13, 2015

@GreedyStripes All in

— Sherri (@SherriPizza) September 13, 2015

While I don't agree with going all-in this season, I don't blame some fans for wanting them to. The Yankees could always buy more players in free agency, but my issue with this comes from the fact that free agency is not what it used to be. So going all-in could mean hurting the future. I want a nice run of seasons, not a great season followed by a few "meh" ones.

Thanks for the replies. Daniel has done a bunch of these Twitter Polls, and I'm probably going to have some here or there. So be on the look out, and get your opinion heard.

Coming To Terms After The Trade Deadline

The Toronto Blue Jays are better, the Kansas City Royals are better, the Los Angeles Dodgers are better, and the Texas Rangers are better. The New York Yankees are... pretty much the same team they were last week.

"That was a pretty boring week."

I'm not happy that Brian Cashman didn't find a way to improve the team, but I'm not convinced that something had to be done. Take the bullpen for example, where we heard rumors of Craig Kimbrel, Aroldis Chapman, or Carter Capps being traded for...

While it would have been incredible to have Dellin Betances, Andrew Miller, and Craig Kimbrel/Aroldis Chapman/Carter Capps in the bullpen, would that be necessary? Those three could take care of four innings, making the starters only have to throw for five. But Masahiro Tanaka has averaged 6.23 innings per start, while Michael Pineda has averaged 6.21 innings per start. That means, unless those guys have a bad game, one of Betances, Miller, or Kimbrel wouldn't even be used in a game. And a bad performance by one of the starters could very well mean the Yankees are losing more than half-way through the game. That's not good, especially against the Royals, Orioles, Blue Jays, Angels, and Astros... all of which have pretty good bullpens.

I don't mean to be a hypocrite here. Yes... I was cool with the Yankees offering Jorge Mateo for Craig Kimbrel. I would have liked to keep Mateo, as you can never have too many middle infield prospects, but the facts are that Jorge is only in single-A, and Didi Gregorius has looked really good over the last month. So losing Mateo wouldn't be that bad. No, the bad part was Jed Gyorko.

The fact that Gyorko's OPS+ since the beginning of the 2014 season is only 77 wouldn't be that big a problem, especially seeing how the Yankees traded for Dustin Ackley and his OPS+ of 78 this season. The problem with Gyorko is that he's signed through 2019 for $32 million (plus a $1 million buyout of a team option for 2020). It's surely not an albatross contract like Sabathia's, but the idea of paying this guy $13 million in 2019 is ridiculous.

To sum up the bullpen, with the top two along with guys such as Chasen Schreve and Justin Wilson, a big upgrade was hardly necessary.

What about the starting rotation, which could use an upgrade at the top?

The Yankees were never close to acquiring an ace-type starter, and it turns out that doing so would have taken at least one of the big four... Aaron Judge, Luis Severino, Greg Bird, and Jorge Mateo. But even if Brian Cashman would have been okay parting with one or more of those guys, would doing that for somebody like Johnny Cueto be necessary?

Yankees starters are currently ranked 6th in the American League in FIP, and out of the five teams ahead of them in that category, the Houston Astros are the only team with a good chance at making the postseason (the other four are the Oakland Athletics, the Chicago White Sox, the Tampa Bay Rays, and Cleveland Indians).

Meanwhile, the Toronto Blue Jays did a good job of improving their rotation, adding David Price. However, the Yankees have destroyed Price recently, and the Jays' next best starter is Mark Buerle, who would struggle to strike out you or I.

Yes, a pitcher of the Mike Leake or James Shields variety would have been welcome, but there's no certainty that they would be any better than simply calling up Luis Severino. Not to mention that Adam Warren did a really good job in the rotation earlier this season, and he could be put back there. Then there's Bryan Mitchell, another fine starting candidate. Sure, Masahiro Tanaka and Michael Pineda haven't been true #1 starters, but I still trust those guys. And Nathan Eovaldi has been fairly good lately.

Yeah.. anyway...

Fine, but Stephen Drew and Brendan Ryan are still our regular second basemen. Ugh!

That's true, and it's not good. However, there was never a solid rumor regarding an offensive upgrade. Plenty of people, myself included, brought up guys like Ben Zobrist or Martin Prado. Well, the Yankees' bats are already pretty good (2nd in AL in runs scored and wRC+), so I don't think a trade in this area was truly necessary. Bringing back Rob Refsnyder to be the team's regular second baseman over Stephen Drew may be all the team needs on offense.

What I find really funny is that, in the past, a number of fans spoke out against trading away all of the team's good prospects. Now that the team has changed gears when it comes to building from within, and we got through a trading deadline without losing a top 15 prospect, you'd think the fans would be happy. But no... they wanted a "big" trade to happen. Face it... Brian Cashman can't win.

I'm extremely excited about the team. Without possibly damaging the future of the team, they're six games in first place with 60 games to play. That may not be a lot, but it is hardly an easy hill to climb for the second place Blue Jays and Orioles.

We've been waiting to see Luis Severino get called up, and next week we're going to finally see it. And against the Red Sox no less. How awesome is that?

And as early as next season we could see the team's top prospect, and somebody the offense may be built around in the near future, Aaron Judge. Of course, that would mean delegating Carlos Beltran and his $15 million salary to the bench, but I don't think it's out of the question.

I've already talked about Rob Refsnyder being brought back up to permanently replace the combination of Drew and Ryan at second base.

Then there's Greg Bird, who may very well get a promotion to the big league some time next season, where he'll take his next stop towards taking over for Mark Teixiera at first base.

However, with how he's hitting homer after homer, and making plays like the gem last night, I'm not in any hurry for him to step down.

Finally, one of the best parts about not dealing for Craig Kimbrel, Cole Hamels, or others is that the Yankees are not obligated to pay a large chunk of money to another player. Nor are they on the hook for so many years of their contracts.

The New York Yankees are not the same team they were a few years ago. Maybe not even two years ago. If you're too young to remember when Don Mattingly played for the Yankees, then I can understand your frustration with the team not bettering their chances to win it all this year. But if you do remember Donnie Baseball, and the team's struggles prior to 1996, then building another Core Four like what Brian Cashman has said he's trying to do sounds pretty damn appealing.

First Impressions Of Brandon McCarthy Trade

By now you've all heard that the Yankees traded Vidal Nuno to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Brandon McCarthy. It wasn't a straight swap, as the D'Backs will eat $2.05 million of the $4.1 million owed to McCarthy, while the Yankees will pay a $1 million assignment bonus. So basically this move cost the Yankees $3.05 million, which is okay with me seeing as how McCarthy has been worth $6.6 million this year.

So what do I think of the deal?

For starters, I'm not going to miss Vidal Nuno.

Going by other's reactions to Nuno's pitching, I'm not alone.

After 13 starts, Nuno had an ERA of 5.42, to go along with a WHIP of 1.436, and FIP of 5.15. And allow me to point out that only three of those 13 starts were of the "quality" variety. In fact, Vidal failed to give the Yankees six or more innings in eight of those 13 starts, making guys like Adam Warren and Dellin Betances work a little harder.

Before you start thinking Nuno may have just been a little unlucky, his BABIP against was .301, which is almost exactly average for the league. That's not good for a guy whose opponents had a line drive percentage of 23%.

So it sounds like it wouldn't be hard for the Yankees to improve here. Well, let's see...

Brandon McCarthy has an ERA of 5.01, along with a WHIP of 1.377, and FIP of 3.79. A slightly better ERA, along with a slightly better WHIP, doesn't instill a lot of confidence in me. And while the better FIP may look good on paper, in reality that doesn't do much help, seeing as how McCarthy is a ground-ball pitcher and the Diamondbacks defense in the middle of the infield is definitely better than the Yankees.

I suppose you could say Brandon has been somewhat unlucky this season, seeing as how opposing batters have a BABIP of .347 against. However, those same batters have a line drive percentage of 26%, so it's not like McCarthy isn't being hit hard this season.

To cause further concern over this move, Brandon has had shoulder issues almost his entire career. He first suffered a stress fracture in his scapula back in 2007, making him miss 27 games. Two seasons later McCarthy missed 77 games after another stress fracture. A third stress fracture in 2010 caused him to miss 61 games. Guess what happened in 2011? Yep... another stress fracture making McCarthy sit out 41 games. More shoulder issues, although not any fractures, led to Brandon missing 72 games in 2012. Finally, last season, he missed 55 games with shoulder soreness.

Just typing all that out was exhausting.

So even though Brandon McCarthy tends to pitch deeper into games, taking stress off of the already overused Yankees bullpen, how long will it be before he lands on the DL with another shoulder problem?

I guess you could say I'm not a fan of this move. While it's nice to see that Vidal Nuno will never start a game for the Yankees again, I'm not sure Brandon McCarthy is going to do much better. Not because McCarthy isn't a better pitcher, but because I'm not sure if he can avoid the disabled list. If that happens, then the Yankees and I will be happy.

Jeff Samardzija & Jason Hammel Come Off The Board

We posted this on Twitter last night but I spent the evening the way it should have been spent, with family, and I am getting caught up now. The Oakland Athletics have sent their top two prospects, Addison Russell included, and pitcher Dan Straily to the Oakland Athletics for both Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel. Hammel and Samardzija will join an already talented pitching staff that includes Scott Kazmir and Sonny Gray. The Athletics just won the American League pennant and the Yankees options are dwindling, fast.

This Day In New York Yankees History 6/29

On this day in 1941 Joe DiMaggio and the Yankees played in a double header with the Washington Senators. The wins and losses didn't matter as much as the fact that DiMaggio tied and then broke the American League record for consecutive games with a hit, previously held by George Sisler with 41 straight games with a hit. DiMaggio had a seventh inning single off Walt Masteron to break the tie with Sisler.

On this day in 2000 the New York Yankees tried multiple times to bolster their offense in trades and failed to get Juan Gonzalez and Sammy Sosa before settling for David Justice from the Cleveland Indians for Ricky Ledee and two players to be named later. That trade kind of worked, no?

We Finally Won A Trade With The Seattle Mariners

Everyone in the Yankees blogosphere has discussed and beat into the mud the whole Jesus Montero and Hector Noesi for Michael Pineda and Jose Campos trade desperately looking for a winner but there is one trade the Yankees definitely won with Seattle. Last Spring Training the Yankees traded Double-A outfielder Abraham Almonte to the Mariners for now set up man Shawn Kelley and the trade has been pretty one sided after a season and a month plus.

Almonte was optioned to Seattle's Triple-A team yesterday in favor of prospect James Jones after hitting .198/.248/.282. Kelley was huge for the Yankees bullpen in 2013 and has been the closer while David Robertson was out with an injury and a very viable setup man for the rest of 2014. Kelley sports a 3.60 ERA in 15 innings but has a 2.51 FIP and a 1.200 WHIP to go with it.

The Yankees may not have won the Pineda for Montero trade, yet anyway, but they definitely won this trade and that's good enough for now.

Yankees Traded Eduardo Nunez To Minnesota

The New York Yankees have traded recently designated for assignment infielder Eduardo Nunez to the Minnesota Twins for left handed pitcher Miguel Sulbaran. Sulbaran is 20 years old and was recently acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the trade that brought them Drew Butera. Sulbaran is not a highly touted prospect, especially after coming to Twins camp overweight this spring, and posts a career 3.15 ERA with a 8.4 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 in his 239.2 career innings pitched. Better to get something for nothing when it came to Nunez but this goes to show you any chance of Nunez being involved in a deal that brought Ike Davis was just a pipe dream at the end of the day.

Do You Want This Man As Your Closer Next Year?

(Courtesy of Ashley Papelbon's Twitter)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

That's a difficult question to answer for many Yankee fans for a variety of reasons.  Jonathan Papelbon isn't and has never been very well-liked in Yankeeland.  That will happen when you're wearing a Boston Red Sox uniform and have a brashness and arrogance about you that borders on obnoxious sometimes.  One thing he has been over the course of his career is a very good closer, and like his left-handed starter teammates in Philly he may be available via trade for the right price.  Part of that price may include outfielder Domonic Brown as part of a package deal, which raises more questions about just what the hell the Phillies are doing this offseason.  But with the Yankees looking for veteran bullpen help and with their progress slowed on other fronts, they may want to consider putting a call in to Ruben Amaro about their former nemesis.

Putting aside the previous laundry, there's still some things to like about Papelbon as a player.  He just turned 33, so he's got gas left in the tank, and even though his fastball velocity has started to tail off he's maintained a very good level of performance thanks to some adjustments to his offerings.  Papelbon has started working a 2-seamer in a lot more over the last 3 seasons, along with an improved splitter and the occasional slider he can go to for a swing and miss.  He pitched to a 2.92/3.05/3.51 slash line this past season with 29 saves in 36 chances.  For the 6th straight year, he threw more than 60 innings and while his K rate dropped dramatically (22.4% from 32.4% in 2012), he did cut down on his walks (4.3% BB rate).

On the other side of the coin, the 2013 drop in K rate and the surely related drop in velocity were pretty serious.  According to PITCHf/x, Papelbon lost almost 2 MPH on both his 4-seam and 2-seam fastballs and almost 4 on his slider.  His stuff wasn't close to what it has been and it showed in his peripherals.  His O-Swing rate was way down (31.8% from 36.4% in 2012), his Contact rate was up (78.3% from 74.7% in 2012) and his 10.6% Swinging Strike rate was the lowest of his career.  Now that decline has started to set in for Papelbon and set in in what appears to be a big way, there's reason to be concerned about how much longer he can continue to be effective.

Part of that concern comes from the years and money remaining on his contract.  Papelbon has 2 years remaining on the 4-year/$50 million deal he signed with the Phillies before the 2012 season, at $13 mil per year.  He also has an option for a 5th year at another $13 mil that vests if he finishes 55 games in 2015 or 100 games over the next 2 seasons.  If the Yankees were interested in him, they'd have to assume they were taking him on for 3 years and $39 million and that's a big price tag for a guy showing signs of potentially major decline.

There's also the matter of what Philly would want in return.  The asking price for Papelbon won't be nearly what it would be forCliff Lee, but they're still going to want at least 1 useful, Major League-ready piece and the Yankees' young pitchers who fit that description aren't exactly future top-of-the-rotation studs.  We just saw how much they value Brett Gardner when they declined Cincy's trade proposal for Brandon Phillips.  Do they valueDavid Phelps the same way?

I'm not crazy about bringing in Papelbon personally, but I could get behind it if Philly was willing to pay some of his remaining salary and wasn't asking for too much in return.  He's reliable, he's durable, and he has plenty of experience pitching in big games and in the AL East.  If the Yankees still aren't sold on D-Rob as closer material, Papelbon is probably the best possible option for the job.  He won't come cheap, and it would involve putting some past hatred and bad memories behind us as Yankee fans.  But if we could do it for 28 games of a washed up Kevin Youkilis, I think we could do it for Papelbon.

Being posted as a part of Syndicated Sunday from An A-Blog From A-Rod

Yankees & Cubs Have Discussed Darwin Barney

According to Bruce Levine, I doubt he is related to Randy Levine in case you were wondering, the New York Yankees and the Chicago Cubs have discussed a trade that would bring second basemen Darwin Barney to New York. These talks happened before Robinson Cano and Omar Infante came off the Yankees board so the speculation is that talks may begin again.

Barney is 28 years old and the equivalent of Brendan Ryan at second base, great defense and absolutely no bat. I have to wonder if we are interested in someone like that why don't we just use Ryan there and have Nunez on the roster for insurance purposes? I digress, Barney is a 10 or more runs saved per season kind of guy which would be nice to have around with Derek Jeter's diminishing range but at what cost? I know we cannot replace Cano's offense but we could at least try, this is not even trying. If this is the best we can do just put Kelly Johnson at second base like I said to in September.

Barney is under team control for three more seasons and is projected to earn $2.1 million in his first trip through arbitration.

Tigers, Yankees Talk Gardner, Austin Jackson Swap

The New York Yankees and the Detroit Tigers have recently spoken about an Austin Jackson for Brett Gardner swap bringing A Jax back to the Bronx. Not quite sure why this makes sense for the Tigers as Jackson is two years away from free agency and is projected to make $5.3 million in 2014 while Gardner is in his free agent walk year and is making $4 million this season.

The only thing that could make sense for the Tigers is if they think they cannot resign or extend Jackson and feel better about those prospects with Gardner. I cannot see how they could feel like that when they haven't spoken to Gardner but their mistake could benefit the Yankees. Jackson is 27 years old and is widely considered to be one of the better leadoff men in all of baseball while playing a great center field. Gardner is 29 years old and is also considered to be a great leadoff man that takes a ton of pitches and plays a fantastic defense in center and in left.

This, to me anyway, seems like a trade that makes us spend a little more money but allows us to turn back the block and get one or two more seasons of Brett Gardner, just with Austin Jackson on his baseball card. Gardner is the better base stealer but Jackson has more doubles and gap power and they have very comparable batting lines, defensive metrics, and overall numbers. The problem is I don't think the Yankees move Gardner for a comparable player, they move him for a need or keep him, so I don't see a deal happening.

Yankees Getting A Ton Of Calls On Brett Gardner

According to Andy McCullough the Yankees have been getting significant interest from teams calling about the availability of center fielder Brett Gardner. The line of thinking seems to be that since the Yankees have signed Jacoby Ellsbury and Carlos Beltran that Gardner would be available but the Yankees, as of right now anyway, seem to be willing to hold on to Gardner. Gardner is one year away from free agency and has been one of the better defensive outfielders in the game for a few years now. Not to mention the prospect humper in me wants to keep the last real outfielder we developed and used out of our farm system since probably Bernie Williams.

If a team wants to blow us away with an offer, like say a starting pitcher, then I think we at least have to consider it but in the end I want Gardner in pinstripes in 2014.

Pirates On Verge Of Dealing For Chris Stewart

The Pirates are on the verge of acquiring catcher Chris Stewart from the Yankees.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) December 2, 2013

UPDATE: The deal is for cash considerations or a player to be named later for New York and Stewart heading to the Pirates. Deal is done. Adios Stewy.

The Pittsburgh Pirates are on the verge of acquiring Chris Stewart from the New York Yankees according to Buster Olney of ESPN. This continues the path from New York to Pittsburgh that also includes Russell Martin, AJ Burnett, Ross Ohlendorf, Jeff Karstens, and another hundred guys I am probably forgetting. The important part is we got something for Chris Stewart and that is a blessing right there.

Seattle Is Quite Happy With Cashman's "Steals"

Being posted as a part of Syndicated Sunday from It Is High....!

It's not always fun to look at Brian Cashman's trades from the other side of the equation. The Yankee version goes that we acquire solid veterans and give up nothing, either because the other team wanted to dump salary or they simply aren't as smart as us.

Take Seattle, of course. Of course, the ultimate deal - Jesus Montero for Michael Pineda - now looks, at best, to be nothing for nothing. It's still on the board. But two lesser trades that have been widely celebrated as Yankee victories might need a second look.

According to the Seattle Mariners blog Lookout Landing, the acquisitons of Sean Kelly and Ichiro were not the giveaways the Yankees wanted us to think. In fact... yeesh. 

For Kelly, we gave up Abraham Almonte. Here's what Lookout Landing says:

"Abraham Almonte, 24, who received the Mariners Minor League 2013 Heart and Soul Award for his exemplary play and leadership, went from organizational filler to a potential big time player in the club's 2014 outfield plans with the season he turned in. The switch-hitter who came over in exchange for Shawn Kelley combined to hit .295 between two stops in the minors and in Seattle this season, cranking out 17 home runs, walking 73 times and stealing 27 bases while playing all three outfield positions. He showed a lot of defensive ability in all three outfield spots during his 25 game late season trial with the Mariners and looks like a steal for what he cost. His athleticism and versatility are a big change from the outfield the club started the 2013 season with, and that could see him stick on the 25-man roster in 2014."

 

And then there was Ichiro. Does anybody remember the non-entity we gave up for him? Of course not. It was a steal, right? Well, Seattle remembers him.

 

"Of everyone on this list... Danny Farquhar is probably the most surprising to have turned into something valuable at the big league level in 2013. Danny (26) came to the Mariners as one of the pieces in the Ichiro trade... Somewhat of an enigma as a 5-foot-9 right-hander that employed a lot of three-quarters and below arm angles, Farquhar had only two big league innings before his promotion to Seattle this season, but he ended the year as the club's closer and posted the 9th highest SO/9 rate of all MLB relievers in his 55 2/3 innings this season. And while his ERA was an uninspiring 4.20 his FIP was 1.86 -- the fourth best number in the majors among relievers. Farquhar's curveball really made a huge difference for him this year, and sticking to a more natural arm angle allowed him to refine his command past where it had ever been for him before. His 1.9 fWAR was the third highest number on the club and tied for 9th among MLB relievers for the 2013 season."

 

Farquhar is expected to be Seattle's closer this year, and Almonte might start in the outfield. Kelly pitched well for us this year until he ran out of gas, and Ichiro - well - less said, the better.

 

Surprise, folks: We don't get these washed up players for nothing.

Yankees Acquire Brendan Ryan From Seattle

The New York Yankees have announced that they have acquired short stop Brendan Ryan from the Seattle Mariners for a player to be named later. Ryan will provide the Yankees with some much needed depth at the short stop position although this cannot be good news for Derek Jeter. I am beginning to wonder just what are they not telling us this time about the 39 year old captain?

Ryan will not be eligible for the Yankees post season roster if they were to get that far but I am a firm believer in worrying about that once you get there. Ryan has absolutely zero bat putting up a .192/.254/.265 with three home runs but has an excellent glove at short stop. Eduardo Nunez should be scared after his throwing problems have seem to have resurfaced lately.

Keeping Up With The Teams In Front Of Us

The August trade deadline is today and I wanted to take the opportunity to look at what the teams we are chasing in the AL East and both wild card races are doing to improve while we are seemingly standing pat again. Now obviously we can make trades all the way through the end of the season but no one acquired after August 31st is eligible for the post season. With that said let's take a look at how the teams in front of us are stacking their rosters before it's too late.

The Cleveland Indians have traded for Jason Kubel after the Arizona Diamondbacks designated him for assignment. Cleveland just gave up a player to be named later in exchange for Kubel after he and his production fell off the table this season. Kubel fell off so much the D Backs are going to pay roughly $2,000,000 of his $2,270,000 left on his contract for this season.

The Oakland Athletics acquired catcher, and former A's player, Kurt Suzuki from the Washington Nationals to bolster their back stops. 

The Baltimore Orioles finally got their designated hitter when they acquired Mike Morse for Xavier Avery from the Seattle Mariners yesterday. They also claimed Josh Willingham, Kendrys Morales, and signed Dan Johnson from the Yankees. 

The Tampa Bay Rays acquired both Wesley Wright, Delmon Young, and David DeJesus in separate waiver deals this August. 

The Kansas City Royals and the Boston Red Sox swapped Quinton Berry to Boston for Clayton Mortenson to KC. The Red Sox did not have to do much anyway to stay on top of the division. 

The Yankees lost first base depth in Dan Johnson, lost infield depth while releasing Luis Cruz, lost outfield depth when they let Thomas Neal walk, and swapped power for average, defense, and more strike outs when they signed Mark Reynolds. It seems like all the teams ahead of the Yankees are looking to improve and give their team the best shot to make the playoffs where the Yankees are simply making the same mistake twice by standing pat with what we have. We quickly learned this season that this was not the best decision we made in the off season and it seems like we may be making the same mistake twice and I cannot say that I agree with it.

Ownership Is Still Calling The Big Shots In The Bronx?

Has anything really changed in the Bronx since we had a Steinbrenner change back in the late 2000's? We all know and loved George Steinbrenner for his fiery attitude, his love for the game and winning, and his willingness to do whatever it took to do that. Many of us worried when Hank and Hal, George's two sons, were given the reigns of the team as George stepped down with ailing health but has all that much changed? 

"That's cute, wanna see my other three?" - Brian Cashman

The Alfonso Soriano deal was reported as "close" for nearly a week before it was made official and it seemed like the next day that we learned this was an ownership pushed move. This is the third reported incident where Yankees GM Brian Cashman, who's job description includes acquiring and trading players as well as signing free agents, was against a trade or acquisition that ended up happening anyway. Let's look at these three incidents and see if Brian Cashman was right and should not be getting the flack that he has or if Hank and Hal should just stay behind the scenes and write the checks. 

"Brian Cashman better want me I've been sitting outside the stadium in a car for a week!" - Alfonso Soriano

Brian Cashman wanted.... to sit on his hands? I don't know it doesn't look like he wanted anything.

Hank/Hal Steinbrenner wanted Alfonso Soriano for Corey Black

It is no secret that the Yankees offense has been almost non existent for much of the season and severely lacking power, especially from the right side of the plate. Enter Alfonso Soriano who was a Yankees second basemen 10 seasons ago and is back now as their every day left fielder and designated hitter. While Soriano may not be the 40/40 flirt he used to be he is still the best right handed hitting option we have with the acquisition. The best part of it is the Cubs will be paying the bulk of Sori's salary making him paid for what he is, a pretty good player that fills a role and a need. 

I love the Soriano deal even though we lost Corey Black, a personal favorite of mine, because it makes the team better and does not sacrifice the future. Notch one in the column for Hank and Hal Steinbrenner. 

"3,000 Hits = Money" - Hal Steinbrenner

Brian Cashman wanted Russell Martin & Nate Schierholtz

Hal/Hank Steinbrenner wanted Ichiro Suzuki on a two year deal worth $13,000,000.

This signing was, in my opinion, solely made for money making purposes and less for the on the field product. Sure Ichiro still has it and can be productive but no more productive then say a Nick Swisher who we let walk via free agency. Ichiro was signed not only to keep out foot in the Japanese market but also to watch Ichiro chase 3,000 hits in pinstripes. While Ichiro has hit near .300 after a slow start and has stolen bases while playing solid right field what we could have had may have been better. Nate Schierholtz has put up similar triple slash numbers with more home runs and more RBI's for the Chicago Cubs. Mix in with that the offensive hole we have behind the dish and the potential of having Russell Martin back behind the dish makes this a questionable move for the ownership.

Overall I love Ichiro but I think I would have rather have Nate Schierholtz and Russell Martin for a season then two seasons of Ichiro, 3,000 hits or not. I'd rather win than make money because usually the two go hand in hand for me. Notch one in the belt for Brian Cashman. 

Notice who is missing from this photo?

Brian Cashman wanted... nothing... again

Hank/Hal Steinbrenner wanted Rafael Soriano for three years and $35,000,000 with multiple opt out clauses.

Rafael Soriano struggled in his first season as a Yankees player and fell out of the good graces of Joe Girardi rather quickly. Soriano finished 2011 with a 4.12 ERA with only two saves with a 1.297 WHIP pitching mostly the 6th and 7th innings for the Yanks. The next season we would see Mariano Rivera tear his ACL in his knee shagging fly balls in Kansas City and Soriano take over as the closer leading the Yankees to 42 saves with a 2.26 ERA and a much better 1.167 WHIP. Soriano also netted us a draft pick when we offered him a qualifying offer only for him to sign with the Washington Nationals for the 2013 season. 

Overall I would say that with all the #untuck 'ing we did in 2012 this deal looked awful when we first signed him but ended up being a win in the ownership column.

Maybe all the Brian Cashman haters should please sit down, shut up, and pay attention. Maybe the ownership should either trust the man that they signed to be their general manager or fire him, keep their noses out of it, and continue to write the checks. Maybe we should all just get used to the fact that this is not a George Steinbrenner run team anymore as much as that pains me to say and maybe that is okay because sometimes change can be good. The problem is we're not seeing any kind of change in the Bronx and the Yankees ownership and brass is still running the show they are just being sneaky about it these days and I despise secrets. Shape up or ship out and I mean now.

#EndRant

The Yankees Do Nothing At The Trading Deadline

The Yankees let the 4:00 pm ET trading deadline come and go without making a single move and I cannot say I am more disappointed. I really do not have words for this situation and this team right now which is really rare for me so bare with me while I write this.

Michael Young announced that he would be willing to waive his no trade clause to play for the New York Yankees and the Yankees and Brian Cashman did not get it done.

The Orioles are ahead of us and they got better by acquiring Francisco Rodriguez for their bullpen and Bud Norris for their starting rotation. The Boston Red Sox acquired Jake Peavy to bolster their starting rotation and their bullpen. The Tampa Bay Rays acquired Jesse Crain for lord knows what, no really the player is still yet to be named and depends on Crain's performance, and the Yankees acquired Alfonso Soriano. The same Alfonso Soriano that the ownership pushed the deal for and not Brian Cashman. If it were up to Brian Cashman we would not have acquired anyone and that does not sit well with me.

I am literally at a loss for words right now. I know that we can still make trades through the waiver wire but that does not make me feel any better today. Speechless, truly speechless.

Yankees Interested In Angels Alberto Callaspo

The Yankees and the Angels have discussed trading the Angels third basemen Alberto Callaspo before Wednesday's 4:00 pm ET trade deadline passes. Callaspo is in his age 30 season and is hitting .253/.323/.348 with five home runs. Callaspo is a switch hitter which the Yankees seem to covet and is fairly cheap making only $4,100,000 in 2013 (we would only pay the prorated amount obviously) and a guaranteed $4,875,000 in 2014 before hitting free agency for the first time. With Alex Rodriguez possibly out for at least this season and next Callaspo could be a decent fill in player at third for the Yanks.