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Attention Yankees family, the 2015 season is officially over. The games have been played, the qualifying offers have been accepted or decline and the major awards are being handed out. We are very, very close to having no semblance of baseball to speak of for about a month or longer so I come to you all today offering you a place of comfort, solace and place to discuss Yankees baseball with some fellow Yankees fans. Our comments section.

Truth be told our comments section is extremely underutilized and that is a shame for the people that actually use it. For the most part the comments and discussions are well thought out, respectful and generally on topic. We let things go off topic though, I’m a fellow fan and not a moderator by choice, so come join us and join the Greedy Pinstripes family.

Thank you and if you have any questions please feel free to shoot me a tweet (@GreedyStripes) or an email at thegreedypinstripes gmail com.

Yankees to Pass on Zobrist and I Say…. Good!

Ben Zobrist, often imitated but never duplicated. Zobrist has been the epitome of money ball for multiple seasons now because he’s a switch hitter that can get on base and play multiple positions in the field on defense. Versatile, flexible and you can’t really shift on him or bring in a specialist relief pitcher against him. Any team would love to have him and often time’s teams try to acquire or develop talent like him. For the first time since finally being recognized for what he’s done all along Zobrist hits the free agency market thus giving teams the opportunity to not trade for a player like him, to not develop a player in his shadow but to acquire THE Ben Zobrist. According to recent reports though one of those teams will not be the New York Yankees and if you ask me, that’s good.

Sure Zobrist adds a lot to any team and would be especially helpful on this team. As I said he’s a switch hitter so he would help manager Joe Girardi stack up lefties against right-handed pitching and he could also help the team’s biggest flaw, hitting left-handed pitching. Zobrist plays good defense everywhere in the outfield and the infield (with the exception of catcher) but his natural position is second base, a position the Yankees face some uncertainty at going forward and Zobrist can hit anywhere and on the biggest stage, see his performance in the 2015 World Series. Zobrist has a laundry list of pro’s but the con’s may outweigh them all.

Zobrist is 34-years old and turns 35-years old in May. That would be fine on a short term deal, one or two years, but Zobrist is likely to want the final big contract of his career. Zobrist could be in the market for around four-years and $60 million this offseason after hitting 13 home runs and posting a .809 OPS between the Oakland Athletics and Kansas City Royals. In a world where the importance of versatility and flexibility are key you may want to spend $15 million annually for Zobrist’s age 35-39 seasons but thankfully it looks like the New York Yankees will not. 

The Ultimate Debate: Analytical vs. Traditional

The ultimate debate and battle has been raging on for years now and there is no middle man or gray area. You’re either on the side of sabermetrics or you’re on the side of traditional baseball and the eye test. Just like politics you can have conservative liberals and liberal republicans who hang around closer to the middle than to either the right or the left but in baseball there is no Independent Party and there are no Libertarians. You’ve either seen Moneyball 100 times or you refuse to watch because either you hate advanced metrics or stats or you can’t stand Brad Pitt. Either way, the line in the sand has been drawn and by now you’ve picked a side.

I find it interesting to see which side each of the 30 MLB teams have taken in this ongoing debate and battle and thankfully for us Nick Cafardo tackled this recently releasing this graph showing all 30 MLB teams and how their GM’s, managers and organizations stand in the analytical vs. traditional battle. As you can see by the graph a whopping 16 teams, including the entire AL West, lean towards analytical while 14 teams, including the entire NL East, leans more towards advanced scouting and tradition means of building and running a team. It’s almost an even split, and that is surprising.

	Analytical	Traditional
AL East	Yankees, Blue Jays, Rays	Red Sox, Orioles
AL Central	Indians	Tigers, White Sox, Twins, Royals
AL West	Astros, Angels, Mariners, Rangers, A's
NL East		Braves, Nationals, Mets, Marlins, Phillies
NL Central	Cardinals, Brewers, Cubs, Pirates	Reds
NL West	Dodgers, Padres, Rockies	Giants, Diamondbacks

So who is winning? Major League Baseball, that’s who. Well, and the fans. 

IBWAA SELECTS KEUCHEL, ARRIETA IN CY YOUNG VOTE

Los Angeles – The Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) announced the winners in its Cy Young category Wednesday, with the Houston Astros’ Dallas Keuchel winning the group’s American League award, and Jake Arrieta, of the Chicago Cubs, being selected in the National League.

 

Keuchel received 92 first-place votes (51.40%) and 956 points while being named on 175 of 179 ballots (97.22%). Others receiving first-place votes include David Price (80), Chris Sale (5) and Sonny Gray (2).

 

Arrieta received 79 first-place votes (43.89%) and 930 points while being named on 178 of 180 ballots (98.89%). Others receiving first-place votes include Zack Greinke (68), Clayton Kershaw (31) and Max Scherzer (2).

 

Election results are as follows:

 

AL Cy Young:

 

1^st Place:                  Dallas Keuchel, Houston Astros – 956 points
2^nd Place:                 David Price, Toronto Blue Jays – 904 
3^rd Place:                  Sonny Gray, Oakland A’s – 351

4^th Place:                 Chris Sale, Chicago White Sox – 282

5^th Place:                 Chris Archer, Tampa Bay Rays – 227

 

NL Cy Young:

 

1^st Place:                  Jake Arrieta, Chicago Cubs – 930 points
2^nd Place:                 Zack Greinke, Los Angeles Dodgers – 851 
3^rd Place:                  Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers – 655

4^th Place:                 Gerrit Cole, Pittsburgh Pirates – 184

5^th Place:                 Max Scherzer , Washington Nationals – 169

 

Ballot tabulations by Brian Wittig & Associates, using the Borda Method.

 

The IBWAA was established July 4, 2009 to organize and promote the growing online baseball media, and to serve as a digital alternative to the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA). Voting for full season awards takes place in September of each year, with selections being announced in November. The IBWAA also holds a Hall of Fame election in December of each year, with results being announced the following January.

 

In 2010, the IBWAA began voting in its own relief pitcher category, establishing the Rollie Fingers American League Relief Pitcher of the Year and the Hoyt Wilhelm National League Relief Pitcher of the Year Awards.

Among approximately 400 others, IBWAA members include Jim Bowden, Jim Caple, David Schoenfield and Mark A. Simon of ESPN.com; Tim Brown, Yahoo! Sports; Craig Calcaterra, NBC Sports Hardball Talk; Bill Chuck, GammonsDaily.com; Derrick Goold, St. Louis Post-Dispatch; King Kaufman, Bleacher Report; Kevin Kennedy; Kostya Kennedy, Sports Illustrated; Will Leitch, Sports on Earth; Bruce Markusen, Hardball Times; Ross Newhan; Dayn Perry and Matt Snyder, CBSSports.com; Mark Purdy, San Jose Mercury News; Tom Hoffarth and J.P. Hoornstra Los Angeles Daily News; Pedro Moura, Orange County Register; Tracy Ringolsby, MLB.com; Ken Rosenthal, FoxSports.com; Eno Sarris, FanGraphs; Dan Schlossberg, USA Today; Jesse Spector, Sporting News and Wendy Thurm.

 

Association membership is open to any and all Internet baseball writers, with a yearly fee of $20, or $35 lifetime. Discounts for groups and scholarships are available. Members must be 18 years of age to apply.

For more information please visit www.ibwaa.com.

Contact:

 

Howard Cole
Founding Director, IBWAAbaseballsavvy@aol.com

Brett Gardner for Carlos Carrasco or Danny Salazar? Yes Please…

The rumors and speculations surround the New York Yankees and their left fielder Brett Gardner began before the MLB postseason and World Series were already over. Some have it as an absolutely certainty that Brian Cashman will send Gardner off in a trade this winter that will either open the door for Aaron Hicks to be an everyday player or the that the trade will open the door for a free agent signing such as Yoenis Cesedes, Justin Upton or Jason Heyward. I am not against trading Gardner, personally, but it has to be in the right deal. Jon Morosi reported this week that he is hearing, for what that’s worth, that one potential deal Gardner could be included in is a deal that could fetch a controllable starting pitcher out of the Cleveland Indians organization.

Gardner in a deal for either Carlos Carrasco or Danny Salazar, both of which are reportedly being shopped by Cleveland this winter, would make a great deal of sense for both clubs. Cleveland is looking for an outfielder to not only replace Michael Brantley while he is out with a shoulder surgery but the team is also looking for an outfielder to play beside Brantley when he returns from the DL.

Salazar, 25-years old, has not even hit his arbitration years yet while Carrasco, 28-years old, looks like an absolute ace starting pitcher in the making. Carrasco cannot hit free agency before the 2019 season so trading Gardner for three seasons of Carrasco makes sense for a team that desperately needs an ace and some stability in their rotation beyond the 2017 season. After the 2017 season the Yankees could possibly see one or all of Masahiro Tanaka, CC Sabathia, Nathan Eovaldi and Michael Pineda hit free agency.

There is no word whether this is the package that’s truly being discussed or if this is just speculation, although I lean towards the latter at the time of this writing, and there isn’t any word if the Yankees would trade Gardner straight up or have to include prospects along with his some of his $39.5 million remaining on his salary over the next three seasons. For that you will just have to stay tuned. 

Weekly AFL Check In: Chaz Hebert

Entering the Arizona Fall League after the 2015 season the New York Yankees had their eyes set on the development of Gary Sanchez, the velocity of Domingo Acevedo, the effectiveness and defense of Tyler Austin at the plate and at first base and the innings count of Ian Clarkin. Truth be told, and I am presuming here, names like Tyler Webb, Tyler Wade and Chaz Hebert were secondary to the team. I’m not meaning to sound disrespectful and make it seem like Webb, Wade and Hebert were merely fill ins, that’s definitely not the case, but they weren’t as high profiled and weren’t the household names to Yankees fans that the other four were.

Hebert has done his best to change that after a strong AFL showing and a trip to the AFL Stars Game. Hebert is still quietly climbing the Yankees ladder and probably not getting the attention that other names in the Yankees system doing but judging by this winter I’d have to say he’s okay with that. Just keep shutting them down Chaz and we’ll all know your name soon enough.

Chaz Hebert: 

G: 6
GS: 0
IP: 12.2
W/L: 0-1
ERA: 2.84
K: 10
BB: 9
WHIP: 1.42

This Day in New York Yankees History 11/19: A-Rod the Yankees MVP

On this day in 2007 Alex Rodriguez received 26 of the 28 first place votes from the Baseball Writers Association of America to win the Most Valuable Player award. A Rod belted 54 home runs and knocked in 156 RBI's while posting a .314 batting average to bring home the MVP award. This would be Alex's third MVP award overall and second with the Yankees, his first coming in 2005


Also on this day in 1968 the Yankees right handed pitcher Stan Bahnsen was named the American League Rookie of the Year. Bahnsen put up a 17-12 record with a 2.05 ERA and 162 strikeouts in his rookie campaign. Del Unser of the Washington Senators finished in second place, a distant second place.


Finally on this day in 1939 the Yankees All-Star outfielder Joe DiMaggio would marry his well-known actress girlfriend Dorothy Arnold at St. Peter and Paul Church in San Francisco. DiMaggio met Arnold on the set of the movie "Manhattan Merry Go-Round" in which Joe had a very minor role in.

Quick Hit: Roger Clemens to be Honored by The Sports Museum

The Sports Museum will be holding their 14^th annual “The Tradition” this year on December 2^nd and will be honoring a very special guest and former member of the New York Yankees, Roger Clemens. Alongside Clemens, who will be receiving his award from Red Sox radio voice announcer Joe Castiglione, will be Danny Ainge, Joan Benoit Samuelson, Richard Seymour, Gerry Cheevers and Don Rodman.

Too much Boston for my taste but Clemens was a member of the Yankees and a good Yankee, on the field of course, so I figured I would bring you the particulars in case you were interested. Enjoy

When: December 2, 2015

Where: TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts

Cost: Reserved seating is $300 and general admission is $200 with net proceeds benefiting The Sports Museum.

More information can be found at www.sportsmuseum.org or by contacting Renee Quinn at rquinn@sportsmuseum.org (617-624-1231).

FYI: Comcast Drops the YES Network

Is your television provider Comcast? If so I have some bad news for you that you may or may not already know. Comcast is set to drop the YES Network immediately leaving you without your home for the New York Yankees, Brooklyn Nets and New York FC soccer club. Due to a dispute over fees, imagine that, Comcast is blacking out the YES Network in certain areas of Northern New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania.

According to the report I read approximately 900,000 cable customers have been affected by the blackout as many missed the New Jersey Nets game against the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday.

YES is said to be asking for a 33% fee increase that Comcast doesn’t want to pass down to their customers. Just as an FYI it is FOX and no longer the New York Yankees and the Steinbrenner family that owns the majority in the YES Network. Fox owns 80% of the YES Network while the New York Yankees control the rest.

Here is a direct quote from YES:

"Comcast's reputation for poor customer satisfaction is well known, but this surprise development represents a new low. YES and Comcast reached an agreement in principle on the key points of a new contract many months ago, and YES continued to operate in good faith under that arrangement through the entire Yankees and NYC FC seasons and into the Nets season.

"Unfortunately, because YES will not yield to Comcast's demands for special treatment and anti-competitive terms, Comcast has decided to drop YES Network and its coverage of the NY Yankees, Brooklyn Nets and the New York City FC." 

Brian Cashman CANNOT Rely Solely on Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira

The New York Yankees made the postseason for the first time since their 2012 loss in the ALCS to the Detroit Tigers this past season and if the team wants to return improvements will need to be made. Much of why the team made the postseason as the first Wild Card winner in 2015 was the returns of a healthy Mark Teixiera and an effective Alex Rodriguez. The Yankees were flying high until the month of August when Rodriguez’s production, undoubtedly due to fatigue after basically missing the last two seasons with injuries and a suspension, and Teixeira’s health, he fractured his shin and missed the remainder of the season, reared their ugly heads. I’ll say it again, if New York wants to return to the Promised Land in 2016 they absolutely cannot rely solely on the returns of Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira in the middle of the lineup. 

In 2015 Rodriguez finished with a .50/.356/.486 triple slash playing in 151 games. Rodriguez hit 33 home runs but it was obvious that the fatigue had set in by the month of August. Rodriguez disappeared in the months of August and September slashing just .215/.313/.454 since August 18^th. Speaking of August 18^th, this was the day after Teixeira fouled a ball off his shin and it was also the day after Teixeira’s season ended. Teix played again on the 15^th and 26^th of August before ending his season at .255/.357/.548 and 32 home runs in just 111 games. If Cashman thinks he is going to get another productive season like this out of Rodriguez as he creeps towards 41-years old, even as a full-time DH, and a healthy season of 140+ games out of Teixeira, he hasn’t played in more than 123 games since 2011, then the Yankees are in for another long season. 

According to Fangraphs and their Steamer projections system Teixeira is projected to play in 126 games in 2016 and will slash .233/.328/.451 while hitting 27 home runs while Rodriguez projects to hit .240/.335/.415 with 21 home runs in 128 games. To be fair the Steamer projections usually underbid a lot of these projections, the 2015 versions had Teixeira hitting 20 home runs and Rodriguez only hitting nine home runs, but the fact of the matter is this cannot be the middle of your lineup in 2016. The consensus around sabermetric based franchises is that your best hitter is supposed to hit third in the lineup, if Alex is hitting .240 and hits 21 home runs and is the Yankees best hitter in 2016 I think this team is truly in trouble. 

New York won’t have the weak Tampa Bay Rays, Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays to pick on for at least half of the season this time around. Tampa will be better, they always are, and Baltimore could be better as well even if they lose many of their big free agents. Boston will definitely be better, I have the utmost faith in Dave Dombrowski unfortunately, and the Blue Jays will have full seasons with Troy Tulowitzki and their newly revamped offense in 2016. Aaron Hicks is a nice move that compliments the team and the bench well but if another bat isn’t added somewhere that can help the team I truly worry about this team’s chances in 2016. Another year older, another year out of their primes and another year closer to the twilight's of their careers.