Spring Training Day 6

This has been the most boring day yet in Spring Training for the Yanks. The pitchers and catchers did their conditioning drills but did not throw bullpen sessions. The positional players checked in and we saw a couple live batting practice sessions.... Day 6 over. All of the players have reported to camp and the first full camp workout will be scheduled for tomorrow morning so I am looking forward to that. I am excited to see Bill Hall, Raul Ibanez, etc. show what they can do in Yankees pinstripes.

Martin's Extention Pt 2

My apologies, Mr. Martin

After speaking with somebody over at the Daily Sports Pages Yankees' forum, I've changed my tune on Russell Martin.

A few days ago I wrote that I was against an extension for Martin. I felt that he's starting to enter the downside of his career, he wasn't that potent with the bat, and Austin Romine would be an okay replacement.

First of all, it's not like it's unheard of for a guy to catch in his 30s. Brad Ausmus caught regularly throughout his 30s (he caught over 900 innings at age 38 with Houston, AJ Pierzynski was 34 last season and caught over 1000 innings for the White Sox, and Jorge Posada caught 100 games for the Yankees when he was 37 in 2009.

His offense wasn't bad compared to other catchers either. As for fWAR, he did come in 4th out of 9 AL catchers with at least 450 plate appearances last season. Bill James predicts a bump in batting average and on-base percentage, while maintaining pretty much the same slugging percentage (.256/.355/.400 with 14 HR).

As for Romine, he's not ready. He may have gotten into 9 games for the Yankees last year, but he's still got some work to do in the minors. And like Jorge Posada did with Joe Girardi, it wouldn't be a bad thing at all for Romine to sit on the bench and learn from Martin for a couple of years. This is weird as I'm normally the last person to count on a prospect like I did, and it took a guy that's big on prospects to point that out to me.

I guess I allowed my plan for getting Hamels and getting under $189 million in 2014 cloud my judgement.

Spring Training Day 5

Thought since it was a slow day on the diamond that I would post pictures of the new Yankees in their new uniforms for fun. Also, to note, Austin Romine is "sore" but did catch today so he sounds like its nothing too serious. Other then that a pretty boring day in Yankees camp. On to those pictures.

Russel Branyan

Bill Hall

Jayson Nix

Raul Ibanez

ARod Brings Own Food Into Fancy Restaurants... And We Care Why?

Being borrowed from our friends over at The Bronx Goblin:

Some people bring a lunch to work, and others like A-Rod bring a cooler of food to restaurants.

That is the latest information to hit the news wire. In an effort to keep to a strict diet, A-Rod has been bringing protein packed food out with him to fancy eatery's.

One person claims they saw a full sized fish, bag of cheese curds, bottle of milk, peeled blue berries and a pudding pop in his cooler.

This seems a bit overboard, but as long as A-Rod plays better, we can let it slide.

Why do we care about what and where Alex Rodriguez is eating his food? Win me a ring and/or an MVP award and you can eat whatever you want off my car hood for all I care. Yankees haters, all you can do is shake your head and flash your rings(all 27 of them).

What New Jersey Are You Buying

Are you Yankees fans out there buying a new jersey this season? If so, what is it? Will it be Michael Pineda's new #35? Hiroki Kuroda's #18? Andruw Jones #22? My personal new jersey this year was Robinson Cano's away jersey, pictured above. Open thread to talk about jerseys (or whatever you guys want)

Cashman: Baseball Can Thank Me For New Playoff Format

Via the Sporting News –

Brian Cashman is taking partial credit for Major League Baseball’s new playoff format.

The Yankees’ general manager on Sunday admitted what many people suspected: The Bombers essentially conceded the American League East to the Tampa Bay Rays in 2010 once it became clear that both teams were postseason-bound. New York finished a game behind in the division race and claimed the wild card.

“I’m not taking away from Tampa Bay, but we didn’t try to win the division,” Cashman told reporters at the Yankees’ spring facility in Tampa, Fla. “We tried to line ourselves up for the playoffs and that worked.

“The division title was rendered meaningless the way the set-up was. It really meant nothing more than a T-shirt and a hat.”

That, Cashman said, led to commissioner Bud Selig’s push for a second wild-card team in each league and a one-game wild-card playoff, which should motivate teams to win their division. The new format could begin as early as the 2012 season.

“Baseball took notice and made, I think, a very smart change. Bud Selig did a remarkable thing adding the wild card and I think he’s now doing another remarkable thing by enhancing the playoff push,” Cashman said. “It certainly brings back the importance of being a division winner again.”

No response from MLB was reported.

I wonder if he was kidding when he said this... The Yankees were not the first team to line up their pitchers and forget about the division. Hell we kind of did it in 2011 too when we skipped CC for his last start, it just did not work out as well. Anyway either way the change is coming so let us just embrace it.

Yadier Molina in pinstripes?

I'm sure you've all read about the possible contract extension for Yadier Molina (if you haven't click here). It seems as though whenever even a decent player looks to be available, whether now or in the future, there will be some Yankee fans jumping up and down while repeatedly yelling "SIGN HIM". Well allow me to speak my peace before that inevitably happens and say "no thanks".

First of all, Yadier will turn 30 this July, and as I've said before I tend not to trust the health of a catcher at that age. Not that there haven't been catchers that age that could play for a full season, but it's hard for me to feel good about their health. For example, before this past season, Buster Posey was being looked at as the catcher of the future for the Giants (Baseball America posted the Giants Top 10 Prospect list on December 13th, and had Posey listed as the catcher for them in 2014). However, a week before BA posted that, ESPN reported that the Giants planned to give Posey some time at 1B. Anyway, this age issue would be exacerbated by the fact that the deal would probably go for 3+ years.

By the way, I'm well aware of the fact that Russell Martin is not much younger than Molina (about 7 months). But, as I pointed out not long ago, I'm not keen on signing Martin for 3 or so years either. So that last part was basically a vote against both men, more than a "one or the other" thing. But, better the devil you know, right?

Secondly, I'm not sold that Molina would be a better offensive weapon than Martin. Yadier had a great 2011 season, in which he posted a line of .305/.349/.465 with 14 HR, but every one of those numbers is well above Molina's career averages (.274/.331/.377 with 9 HR). On the other hand, Russell Martin put up a line of .237/.324/.408 with 18 HR. The BA and OBP were well below Russell's career averages, while the SLG and HR are right in line with them (.267/.359/.398 with 15 HR). You can take that to mean that Molina would be due for a drop in numbers thanks to moving to the AL from the NL (like Martin did), or that Molina will come down to Earth while Martin will come up (?) to Earth.

Lastly... defense. Man, I'm not a fan of comparing players' defense. I'm a numbers guy, and there is no statistic/metric that's good for such a thing. So I'll simply leave it at this... both men are excellent behind the dish. Hell, Molina might be better, but Russell has done a damn good job back there. So all this leads back to the "devil you know" saying.

There. Now when I hear a Yankee fan talk about going after Yadier, I can either link them to or quote this post. Feel free to do the same.

Spring Training Day 4

Mariano Rivera, which is an oddity, will travel with the team on the road this Spring Training according to Joe Girardi. Mariano Rivera also shared with us today that Derek Jeter was the only non family members that knows whether Mariano was going to retire after this year or not but Derek was not telling when asked by reporters today. I wonder when Mariano is going to let us know his decision instead of teasing us and leading us on like a school boy in high school.

Joba Chamberlain was scheduled to throw off of a full mound today but instead threw off of a 5 inch mound. All signs and reports are that Joba looks ready to go, does not look tentative, etc in his rehab from tommy john surgery. Speaking of tommy john surgery the Yankees signed closer David Aardsma today to a potential steal of a major league deal worth 500K with an option for the 2013 season. David is also coming back from tommy john surgery and is penciled in as "a month" behind Joba in his progression. The Yankees would like to see him for themselves before making such distinctions and time tables for Aardsma but , as my friend Bryan mentioned in his article about the signing, this could be a steal for the Yankees for not only this season but next season as well.

George Kontos says his oblique is not that sore this morning so that is a good sign. Rafael Soriano threw his first bullpen session today and it was described as "routine". Mariano Rivera is still not scheduled to throw a bullpen yet but that is nothing new for MO in spring training.  No new injuries were added so that is always a good sign. So far so good from Yankees camp.

Ninja Cashman strikes again

Earlier today we found out that the Yankees signed David Aardsma to a MLB deal for one year, with an option for a second in 2013. Aardsma had Tommy John surgery back in July, so he wouldn't even be able to help the Yankees until about midway through the season. Therefore the option for 2013 is the key part here, especially since Mariano Rivera could retire... leaving a big hole to fill in the bullpen.

No, I'm not saying Aardsma is the heir to Mo as the team's closer. As of right now I think that will be David Robertson. But even if you move Robertson to closer, and Soriano to set-up man, that still leaves key innings for somebody in the bullpen. That's true even if Joba Chamberlain were to take over the 7th inning role that Soriano currently holds.

Now, if you were to believe Brian Cashman, then this move has nothing to do with Rivera's possible retirement. But I call "bull****" on that. While it may be true that Cash and Aardsma have been speaking to each other all winter, I don't think Cashman was serious about bringing David aboard until it looked like Mariano was indeed on his way out. I believe this is a case where Cashman liked Aardsma, but until recently didn't see a spot or reason to sign him. As soon as he saw a spot possibly open up, Brian jumped on Aardsma.

Seeing that Aardsma can be added right to the 60-day DL, and therefore won't take up a spot on the 40-man roster, then this signing isn't much different than a minor league deal. And at only half a million dollars, which is only slightly more than the league minimum of $480,000, the risk is minuscule (at least for a team with the financial might of the Yankees).

Not really an "out of nowhere" type deal, but it looks like Ninja Cashman has struck again.

Meet A Prospect : Zoilo Almonte

Zoilo Almonte was invited to Yankees Spring Training camp, mainly due to the fact that he is on the 40 man roster, and part of the Yankees AA affiliate the Trenton Thunder. Let's meet a prospect, let's meet Zoilo Almonte.

Zoilo has been in the Yankees system since 2007, being signed as a an international free agent (IFA) at age 16. He has consistently flown under the radar in the Yankees system being overshadowed by Slade Heatchott, Ravel Santana, Melky Mesa, etc. Zoilo had his coming out party in 2011, at age 22, putting up a triple slash of  .298/.373/.522 and instantly putting himself in the discussion of possible replacements for Nick Swisher after the 2013 season. Almonte put himself on the radar with a plus arm, an athletic build, and a will to be a great defender. As a switch hitter Almonte has shown plate discipline ahead of his time and showing maturity which can be seen in his BB% and his power numbers despite a small frame.

Zoilo does not project to be a 30 home run guy, he might not even be a 20 home run guy, but he hits the ball to all fields with extra base hit power. His speed will make him fun to watch on the base paths, in the field, and when at the plate. I fully expect him to reach AAA Scranton Wilkes Barre by the end of 2012.