CC Sabathia Releases Children's Christmas Book - CC Clause, A Baseball Christmas Story"

When CC Sabathia is not rehabbing his degenerative knee condition in his right knee or posting pictures of his food from NYY Steak making me extremely jealous he is writing children's books. CC has written a children's Christmas book titled "CC Clause, a Baseball Christmas Story" 

In the bookthere’s a letter to Santa Claus mixed in with Sabathia’s fan mail. It’s from a little girl whose family lost everything in a flood. The Sabathia's try to help and they enlist some of baseball’s biggest names, including George Steinbrenner, Roberto Clemente, Babe Ruth, and others to Santa Claus.

The book was co-written by Ray Negron, Yankees special adviser for community relations, and even includes CC's children and family in the book. I can't lie, I'm going to buy this book for my sons. 

This Day in New York Yankees History 10/24: El Duque Orlando Hernandez

Orlando Hernandez was a God send to the New York Yankees during their Dynasty run during the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, especially in the postseason. El Duque started his career 8-0 with a 1.90 ERA in the postseason before the Mets got to him on this day in 2000. The Mets beat the Yankees on this day in the Subway World Series after Benny Agbayani hit a game winning 8^th inning double to give the Metropolitan's a 4-2 win. New York native and Mets closer John Franco secured the victory for the Mets ending the Yankees 14 game World Series winning streak. 

Mickey and his injuries

ESPN New York's Pros and Cons of Signing Hanley Ramirez

ESPN New York's Wallace Matthews has released his pros and cons for the Yankees possibly signing Shortstop Hanley Ramirez this offseason. 

Ramirez, who's spent the last two and a half years with the Dodgers, is set to become a free agent this winter. At the relatively young age of 30, he is considered by some to be a possible successor to Derek Jeter, who retired last month after two decades with the team.

"By the numbers, Ramirez, even by the diminished standards of his 2014 season, would have led the Yankees in on-base percentage, slugging percentage and OPS, been one tick behind Ichiro Suzuki for highest batting average and run second to Brian McCann in RBIs," Matthews' pros read. 

Mattews opined that those facts probably say more about the Yankees' offense than Ramirez's talents, but that the latter would still help them out.

As for the cons, Matthews mentioned the veteran's injury history, which goes back to his days as a Marlin.

"Injuries have shortened three of Ramirez's past four seasons, causing his production to plummet," he wrote. "Alas, his age is not plummeting, and if the Yankees balked at giving a 30-year-old Cano a 10-year deal, why would they lock themselves up with Ramirez for at least five years?"

Matthews eventually concluded his piece by saying the Yankees should pass on Ramirez, claiming that acquiring him wouldn't work well in the long run. According to Matthews, younger, cheaper options are currently out there, and that the Yanks would be smart to wait for one.

No Yankees Considered For Gold Gloves

In a bit of surprising news not a single member of the New York Yankees is up for consideration for a Gold Glove Award in the American League this season. The Gold Glove Award has taken a back seat to the Fielding Bible Award in most fan's eyes but for not a single Yankee to even be in the conversation is a bit surprising.

Here's the complete list via the Rawlings press release:

AL Pitcher
Mark Buehrle, Blue Jays (4)
Felix Hernandez, Mariners (0)
Dallas Keuchel, Astros (0)

NL Pitcher
Zack Greinke, Dodgers (0)
Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers (1)
Adam Wainwright, Cardinals (2)

AL Catcher
Alex Avila, Tigers (0)
Yan Gomes, Indians (0)
Salvador Perez, Royals (1)

NL Catcher
Jonathan Lucroy, Brewers (0)
Russell Martin, Pirates (1)
Yadier Molina, Cardinals (6)

AL First Base
Miguel Cabrera, Tigers (0)
Eric Hosmer, Royals (1)
Albert Pujols, Angels (2)

NL First Base
Adrian Gonzalez, Dodgers (3)
Adam LaRoche, Nationals (1)
Justin Morneau, Rockies (0)

AL Second Base
Robinson Cano, Mariners (2)
Ian Kinsler, Tigers (0)
Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox (3)

NL Second Base
DJ LeMahieu, Rockies (0)
Brandon Phillips, Reds (4)
Chase Utley, Phillies (0)

AL Shortstop
Alcides Escobar, Royals (0)
J.J. Hardy, Orioles (2)
Alexei Ramirez, White Sox (0)

NL Shortstop 
Zack Cozart, Reds (0)
Adeiny Hechavarria, Marlins (0)
Andrelton Simmons, Braves (1)

AL Third Base
Adrian Beltre, Rangers (4)
Josh Donaldson, Athletics (0)
Kyle Seager, Mariners (0)

NL Third Base
Nolan Arenado, Rockies (1)
Pablo Sandoval, Giants (0)
Juan Uribe, Dodgers (0)

AL Left Field
Michael Brantley, Indians (0)
Yoenis Cespedes, Athletics/Red Sox (0)
Alex Gordon, Royals (3)

NL Left Field
Starling Marte, Pirates (0)
Justin Upton, Braves (0)
Christian Yelich, Marlins (0)

AL Center Field
Jackie Bradley Jr., Red Sox (0)
Adam Eaton, White Sox (0)
Adam Jones, Orioles (3)

NL Center Field
Billy Hamilton, Reds (0)
Juan Lagares, Mets (0)
Denard Span, Nationals (0)

AL Right Field
Kole Calhoun, Angels (0)
Kevin Kiermaier, Rays (0)
Nick Markakis, Orioles (1)

NL Right Field
Jason Heyward, Braves (1)
Gerardo Parra, Diamondbacks/Brewers (2)
Giancarlo Stanton, Marlins (0)

Watch Game 6 of the 1977 World Series Here

It's another World Series game with the New York Yankees right here on the blog to pass the time, this time it's the deciding Game 6 of the 1977 World Series. I think Reggie Jackson was in the lineup for this one if memory serves. Enjoy Yankees family!

Yankees 2014 Draft Report Card

Baseball America has released their 2014 MLB Draft report card for the New York Yankees and it can be seen HERE. If you have a subscription to BA you can view, unfortunately you cannot see much on the free side of the wall. Check it out if you can.

Jacob Lindgren and high school pitcher Austin DeCarr garnered the most attention on the write up which makes sense since New York went for polished college players in this draft.

New York Can Learn From Kansas City/San Francisco

The New York Yankees all watched the first two games of the World Series just like you and I did but hopefully they were paying attention like I was. New York can learn a lot from these two teams going forward, especially if they want to compete in the foreseeable future. The same things that I have been beating a drum for all season long are what's going on in these two cities right now with these two teams, coincidence? Keep reading to find out.

San Francisco currently sports a young second baseman in Joe Panik that reminds me a lot of Robert Refsnyder. The Giants went the veteran and expensive route with Marco Scutaro before losing him to yet another injury. The same can be said for the Royals after losing expensive veteran Omar Infante as Kansas City filled the hole with Christian Colon some before leaving him off the World Series roster for Jayson Nix. The Yankees need a second baseman next season and if it's not Martin Prado maybe it should be Refsnyder.

In both San Francisco and Kansas City the emphasis for the managers is to get five or six innings out of their starters and hand it off to the bullpen. We have all heard about the three headed monster of Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis, and Greg Holland for the Royals but not enough is said about the Giants Jeremy Affeldt, Javier Lopez, Sergio Romo, and Santiago Casilla. There are many around Twitter, the Yankees blogosphere, etc. that believe letting David Robertson walk in free agency is a good idea and these two teams show you how much of a bad idea that may be for New York.

Finally both teams have not been shy about relying on young guys in big spots. Ned Yost and the Royals have relied heavily on Brandon Finnegan who became the first player to player in an NCAA Championship game and a World Series in the same season. Yost has also used Yordano Ventura in the bullpen when necessary while the Yankees preferred the likes of Rich Hill or Josh Outman to the strikeout factory Jacob Lindgren.

Finally, all signs point to Pablo Sandoval and James Shields walking away via free agency this season rather than their teams paying a premium for what the player has done and not what the player will do. Pay attention New York, this is how baseball teams are constructed these days. This is how you win and I like to win, so win.

To Reach the World Series You Have To Bring Up Fire Ballers?

Over the past week or two we have looked at ways for the Yankees to conceivably and realistically be more like these two teams so they can contend in 2015 and beyond and this may be another aspect of that. The great writers over at Fangraphs.com compile the fastest average fastball velocities year by year and found that five of the Top 15 hardest throwing pitchers in all of Major League Baseball are in this year’s World Series between the Kansas City Royals and the San Francisco Giants. That’s a stat that is eye opening to me and a stat that I had absolutely no idea about.

Yordano Ventura, the Royals Game Two starter, can reach 100 MPH with ease on his fastball although he averages around 96 MPH on his fastball. Ventura throws the second hardest among starting pitchers only behind the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim starter Garrett Richards. The Royals Kelvin Herrera can also hit 100 MPH and has some devastating late movement on his pitches making him so hard to hit this season and into the postseason.

The Giants counter with Hunter Strickland out of the bullpen and his average fastball velocity 97.5 MPH. Interestingly enough Strickland did not make his major league debut until September, 1^st of this season and impressed enough to not only make the postseason roster but pitch in huge spots in this playoff run. While the results haven’t been what manager Bruce Bochy would have hoped for the fact that he is on the postseason roster speaks volumes to how that bullpen has been constructed. Strickland can hit 100 MPH on the gun and is still very much a work in progress as this is his first full season as a relief pitcher and not far removed from his May, 2013 Tommy John surgery.

The Yankees already have Dellin Betances on the club who can hit 100 MPH and the organization went through a phase where all they wanted to draft was big, thick, hard throwing relief pitchers in the MLB Draft. Maybe the Yankees caught on to this trend before I did or maybe they got lucky, either way with Betances, Jacob Lindgren on the way, and others the Yankees bullpen may be keeping up with the times and setting trends before we know it. 

TGP Daily Poll: Yankees Will Move Rob Thomson to First Base

Rob Thomson has got to be the worst, or one of the worst, third base coaches in the league and in the history of third base coaches. He sends runners that have no shot at making it and players that have no conceivable chance at making it. Thomson will be better suited shaking player’s hands at first base and the Yankees will move him there next season.

Vote in our poll!