The New York Yankees Have Won w/ Less

I was as upset as the next guy when the New York Yankees signed Chris Capuano to basically be the teams fifth starter but since then I have calmed down and gathered my thoughts. I have come to the conclusion that if you look at history the Yankees have won a whole lot with a whole lot less in the fifth spot of the rotation. Sure the Yankees have plenty of question marks in the rotation and sure Capuano is probably just keeping the seat warm for Ivan Nova's return from Tommy John surgery but I don't think the Yankees season hinges on Capuano like some of the comments I have been reading.

My initial thoughts went to the 2000 season when the Yankees ace Roger Clemens lost a start in the Subway World Series the night before Denny Neagle, the same Denny Neagle that went 7-7 with a 5.81 ERA in the Bronx, won a World Series game as the Yankees fifth starter.

Just the season before Hideki Irabu got a World Series ring in New York as a fifth starter pitching to a 11-7 record and a 4.84 ERA. The 1998 Yankees fifth starter was also Irabu although he did pitch better with a 13-7 record with an ERA barely over four which looks like the exception and not the rule. You see Irabu as the exception even more when you look at the Yankees 1997 fifth starter Kenny Rogers who went 6-7 with a 5.65 ERA.

What do all these teams have in common? They were all successful with a veteran inning eating presence at the end of the rotation. What else do these teams have in common? A shut down bullpen that allowed these starters to come out after five or even six innings a night and still give the team a shot to win. In closing, back off of Capuano. If you want to blame the successes, or failures, of the 2015 season on anyone blame it on Michael Pineda, CC Sabathia, Masahiro Tanaka and Nathan Eovaldi.

Kevin Long: Getting fired by Yankees hurt me

Kevin Long was admittedly upset when the Yankees fired him.

The 48-year-old ex-player, now the hitting coach of the Mets, said being axed by the Yankees "sucked" when asked about it earlier this week, though he still took the time to express his appreciation for the team during the discussion. Long, who had held the same position with New York since 2007 before the two parted ways in October, helped the Yankees bat at least .263 each year from 2007-2012, but seemed to watch his popularity diminish this past season when that average dropped to just .245.

"At first I masked [being fired]," Long told The New York Daily News' John Harper. "I said, 'it's part of the game, it happens.' But you know what, yeah, it hurt. I've never been fired before. I've never been cut from a team. I've always been the first one picked."

The Yankees hit .290 under Long in 2007, leading all of baseball in that category. In 2009, they impressed again with a .283 line, so it certainly wasn't all bad when Long was in their dugout. 

Long said he is thankful for the time he got to work with the Yankees, and received a nice goodbye from them.  

"I don't have hard feelings now," he said. "I'm grateful for the years I had with the Yankees. But it was hard accepting that I had been fired, for whatever reasons they want to come up with. I got a lot of heartfelt texts from players I'd worked with, though, and then it was nice having all these teams calling me and saying very complimentary things about my work."

Long was hired by the Mets October 23, just 13 days after his departure from the Yankees. The details of his deal with them have not yet been released, but it reportedly pays less than the one he had with the Pinstripes. 

Long's contract with the Yankees still has one year and $750,000 left on it, possibly the reason for that occurrence.  

Yankees Offense is What the Yankees Offense is

Chad Jennings of the Yankees Lohud blog took a look at the best of what's rest on the free agent market as far as positional players go and it was a pretty eye opening read if you haven't read it already. The free agent market for positional players is looking pretty barren right now and I cannot see a single player that would or could upgrade over what the Yankees currently have. Let's see if you agree:

LINEUP
RF Ichiro Suzuki
SS Everth Cabrera
CF Colby Rasmus
LF Ryan Ludwick
1B Lyle Overbay
DH Jonny Gomes
2B Rickie Weeks
3B Gordon Beckham
C Geovany Soto

BENCH
C John Buck
INF Kelly Johnson
OF Eric Young Jr.
UT Donnie Murphy

To me, in my personal opinion, the only real every day player here is Colby Rasmus. Rasmus comes with his own set of concerns and question marks which really drives the point home that the Yankees offense is what the Yankees offense is, for better or worse.

*Note Yoan Moncada has not been cleared and neither has Hector Olivera so they have not been included in this list. 

Yankees Sign Outfielder Robert Hernandez

According to Baseball America's minor league transaction log the New York Yankees have signed outfielder Robert Hernandez. I won't pretend like I know who he is because he has been out of the game since the 2009 season and never reach above A Ball so I'll let Matt Eddy tell you about him below:

The Yankees signed 26-year-old Robert Hernandez as an outfielder after he hit .264/.350/.358 in 20 games for Zulia in his native Venezuela this winter. The outfielder bit is key because he worked as a pitcher in the Cubs system from 2006 through 2009, making it as far as low Class A Peoria as a starter, but he hasn’t played affiliated ball in any of the past five seasons. The obvious parallel for Hernandez is Diamondbacks outfielder David Peralta, who flamed out as a Cardinals pitcher, took three years off, toiled as an outfielder for two and half years in independent ball, then got noticed by Arizona scouts in 2013. Now he’s a big leaguer coming off a successful rookie campaign in 2014.

Look Back in the TGP Archives: January 18

It's a slow Sunday morning for news and there isn't much going on inside Yankeeland right now but it wasn't always like this. We decided on this Sunday morning to go back in time and take a quick look at what happened on this day inside the Yankees TGP archive.

We showed our Yankee Stadium legacy to start the morning by highlighting Bernie Williams postseason numbers. Spoiler alert, they are great. 

A former writer of ours asked the question, "ARod... the movie?"

In typical offseason fashion earlier in the morning we reported THE CUBS WERE IN THE LEAD FOR TANAKA before pretty much recanting the statement by reporting that the Yankees OFFERED $120 MILLION PLUS FOR TANAKA. I think we all know how that turned out.

We'll give the final say to Derek Jeter as he speaks on Tanaka, Robinson Cano and Alex Rodriguez. 

Moneyball: The Yankees Are Doing it Wrong

This was an interesting graphic that I stumbled upon and just had to share with the class. Looking at the above graphic can be a bit overwhelming but don't worry I will walk you through it. All the teams on the right side of the vertical line should at least contend in 2015 while the teams to the left of the vertical line probably will not. All the teams above the horizontal line are considered "aging" or old not only on the 25 man roster but in the upper levels of their farm systems. If your team lacks the MLB ready prospects you will be higher on the line and if your farm is stocked with young talent you will be on the lower end of the spectrum.

Looking at the graphic the Yankees should contend in 2015 but, even after all the trades, still have a lot of work to do to get younger. Personally I think the Yankees are far from "hella old" but it's not my graphic.

Nationals and Tigers World Series in 2015?

This Day In New York Yankees History 1/18: Rafael Soriano

On this day in 2011 the New York Yankees announced the signing of the highest paid 6th and 7th inning pitcher in the history of the world in Rafael Soriano. A management driven deal was struck for Soriano for three years and $35 million after he led the American Leagues in saves with 45 in 2010.

Also on this day in 1947 there was a bit of a Yankees related misunderstanding going down in Detroit. The Tigers owner thought Hank Greenberg had posed in a Yankees jersey and sold the 1946 American League home run leader, 44 home runs, to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Greenberg joined the National League home run leader from 1946 in Ralph Kiner who hit 23 home runs.

Randy Johnson to enter Hall of Fame as an Arizona Diamondback

Randy Johnson was recently elected into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame as we all know and many wondered what team the Big Unit would go into the Hall supporting. Johnson spent time in Seattle, Houston, San Francisco, Montreal and New York during his career but his time in Arizona apparently meant the most to him, and was the most successful for him truth be told. For that reason Johnson will head into the Hall of Fame wearing his #51 in red and black supporting the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Obviously Johnson was not going to wear a Yankees cap in the Hall after spending just two seasons in the Bronx, although he did win 34 games in two seasons, so this should come as no surprise to anyone. Johnson will be the first true Diamondbacks player to enter the Hall, Roberto Alomar spent time in Arizona but did not enter the Hall as a Diamondback, after winning the first World Series for the franchise among a slew of other achievements and accomplishments.

Congratulations to Randy once again and congratulations to the Arizona Diamondbacks organization and their fans. This has to be truly special and an honor for them.

The 2014 Yankees vs. the 2015 Yankees – Starting Rotation

We have taken a comparable look at the 2014 and 2015 New York Yankees offenses so no better time than the present to look at the biggest question mark for the team, the rotation. The rotation has the ability to be one of the best in the league if healthy and effective in 2015 while also having the possibility of being the absolute crap storm it was for most of 2014. Much of this comparison depends on health and productivity and will be hard to really judge and not guess at but I promise to do my best.

2014 Rotation:

CC Sabathia

Hiroki Kuroda

Ivan Nova

Masahiro Tanaka

Michael Pineda

2015 Rotation:

CC Sabathia

Masahiro Tanaka

Michael Pineda

Nathan Eovaldi

Chris Capuano

Obviously Capuano, in a perfect world, is just keeping the last rotation spot warm for Nova as he continues to rehab and work himself back from Tommy John surgery. You have to think, although no one can confirm just yet, that Sabathia will be better in 2015. Even if Sabathia isn’t the ace he once was you have to think a half season of rest and a cleanup knee surgery will at least help the big man. That and a box of Captain Crunch. Sabathia is a question mark just as much as Tanaka and Pineda are due to their health. If healthy and effective that is a three headed monster that many teams would not like to see in a series or in the playoffs. If they fall under the knife or Eovaldi continues to lead the league in hits allowed it could be a long, long summer for the Yankees. New York no longer has the stability and the stopper in Kuroda and he may be the biggest asset lost this season that no one seems to be talking about. Well they aren’t talking about it yet anyway, let’s revisit this conversation in June. 

A Cautionary Tale & Max Scherzer

The New York Yankees are still flirting with the idea of signing top free agent starting pitcher Max Scherzer this offseason, if you believe Hal Steinbrenner anyway, for what presumably would be a pretty lengthy and awfully expensive deal. If history is any indicator of what the future will look like that might not be a great idea for the Bronx Bombers if they go past, say, five years for Scherzer. There have been plenty of starting pitchers, especially lately with inflated payrolls and television contracts, to eclipse the $100 million mark on long term deals and we are starting to see them now surpass $200 million overall. Most deals have been bad but there have been a few saving graces for the teams interested in Scherzer, or James Shields for that matter, to look at and shoot for.

Remember Kevin Brown’s seven year deal worth $105 million where he averaged just 3.27 WAR per season? Brown’s was the best of the bunch as far as $100 million plus deals go when Brown made two All-Star teams and accumulated a +22.0 WAR making that contract the best of the bunch. Brown’s semi-successful contract was followed by not so great contracts including Johan Santana’s six years and $137.5 million (2.53 WAR average), Barry Zito’s seven year and $126 million (0.43 WAR average) and Mike Hampton’s eight year deal worth $121 million (0.36 WAR average) to name a few. Matt Cain’s current deal with the San Francisco Giants may be another cautionary tale for teams which may be drying up the market for these two top free agent pitcher.

Are either Shields or Scherzer the next Mike Hampton?

For every five to ten Hampton’s teams eventually get one five year and $120 million contract from Cliff Lee. Sure Lee has elbow and arm troubles in 2014 but pitched absolutely fantastic from 2011-2013 accumulating a 21.2 WAR during that span. Also it’s worth mentioning that the Felix Hernandez and Clayton Kershaw contracts are looking good right now but there is always plenty of time for those deals to go awry. CC Sabathia’s first deal worked out well for the Yankees but he opted out after three years of his seven year deal worth $161 million so I’m not quite sure that deal really applies, especially looking at what he has done since signing his new contract.

Scherzer and Shields could either be the next Lee or Kevin Brown, the next Masahiro Tanaka or the next Barry Zito or Mike Hampton. There are more Zito’s and Hampton’s than there were Lee’s and Brown’s though so it may be a bad idea for him to be the next anything in New York.