So Tim Lincecum Wasn't Worth $2.5 Million

You know I haven't ranted and raved in a while and while I know you guys get tired of the doom and gloom, the ranting and the talk about management letting the fans down and such but when the team gives me something else to talk about I'll happily take the lead. This winter I vouched for signing Tim Lincecum for much of the offseason and pleaded, hell I almost begged, for the Yankees to watch the former San Francisco Giants right-hander pitch but once again my pleas fell on deaf ears while the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim swooped him up for the low, low price of just $2.5 million. Too rich for Hal's blood I guess.

I think the thing that irked me the most is that the team didn't even watch him throw. Let's ignore the fact that CC Sabathia has already been on the disabled list once this season and let's ignore the fact that Michael Pineda and Luis Severino couldn't get out a Little League World Series team right now consistently and instead focus on some common sense. There is no such thing as too much pitching. That's the best problem to have. Let's also ignore the fact that the Yankees used this philosophy not so long ago under their former owner George Steinbrenner. All it costs was a plane ticket to watch him throw, that's it.

So long story short the Angels swooped in and signed Lincecum to a Major League deal worth $2.5 million. At the time of this writing the deal was agreed upon in principal and Lincecum had just passed his physical after degenerative hip surgery last September so the specifics have not been released. You have to figure that there will be a ton of incentives written into this contract leaving me to wonder what the Yankees had to lose here?

A plane ticket? $2.5 million plus incentives? Or their 2016 season? That is yet to be determined.

Weekly Prospects Check In: Robert Refsnyder

The New York Yankees farm system is one big walking wounded group of players this season isn't it? It doesn't seem to be that much different than the Major League Yankees unfortunately and it has left us scrambling a bit in these check in posts. This Saturday morning post has been reserved for Yankees infielder Robert Refsnyder, and it will be today as well, but with a bit of an extended look in the majors for Refsnyder this week we may be finding ourselves looking for another option very soon. Nothing would make me happier.

So for this Saturday morning you get a two-for-one special. You get a preview of what the Yankees could be seeing in the Major Leagues if they would actually use him as well as his minor league stats to date before the call up.

Year	Age	Lev	G	PA	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2016	25	AAA	34	143	18	39	6	2	10	6	9	16	.293	.336	.398	.734

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Gray is 50 Shades of Wrong In Yanks 8-3 Thrashing ofOakland

     Hoping to pitch well in his hometown, the Mission Viejo native C.C. Sabathia lead the New York Yankees to their second straight victory tonight over the struggling Sonny Gray and the Oakland Athletics. Sabathia hoped to build off of his last outing, where he pitched his best game of the year, a win against the rival Orioles.  Despite winning 14 games last season, Sonny Gray has really struggled this season, to the tune of a 3-4 record, with an ERA of 5.84, and an even more alarming ERA over 10 in his last four starts. Gray's sub-par 2016 would continue tonight as he and a variety of Oakland miscues led to the Yankees 10th victory in their last 15 games.
     Oakland actually hit the scoreboard first tonight in the bottom of the second inning when Matt McBride lined a two out single that drove in Billy Butler, who had walked earlier in the frame. But, The Bombers would counter quickly as their bats really came to life against Gray, Who had thrown 70 pitches by the end of the third. In the top of the fourth, Gray allowed a one-out walk to Aaron Hicks that was followed by a single off the bat of Didi Gregorius. Utility man Ronald Torreyes tripled both runners in when he lined a ball to center field that was misread by Coco Crisp, in what was the first of several miscues by the Oakland Athletics. After Elsbury reached first on a catchers interference call, Gray threw A wild pitch to Brett Gardner that got by the catcher Stephen Vogt, scoring Torreyes from third, 3-1, and moved Jacoby up to second base. Then, after walking Gardner, Grey threw another pitch in the dirt that advanced Elsbury to third. Beltran would send Gray to the showers when he ripped Gray's 100th pitch of the game that was again misread and over the head of Crisp, scoring both Ellsbury and Gardner, 5-1 New York.
    Sabathia was phenomenal in his return off the DL and in front of a multitude of friends and family tonight. He would go on to allow only the one run in six innings of work, giving up just three hits while striking out a season-high eight batters. Needing a night to rest the back end of the bullpen, The Yankee offense gave their former ace plenty of runs to work with, allowing the three headed monster to get some much needed rest. In fact, the big left-hander is134-6 in his career when receiving six or more runs from his offense.
     The Yankee on slot would continue against the worst bullpen in the majors. In the top of the sixth, Ryan Dull allowed a leadoff single to Brett Gardner, who scored the Yankees sixth run of the game when Carlos Beltran struck for his second RBI-double of the night. Oakland, too, would score off of the Yankees bullpen as they tried to embark on a come back that was not to be. In the bottom of the seventh, Kirby Yates served up a two-out double to Coco crisp that scored Tyler Ladendirf from first base, 6-2, New York. The Yankees would get that run back in the top of the ninth when Jacoby Ellsbury hit his third triple of the season, scoring Torreyes and Gregorius, making it an 8-2 game. The A's would add one more in the bottom of the ninth, leading to a final score of 8-3.
     The Yankees had big nights on both sides of the ball, getting their third consecutive quality outing from there starting pitcher and recording 13 hits tonight, making them 12-1 this season when they record 10 or more base hits. Let's hope we see more of the same from both the offense and from Masahiro Tanaka tomorrow as they go for their fourth consecutive victory, with first pitch scheduled for 4:05 PM ET.

This Day in New York Yankees History 5/21: A Rod Returns to Arlington for First Time

On this day in 2004 the Texas Rangers fans let former All Star Alex Rodriguez know what they felt about him during his first return to Arlington Park. The fans booed heavily before, and especially after, when A Rod hit a home run in his first inning at bat.


Also on this day in 1947 Joe DiMaggio and five other Yankees players are slapped with fines from the club for not fulfilling contract requirements. The $100 fine would come due to the lack of promotional duties for the team by the players. Alex Rodriguez used a $100 bill to light his pilot light last night in his furnace.

Game Thread: New York Yankees @ Oakland Athletics 5/20

So last night we discovered that if two teams played a game in the middle of the night on the west coast that it did actually happen. Now that we have that out of the way we can move on to the more important questions like does the tree that falls in the woods make noise if no one is around and where does a bear use the bathroom. I joke but hopefully the Yankees are all business tonight as they welcome CC Sabathia back off the disabled list. Opposing the Yankees left-hander is the A’s ace and Yankee killer Sonny Gray. The game will be played at 9:40 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network locally and of course MLB TV nationally.

At least the majority of us with daytime jobs can watch tonight and through the weekend, there’s always that. Friday night or not it still irks me to stay up half the night just to watch the Yankees lose. So win. Please? And follow along on Twitter by following @GreedyStripes as we finally live tweet a game again, it’s been too long.

Go Yankees!

Cotts, Coke, Hensley & Left-Handed Yankees Pitchers

A few key notes from a few key left-handed Yankees pitchers today:

Neal Cotts has been signed to a minor league deal after opting out of his minor league deal with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Cotts was assigned to Triple-A Scranton and will presumably be a LOOGY for Joe Girardi before long.

Phil Coke was designated for assignment and has cleared waivers. The Yankees have outrighted and assigned Coke to Scranton but I don't think that necessarily means 100% that he is staying with the organization.

Ty Hensley had a "setback" with his Tommy John surgery and will miss the entire 2016 season. No one has said a second Tommy John surgery is coming but it sounds like a second Tommy John surgery is coming.

While We Wait: Link Dump from my Bookmarks

I don’t know about you but I read. A lot. Books, websites, news, sports, comic books. You name it, I read it. I like to catch up on my reading and my bookmarks during west coast games and off days because there just simply isn’t enough hours in the day so I thought while we wait I’d share a little bit of what I’m reading tonight on this beautiful Friday night.

Mike Axisa of River Ave Blues talks about Hal Steinbrenner potentially selling at the trade deadline.

Pinstripe Alley reviewed the 2015 MLB Draft class for the Yankees. 

Don't hate David Ortiz because you sucked in Little League. Okay then. 

Starlin Castro's favorite thing about playing in New York.

Maybe you find something you will enjoy as well. Enjoy!

Translating Hal Steinbrenner’s Statements Through George Steinbrenner’s Mouth

Hal Steinbrenner channeled some of his inner Steinbrenner this week when he released a bit of a sound bite regarding the Yankees this season. To paraphrase, because by now we’ve all heard the quotes and listened to the news broadcasts all over, Steinbrenner said the Yankees players were not living up to their potential offensively and the team is not playing as well as they should. Steinbrenner praised the Yankees coaching staff and manager Joe Girardi in the statements which left many wondering “what would George do” if he were here so I decided to take the exact quotes from the Hal interview and translate them in George’s words here on the blog.

Hal:

“The first five weeks were disappointing, frustrating, particularly looking at the offense. Clearly not living up to their potential [the offense]. When you look at a guy like Mark Teixeira, clearly, he’s not playing to his potential with the bat.”

George:

“Mark Teixeira, you’re benched. Bye Felicia!”

Daniel Burch and @GreedyStripes on Twitter:

“Mark Teixeira Sucks!!”

Hal:

“The coaches are doing a good job.”

George:

“Where is Billy Martin when you need him? Oh yeah, I fired him.”

Daniel Burch:

“And he’s dead, God rest his soul.”

Hal:

“These are professional athletes. They’re the best baseball players in the world, and sooner or later it comes down to them, on the inside, to push through whatever it is they’re going through and to persevere.”

George:

“Hello (fill in the blank with a team name) GM, what do you want for (fill in the blank with star name). Would you take (fill in the name of any top prospect) as compensation?”

Daniel Burch:

“The Yankees suck!”

Hal on Michael Pineda:

“All these strikeouts, and yet he’s given up these runs. Whatever technically is wrong with the delivery, Larry [Rothschild, pitching coach] is going to work on, but the rest is up to Pineda to figure out. He’s a professional, and that’s what we expect from him, and that’s what his teammates expect from him.”

George:

“To the bullpen with you. Good thing I signed Zack Greinke, David Price and Jordan Zimmermann this winter.”

Daniel Burch:

“Michael Pineda sucks!”

This post was all in fun, treat it that way. Have a great rest of the day Yankees family. 

Charleston Riverdogs Press Release: Legends in the South Tickets Now On Sale!

Tickets for Inaugural “Legends in the South” Alumni Game Are Now on Sale

Start Memorial Day Weekend with the Yankees–Braves legends on May 27

CHARLESTON, SC -- The Charleston RiverDogs will host an alumni baseball game between teams of New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves greats at the inaugural “Legends in the South” Game presented by Budweiser and Container Maintenance on Friday, May 27 at 6:35pm at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park.

General admission tickets for this once-in-a-lifetime event start at $12 and are now on sale. Box seats are $25 each, lower reserved seats are $20, and upper reserved tickets are $15. Tickets may be secured by calling 843/577-DOGS (3647), online at riverdogs.com or at the Riley Park Box Office. Proceeds benefit the Singleton Fund with fans being able to text donations throughout the event.

Participating in the game will be Bobby Richardson (3rd base coach), Ron Blomberg, Ken Griffey, Sr., Gene “Stick” Michael, Ron Blomberg, Marquis Grissom, Denny Neagle and Ryan Klesko, to name a few.

Gates open at 4 pm so fans may watch batting practice and secure autographs. The Joe will transition into a “Thirsty Friday” with $1 beers in the Ashley View Pub with DJ Natty Heavy spinning popular tunes.

Various VIP meet and greet opportunities are available for auction on riverdogs.com and offers fans once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to rub shoulders with the shining cast of former big leaguers. Auction items include a spot at a welcome reception and welcome dinner with the Legends’ teams on Thursday, May 26, from 7-9pm and a pregame luncheon on Friday, May 27, from 1-3pm at a local restaurant.

Fans can also bid on a one-of-a-kind opportunity to take batting practice on the pregame field, suit up in full uniform and experience the exhibition from either the Braves or Yankees dugout with one spot for each team available for auction.

Braves Legends Roster*

Johnny Estrada

Jesse Garcia

Marquis Grissom

Chris Hammond

Ryan Klesko

Greg McMichael

Denny Neagle

Jeff Ridgway

Dwight Smith

Jeff Treadway

Yankees Legends Roster*

Ron Blomberg

Brian Boehringer

Homer Bush

Ken Griffey, Sr.

Charlie Hayes

Jim Leyritz

Ramiro Mendoza

Gene Michael

Bobby Richardson (3rd Base Coach)

Jeff Nelson

*Rosters subject to change

Game Preview: New York Yankees @ Oakland Athletics 5/20

The New York Yankees and the Oakland Athletics continue their four game set tonight on the west coast with the return of a Yankee and an emergence of a Yankee killer on the mound. For the former the Yankees welcome back CC Sabathia off the 15-day disabled list after he struggled with a tight groin muscle while the Athletics counter with their ace Sonny Gray. This is a homecoming of sorts for Sabathia who is a California-boy so presumably he should be pumped to come off the disabled list and make the start tonight for the Yankees.

Sabathia returns off the DL tonight after straining his left ground and missing 15 days with the injury. Sabathia is a Vallejo, California native and will presumably have his friends and family in the audience rooting him on tonight in his return. Sabathia has made 15 starts inside the Oakland County Coliseum in his career and has struggled a bit posting a career 4-7 record with a 5.44 ERA in 15 starts.

Gray has not had the start to the 2016 season that many would have hoped for but with a pitcher with as much talent as the Oakland right-hander has he can turn it around at any point. Gray is winless in his last four starts and has a 5.84 ERA as he has struggled in each of his first eight starts this season. Nine sounds so much better than eight, doesn’t it?

The game will be played at 9:35 pm ET inside of Oakland County Coliseum and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV. The Yankees desperately need wins after dropping the ball in the Arizona series and the team desperately needs them now. Every game is important and every game is inching closer and closer to a must win as their gap in the AL East gets wider and wider. No pressure CC but we need a vintage start from you tonight and a little help from the offense. Go Yankees!