Yankees @ Mariners 7/24/12

I do not know if you guys have heard yet but the Yankees acquired Ichiro Suzuki to play Left Field for the remainder of this season from the Seattle Mariners yesterday. Those same Seattle Mariners that we have now hooked up with twice for a high profile trade in less then a year are who we are playing tonight in Safeco Field. On the mound for the Yankees, looking to start a win streak, is Freddy Garcia but his job will not be easy... Tonight the Mariners send future Yankee King Felix Hernandez to the mound to even the series. The game will be televised at 10:10 pm ET on the YES Network.

Lineups

Derek Jeter SS
Curtis Granderson CF
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Mark Teixeira 1B
Raul Ibanez LF
Eric Chavez DH
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Chris Stewart C

Go Yankees!!!

2012 Trades Around The League 7/24/12

The impending Marlins fire sale is something that I personally want to keep a VERY close eye on. The Marlins keep falling farther and farther out of contention behind the streaking Braves and Nationals and look to be ready to unload some of their over paid talent on other teams. Do not get me wrong though even if it is over paid the Marlins still have TALENT.

The Marlins started yesterday by sending Omar Infante and Anibal Sanchez to the rival Detroit Tigers for MLB 10th best ranked prospect Jacob Turner and two other prospects.  This is just the tip of the ice burg in my opinion. In the hours following the trade we are already hearing whispers of Hanley Ramirez to the Red Sox (which I think is probably going to happen and that scares me), Heath Bell could be on his way out, Carlos Lee, Josh Johnson (Texas Rangers anyone?), Ricky Nolasco, Randy Choate, and others.

This could make the stretch run VERY interesting depending on where these guys end up. The Marlins claim they are not having a fire sale and will only make moves that make the team better but I am sure they have said that the last few times as well...

Meet A Prospect : Corey Black

The New York Yankees used their fourth round pick, 157th overall, on right handed college starting pitcher Corey Black. Corey has spent his college career with Faulkner University in Montgomery Alabama. Corey signed for a measly $215K.

Corey Black has good fastball with good movement that sits in the upper 90's consistently. Black, which is not odd for college pitchers, has good secondary pitches to go with his fastball. Being from such a small University in Alabama a lot is not really known about him but the Yankees have obviously seen something that intrigues them in Black. He is kind of a small guy only being 5'11" so that always seems to point guys like this towards the bullpen in the future. 

Corey Black is still considered raw even though he is a college pitcher. What Black lacks in polish though he more then makes up in upside and projections. You absolutely cannot teach velocity and reminds me a ton of Joba Chamberlain. I truly think we could see him as early as next season if the bullpen needs an arm in September or earlier. 

Black started one game in the GCL before being promoted to the NYPL and being sent to Staten Island. He has a modest 3.38 ERA in the Penn League while starting three games and holding batters to a .211 BAA at the time of this writing. His biggest problem has been his 5 walks to go with his 8 K's. 

Follow Corey Black, a Greedy Pinstripes Follower (@GreedyStripes), on Twitter @CblackEagle12

Yankees @ Mariners 7/23/12

UPDATE

Ichiro will be in the lineup tonight for the Yankees and batting 8th

Yankees win 4-1 behind an Ichiro single, stolen base, and having him record the final out to get Soriano his 25th save

Tonight the Yankees will try and stop a four game losing streak when they head into Safeco Field in Seattle. On the mound will be the last Yankees pitcher to get a win, in a rain shortened game, Hiroki Kuroda and will be facing the Mariners Kevin "Combined No Hitter" Millwood. The game will be televised at 10:05 pm ET on the YES Network.

Lineups

Go Yankees!!

More Ichiro News

Keep refreshing this, as I'll be adding things...

• The Yankees will pay Ichiro $2.25 million
• Dewayne Wise has been DFA'd already, which must mean Ichiro will be in gray and navy tonight
• He won't be wearing #51
• According to Wally Matthews, Ichiro will bat 9th tonight
• Ichiro is in the middle of a hot streak. .351/.370/.481 in 16 games since June 6.

Ichiro is a Yankee!

From the Twitter of Jack Curry...

The Yankees have acquired Ichiro Suzuki for RHPs DJ Mitchell and Danny Fahrquar, a source said. Yanks also get undisclosed cash in deal.

Ichiro only hit .272/.310/.335 last season, and is at .261/.288/.353 so far in 2012, but this is still a nice pick-up. His defense and arm are as good as ever. And he already has 15 stolen bases this season, after having swiped 40 in 2011, so if he can get on base more often he'll be a big addition this season.

I took a quick look at Suzuki's Baseball-Reference page, and I see that he's striking out 9.5% of the time, which is right around his career average SO% of 9.3. And he's hitting the ball as hard as ever, as his Line Drive percentage is at 22%, which is a tick higher than his career mark of 21%. The thing that's causing the big downturn in his numbers is a low walk rate (4.0% against a career percentage of 6.1%), and a low Batting Average on Balls in Play (.279 as opposed to .348 for his career). So if Ichiro can take a few more walks, and is no longer the victim of some bad luck on balls hit into play, then this could turn out to be a steal for New York.

For the record, Danny Fahrquar has been DFA'd twice this season, so he's no loss what-so-ever. DJ Mitchell did little to nothing in MLB this season, but that's an incredibly small sample size. But I'm not about to get teary-eyed for the loss of a guy that had a 1.322 WHIP and 7.0 K/9 in the minors.

Yankees Acquire Ichiro Suzuki

MLB Network just broke the news that the New York Yankees, playing in Seattle tonight, have acquired Ichiro Suzuki for 2 minor league pitchers. More details to come when they become available.

DJ Mitchell and Danny Farquhar look like the two pitchers that are going to Seattle. I absolutely HATE losing DJ Mitchell for Ichiro but he is what he is... a bullpen arm. We have plenty of those available in the minor leagues.

The Yankees are also apparently getting cash in return for Ichiro who is in the final year of his contract. This year Ichiro is set to make $17 million this year but that will obviously be pro rated since we will get less then half a season of Ichiro. MLBTR is reporting that the Yankees will be getting "significant" money back in the deal.

The big issue is does Ichiro wear Bernie William's number 51? Stay tuned...

According to Joel Sherman, The Yankees are only on hook for $2 million of Ichiro's remaining salary for the rest of this season.

DeWayne Wise has been designated for assignment (DFA) to make room for Ichiro on the 25 man roster which means Ichiro will be active for TONIGHT'S GAME!! I fully expect Ichiro to bat in the 9 spot for the Yankees and play RF for now while Swisher is out and will play LF for the rest of the season while Brett Gardner is out.

2012 Trades Around The League 7/23/12

The Marlins and the Detroit Tigers have agreed on a trade that will help the streaking Tigers. The Tigers have acquired Omar Infante and Anibal Sanchez for Jacob Turner, Bryan Flynn and Rob Brantley. This will help their second base situation right away. These two teams are also swapping their competitive balance lottery picks. The Marlins may not be done if they fall farther out of contention.The Marlins claim to be trading to get better, and in my opinion they get better with this trade, but I am not so sure that I buy that.

The Braves acquired.... wait according to him on Twitter they did not acquire... no wait they did acquire... 

Well according to MLB Network, ESPN, and about everyone else the Braves have acquired Ryan Dempster for a package headlined by Randall Delgado. Dempster quickly went to twitter to deny these reports and showed up at the Cubs club house, in uniform, today for his throwing sessions. We'll watch this one closely. 

Mock Trade: Justin Upton

I Got Traded Where?

I probably will not tell you ANYTHING that you already know here but the Yankees are apparently checking in on Justin Upton. While I know a deal in the offseason is more likely, and makes more sense for Arizona, I still wanted to throw a trade out there. Joel Sherman reports on Twitter that the Diamondbacks would want one of the Yankees top prospects, someone who can play shortstop now, and a pitcher who can pitch now. 

It is no secret that Kevin Towers and Brian Cashman are friends and with Towers working in the Yankees system for a season knows our players quite well. Using the outline that Joel Sherman gave us I came up with this mock trade. Whether it gets it done or not is one thing but these are for fun anyway so here we go...

The Yankees receive:
Justin Upton

The Diamonbacks receive:
Mason Williams/Tyler Austin
Eduardo Nunez/Ramiro Pena
David Phelps/Adam Warren
Mark Montgomery/PTBNL

I Hear He Likes Snakes Too...

Either Mason Williams or Tyler Austin would have to be included in a deal for this to happen. I think the Diamondbacks would want Mason Williams because he is more of a "sure thing" as the Yankees were once struggling to find a position for Tyler that fit. Eduardo Nunez is the only guy we have that can play short stop now unless they want Ramiro Pena so he will have to do. David Phelps has much more trade value then Adam Warren right now but maybe the Yankees could swing a deal that kept Phelps and included Warren although I doubt it. I added Mark Montgomery because it gives the  D Backs another projectable arm in the pen and sort of makes up for Nunez's short comings. 


Note that I do not think this deal would get it done. I truly believe that the Yankees would have to include a Phil Hughes or an Ivan Nova to make the deal work, in which I would want to pass on, but I am just going with what Joel Sherman said. 

Official Campaign Starts Here

If the Yankees are offered this trade I make it 11 times out of 10. If Justin Upton is really "on the outs" with Arizona, as he seems to be, then the Yankees may (and would) steal him with a similar deal like this one. Get it done Cash.

Oh I Will

Meet A Prospect : Nathan Mikolas

The New York Yankees, with their third round pick (124th overall), selected High School outfield prospect Nathan Mikolas in the MLB First Year Player's Draft. Mikolas spent his high school years playing for Bradford High School in Kenosha Wisconsin. Mikolas signed for an above slot deal of $400K although the slot was only $378K. 

Originally considered a top 100 draft pick Mikolas was considered the regions top positional prospect if you do not count catchers. Mikolas stands at 6'2" 205 lbs batting left handed with what is considered above average power. Mikolas is praised for his consistent and fluid swing and quick bat speed while having a great eye for taking walks. Mikolas is not shy about hitting the ball the other way for power either while staying back on breaking balls. Those qualities you do not see much out of high school prospects too much so this could be a steal.

Another left handed power hitter who loves to take walks and hit the ball the other way.. sounds like a perfect fit for the Yankees and especially for Yankees Stadium. The only problem is that players that show this kind of power so early have always been extremely hit or miss... but when Mikolas hits he hits it a long way. I am officially intrigued because of his ability to hit the breaking ball. 

Mikolas is already playing in the GCL for the Yankees and already has a home run so that is definitely a great start to his Yankees career. He is only batting .172 in 29 at bats and 14 strike outs (at the time of this being written which is a little in advance) but he only just signed out of high school a couple of weeks ago and it is way too early to worry.