Mariners @ Yankees 8/3/12

Yankees win 6-3

Seattle.... Again?

Tonight the Yankees face off against the Seattle Mariners in the first game of a three game set at Yankees Stadium. On the mound for the Yankees will be CC Sabathia and opposing him will be Kevin Millwood. The game will be televised at 7:05 pm ET on YES and MLB Network

Lineups

1. Granderson CF
2. Jeter SS
3. Cano 2B
4. Teixeira 1B
5. Ibanez DH
6. Swisher RF
7. Chavez 3B
8. Suzuki LF
9. Martin C

Go Yanks!!

Casey McGehee The 2009 Version Of Eric Hinske?

Let us forget the whole part about Eric Hinske going to the World Series for so many consecutive seasons and their obvious differences in position and look at how similar that these two players are. I think we all can agree that Eric Hinske , a role player, was an integral part to the Yankees winning the World Series in 2009 but will we see a repeat with McGehee? Let us take a look...

I, for obvious reasons, am going to compare Hinske's 2009 season to McGehee's 2012 season. Hinske was a part time player at this point in his career where McGehee has been a "full time" player in Milwaukee. With that said let us look at the stats.

• At this point in the season, before the Yankees game started against the Mariners on Friday 8/3/12, both players have played 93 games each. 

• Eric Hinkse at this point had a total of 8 home runs.. the same amount as Casey McGehee through his 93 games.

• Hinkse had 25 rbi's through 93 games and McGehee has 36 rbi's.

• Eric Hinske was barely over the mendoza line but had 100 points higher on his OBP then his BA which means he was drawing his walks. McGehee does not tear the cover off the ball by any means with a .228 AVG but he has a OBP that is 71 points higher which means he also can take a walk when he needs to.

• Both players had exactly a 0.6 WAR through 93 games.

• The Yankees love extra base hits, especially home runs, and both players had nearly identical double numbers with 13 for Hinske and 12 for McGehee. 

• Neither players are slouches in the field. While McGehee only has 2 more errors then Hinske did in 2009 that is only because Hinkse did not have a single error in 2009. 

• Just for fun Hinske was 31 years old when we acquired him (and turned 32 later in 2009) and Casey McGehee is currently 30 years old and will be 31 this year.

Do these stats mean anything? Probably not. I really just posted them for fun but it is kind of scary just how similar these two players in two different situation are. If it gets us a World Series ring then that is even better.

DDFA - Damon Designated For Assignment

For all those Yankees fans that clamored for the return of Johnny Damon, via MLBTradeRumors...

The Indians announced that they designated Johnny Damon for assignment. The move creates 25-man roster space for outfielder Ezequiel Carrera, who has been recalled from Triple-A Columbus. 

Damon signed a minor league deal with the Indians in April after an extended stint on the free agent market. The 38-year-old didn't provide much offense, hitting just .222/.281/.329 with four home runs in 224 plate appearances as a left fielder and designated hitter. Damon now has 2769 hits, 235 home runs and 408 stolen bases in his 18-year career. He ranks in the top 50 all-time in runs scored (1668, 31st) and doubles (522, 41st). 

So Damon isn't good enough to finish out the season with the Cleveland Indians, the same team that has a record of 50-55 and 7.5 games in back of 1st place Chicago, but he would have been a better choice for the Yanks than Raul Ibanez? *clearing my throat* HA!

Okay, the Indians aren't going anywhere, so it makes sense to clear room in order to bring up a prospect that could contribute to the team in the future. You know, "the future", when perhaps the Indians will compete for something. Carrera is hitting .294/.345/.419 with 26 stolen bases for AAA Columbus, so they have a solid regular there.

But I couldn't pass up a chance to rub it in that I wanted Ibanez over Damon. Although leaving Cleveland is probably a good thing, as this could be the next thing Johnny sees...

Mason Williams Out For Season

Mason Williams has a tear in his non throwing labrum in his shoulder and will require surgery. This surgery will end his season. Mason Williams hopes to be ready for spring training next year. The year of the injury continues...

Trade Reactions - Anibal Sanchez

Now tell me why the Tigers are going to win the AL Central.

So far this season the Tigers offense has put up a .326 wOBA, while the White Sox have put up a .321. That's not very far off. If you prefer wRC+ the Tigers are at 103 while the White Sox are at 97, so again... not much of a difference.

Even if you look at what those teams have done with the bats the last 30 days there's little difference. The Tigers wOBA in the past 30 days is at .343, while the White Sox have a 328. What about wRC+, you ask... Tigers - 114, White Sox - 102.

Looking at the run prevention side of the coin though, you start to see where I'm coming from.

Is run prevention "heads" or "tails"?

In 2012 the Tigers' pitching has put up a FIP of 3.81, while the White Sox pitchers have a FIP of 4.15. Even if you try and see if one team has been hotter than the other, the nod goes to Detroit. The Tigers, in the past 30 days, have a FIP of 4.05, while the White Sox are at 4.45.

But what about the run differential? That has to mean something?

Sure it does. The fact that Detroit's is only at +9, while Chicago's is at +61, made it tough for me to pick the Tigers. But I have to believe that a team led by hitters like Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder will do better than a team led by Alex Rios and Paul Konerko.

I'm not saying Konerko isn't a hell of a hitter, as it's more an indictment on what I think Rios can do. Alex's BABIP is kind high at .325, so I can see his stats coming down a bit.

Thankfully his swing is better looking than his shirt.

And when I look at their pitching rotations I tend to trust the trio of Justin Verlander, Doug Fister, and Anibal Sancez, than I do Jake Peavy, Chris Sale, and Jose Qintana.

I'm confused, so where are we at for the postseason so far?

Perhaps if you touch your nose a hundred times a minute the daze will be lifted.

Oh, I'm as confused as anybody, and I'm the guy writing this stuff. Freakin' 2nd wild card team!

So, since the White Sox will beat the Rangers in the wild card round, they will face the Yankees in the division series. Meaning the Tigers will face the Angels in the other AL division series.

Can the Tigers beat the Angels?

Being that it's a 5-game series I think Detroit has a good shot. Justin Verlander will have a chance to get his team 2 wins, while they only need 3 to move on. Meaning either Scherzer will have to beat Wilson, Sanchez will have to beat Greinke, or Fister will have to beat Haren. The problem is that each of those 3 match-ups favor the Angels. And it's not like Jered Weaver can't beat Justin Verlander either, so it's not a given Verlander can get the team 2 wins.

So if I have to pick a winner, I'm going with the Angels.

So this is yet another trade that won't affect the Yanks?

Precisely.

Not even the trade deadline was a bigger waste of time than this film.

Melky Mesa Promoted, Ramiro Pena DFA'd

Melky Mesa has been promoted to AAA Empire State Yankees today. The Yankees released Jack Cust, Colin Curtis, and Ray Kruml so they had an opening in their outfield and Mesa is their guy. He is an all or nothing kind of hitter with excellent power but does is not expected to be much in the majors. Let the speculation begin though about this move having ANYTHING to do with the impending free agency of Yankees RF Nick Swisher.

Recent International Free Agent Adonis Garcia , already 27 years old , has been promoted from Tampa to Trenton to take Mesa's spot. Mesa will have to share the outfield in "Scranton" with Darnell McDonald, Kosuke Fukodome, Ronnier Mustilier, and Chris Dickerson.

In a shocker and a head scratcher the Yankees designated Ramiro Pena for assignment yesterday. I cannot for the life of me understand why this happened, especially less then a month away from expanded rosters and with two of our infielders hurt. This one I do not get.

Trade Reactions - Hunter Pence & Ryan Dempster

"I'm going to make Giants fans forget about Barry Bonds. Stop laughing!"

Should I change my stance on the Dodgers winning the NL West?

No.

With the trades for Ramirez and Victorino, the Dodgers have done enough to win the division regardless of this move by their in-division rivals. I've already run the numbers in the post regarding Hanley on Monday, so there's no reason to go through it all again.

"Seriously?"

So this move means nothing to the Yankees?


Nope.

-----------

Well, since that was a short discussion, I decided to move up my stance on the Ryan Dempster to Texas deal that went down at the last minute on Tuesday. I was originally going to write the Dempster thing for Saturday, but no point in holding that back now.

Are the Rangers still headed for the Wild Card?

In my trade reaction to Zack Greinke going to the LA of A Angels I said the Rangers were looking at the Wild Card. It came down to the Angels having a killer rotation after adding Zack, to go along with an offense that has been hitting pretty well over the last month.

Is it illegal to kidnap baseball players?

The thing I didn't really get into was the Ranger rotation, as I felt it wasn't worth getting into as the Angels now have one of the best rotations in baseball. The Rangers best starter has been Matt Harrison, who sports an ERA of 3.19 and WAR of 3.8. Don't get me wrong... Matt's a really good pitcher. He put up an ERA+ of 129 last season. But a strikeout rate of 5.4 per 9 innings is not the making of a #1 starter to me.

Then there's Yu Darvish, who is a fine pitcher that has an ERA of 4.05 so far in 2012. But seeing that he's had issues with Seattle, who's hit .294/.424/.426 against him in three games this season, it's hard to take him that seriously. I mean, the Mariners have the worst wOBA in the American League (.288). Futher more, the Blue Jays, who are ranked 5th in the AL in team wOBA, were only able to plate 1 run off of 4 hits in 7 innings against Yu back in April. But when they faced Darvish again about a month later, they were able to score 3 runs off of 7 hits in only 5 innings. I'm sure Yu is looking forward to getting out of July too, as he had an ERA of 5.74 and WHIP of 1.425 in it.

The Rangers' probable #4 in the postseason is Derek Holland. Now Derek is a good pitcher, and at 25 years old he will probably get better, but when I see an ERA of 4.74 I can't help but to think "we can hit him". I'm sure I'm not alone in that thought either. Perhaps it's the Bandbox in Arlington that's the issue, where his ERA jumps from 3.40 on the road to 5.94 there. Of course, he won't find Yankee Stadium much more accomodating anyway.

"Derp!"

Which finally brings us to Ryan Dempster. I really don't feel the need to get too deep with him. Sure, he currently has a very nice 2.25 ERA and 1.038 WHIP. But in looking closer at this stats when the Yankees were in talks regarding him, I saw that he also has a BABIP against of .244, which is 61 points lower than his career average of .305. There's just no way he maintains that number. Add to that a Line Drive percentage of 22%, which is in line with his career mark of 21%, and I think he and the Rangers are in for a disappointing rest of the season.

So the Angels are still going to win the AL West?

Yep.

How does this affect the Yankees?

I believe the Yankees will have the best record in the American League, meaning they will face the winner of the Wild Card game. That Wild Card game will be played by the Texas Rangers and the Chicago White Sox, as I see the Tigers winning the AL Central (more on that tomorrow). Now I'd say that the Rangers are better than the White Sox, but in what will be 1 game to decide who goes to the 2nd round, I'm giving the nod to Chicago. Jake Peavy will be the starter for the White Sox in that game, and I think he has what it takes to shut down the potent Texas lineup. He has an ERA of 3.15 so far this year, thanks to a WHIP of 1.06 and batting average against of .229. Even if Jake isn't able to make the start due to injury, or whatever, Chris Sale and his 2.61 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, and .214 BAA is right there.

So with the White Sox moving on, I think it ends up that this trade does nothing to affect our beloved Yankees.

Wise Released, Pena Sent Down

DeWayne Wise refused his AAA assignment and the Yankees had until today to either release him or trade him... so they released him. His bunt and his "catch" will be two of the things we will remember in his short, but very solid, career with the Yankees

Ramiro Pena has been sent back down to AAA Empire State Yankees to make room for newly acquired Casey McGehee. Good Luck Ramiro, see you in September.

Orioles @ Yankees 8/1/12

Yankees win 12-3!

We did not nearly have the same kind of July that we had in June, ending July on a 4 game losing streak that included two loses to the Orioles and Red Sox. The Yankees look to start fresh in August against the Orioles this afternoon at the Stadium. On the mound for the Yankees will be Phil Hughes and he will be opposed against Zach Britton. The game will be on MLB Network's Wednesday Matinee and broadcasted on the YES Network at 1:05 pm ET.

Lineups

Go Yanks!!

Trade Reactions - Zack Greinke

"Thank God we're actually in Anaheim, as LA would probably give me too much anxiety."

Does this give the Angels the best rotation in MLB?

Two words... who cares? Teams do not win or lose games because they have "the best rotation in baseball", or they have "the best lineup in baseball". It certainly helps to have a rotation like the Angels now do, especially in a 5 or 7-game series, but the real questions is this...

Can the Angels win the American League West?

To start off I just want to say that the Oakland Athletics will not finish 2nd in that division. They've scored 414 runs this season, which is the lowest in not just their division but the entire American League. Over the last 30 days they have a .330 wOBA, which is about average in the league. Their best hitter this season has been rookie Yoenis Cespedes, who's sporting a BABIP that's very hard to sustain (.352), which tells me the rest of the season may not go so well for him. Chris Carter has looked good in his 20 games this year, but we're talking about a guy with a .203 batting average and .294 OBP in 552 MLB plate appearances. Brandon Moss has hit well for Oakland, but this guy has a career batting average of .238 and OBP of .305.

The Angels will get ahead of the As sooner rather than later.

Cheer up, you guys may at least get a new stadium soon.

The story wasn't so much about the Angels' ability to prevent runs, as they've given up only 414 of them, which is the 3rd least in the AL. The question is "can their bats score more often", as the Rangers have one of the best offenses in baseball. Looking at the past 30 days though, I think LAA can win their division.

Don't expect the Rangers to continue with a team wOBA of .302, their mark in the past 30 days, but seeing that the Angels have a team wOBA of .345 over that same time span tells me their bats are indeed good enough.

So along with a much stronger rotation, and guys like Albert Pujols performing to expectations, I think the Rangers will have to settle for a Wild Card bid into the postseason.

"In the immortal words of Ivan Drago, 'I must break you'."

What does this mean for the Yankees?

I believe, in my heart of hearts, that the Yankees will end the 2012 season with the best record in the American League. Which means they'd face the winner of the Wild Card game, and as I said earlier, the Angels will not be that opponent. The Angels, I predict, will play the American League Central champion (more on that before the end of the week). The pitching match-ups in a possible Angels-Tigers series is very intriguing... Weaver vs. Verlander, Wilson vs Scherzer, Greinke vs. Sanchez, Haren vs. Fister, but I can see the Angels coming out on top.

Meaning the ALCS would be between the Yankees and Angels (yes, I'm assuming the Yankees beat the winner of the Wild Card game). Sabathia vs. Weaver, Kuroda vs. Wilson, Pettitte vs. Greinke, and Nova vs. Fister will be awfully good. Maybe my pinstriped glasses are too much, but I'd call that a wash. On the offensive side of things I also see a wash. The "runs scored" category may be in the Yanks favor now (492 to 469), but over the last 30 days the teams are seperated by only .002 points in terms of team wOBA (.347 to .345 for the Bombers). Mind you that does include a poor stretch for the Yankee offense, along with being without Swisher and ARod, but in the end I think this has the makings of an intense ALCS.

"I make these look good"