Yankees Interested In Bringing Back Ichiro and Ibanez

According to Wally Matthews the Yankees are interested in re-signing both Ichiro Suzuki and Raul Ibanez. I've already written about Ichiro in my Offseason Decisions series. I had something written for Ibanez, and was going to save it, but may as well post it now...

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Raul Ibanez could be one of those players for whom the phrase "what have you done for me lately" works in reverse. Normally that phrase is used for a player that at one point in his career was great, but lately hasn't been getting the job done. However, thanks to three huge home runs for the Yankees in the postseason, people may very well forget that Raul also hit .240/.308/.453 in 2012. They may also forget that Ibanez hit under .200 in two different months, and had an on-base percentage of less than .300 in three separate months.

Raul also had a very uncharacteristically good season in left field. Although I'm not a big fan of Ultimate Zone Rating, I think it's a fine way to compare one fielder to others. I mean, do I really think Ibanez saved 4.8 runs this season, or 11.8 if that was spread over 150 games? No. And that also brings up another problem some people have when using UZR, that being that they go by a single season. I really think you have to look at 3+ seasons to get a good idea of what type of fielder a guy is. Anyway... Raul's UZR/150 over the past 3 years is -9.5, which is tied for 12th among 14 left fielders in Major League Baseball with at least 2000 innings there.

For the record, yes... I said Ibanez could fake it in left field before this past season, and therefore lobbied for the team to sign him over the other options on the free agent market. By no means did I think he was even "okay" in LF, and therefore hoped he'd rarely... if ever... step foot out there. Thanks to Brett Gardner's elbow, my wish did not come true.

My last issue with Raul Ibanez relates to his age. He will be 41 next June, and therefore I have little to no reason to believe he'll improve enough to make me think "damn, I wish the Yankees brought him back". That not only goes for his bat, but also his glove. And God forbid the Yankees do re-sign Ibanez, and we need him to start another 65 games in left field in 2013.

So thank you for extending the Yankees' season over and over again, Mr. Ibanez, but in my opinion the Yankees should wish you well in your future endeavors.

Gardner to CF In 2013

Okay, maybe Brett Gardner will be the center fielder for the Yankees next season. Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com reported that the Yankees are considering moving Gardner to center field, thus shifting Granderson to one of the corners.

While I don't believe Granderson is a bad center fielder, Gardner is heads and shoulders above Curtis at that and any other outfield position. So the fact the Yanks are thinking of making this move makes me happy.

Tyler Austin Named 2012 Breakout Prospect Of Year

Yankees super prospect Tyler Austin has been named the MiLB Breakout Prospect of the the year for the 2012 season. Tyler started his season in Charleston in A ball with the Riverdogs team and earned call ups to High A Tampa and AA Trenton before his season ended in the playoffs. Tyler Austin is only 21 years old and is flying through the Yankees system since being moved to the outfield before this season. Congratulations to him and to his family because, and I personally know this, no one deserves it more because they are hard working and great people. See you in the Bronx soon Tyler!!

Former Yankee Pascual Perez Murdered In Robbery

Former Yankees right handed starting pitcher Pascual Perez was murdered in his home this morning during an apparent robbery. The reports are leaning towards the recent MLB pension that Perez received as the motive for the robbery and eventual murder. He was stabbed in the neck and left in his home where he was found by police in the Dominican Republic. Pascual Perez was 55 years old, RIP. Perez spent two seasons with the Yankees before having to retire due to various shoulder problems.

The Closing Situation After Soriano Opted Out

This was not what Yankee fans wanted to see in January of 2011.

It's funny how things work out. When Rafael Soriano signed that 3 year contract before the 2011 season, Yankee fans such as myself were left thinking "WTF?" Sure, if Mariano Rivera did something silly like tear up his knee shagging fly balls during batting practice, the contract would make sense. But what are the chances that's going to happen? Meaning we'll all be left dreaming that Rafael would opt-out of the deal after the 2012 season.

Here we are now, and it turns out Soriano did opt out of his contract, after having saved 42 games for the Yanks in 2012. So now we're left hoping that either Rivera returns for another season, in the face of reports that he's thinking of leaving the game, or Brian Cashman can figure something else out. Well I'm too impatient to wait for Cashman, not to mention this little blog here needing material, so I thought it would be a good idea to take a look at the free agent closers myself.

So let's start with Soriano... Is he worth re-signing anyway? Well, without thinking about a contract, I doubt there's a Yankee fan on the planet that wouldn't want Soriano to return to the team. It's not as if Rafael's numbers this season were above anything he's ever done in his career. His walk rate was actually a bit higher than his career mark (3.2 walks per 9 innings, compared to a career number of 2.9), his strikeout rate was right in line with his career (9.2 in 2012, and 9.4 in his career), and he gave up a few more hits than he has in his career (7.3 hits/9 compared to 6.5 hits/9 in his career).

But what will he demand as far as a contract? Would it be something like the 3 years and $27 million that the Miami Marlins gave to Heath Bell, a year after Bell had finished his 3rd straight season with 42+ saves, and an ERA below 3.00? That would actually be kind of funny, since Rafeal would have made more than half that in 2013 alone with the Yankees (the Yanks would have paid him $14 million for 2013). There's not a big age different between the two men either, as Soriano will be entering his age 33 season while Bell was going into his age 34 season. I'm totally spitballing here, but I can see Rafael wanting a deal of 4 years and $50 million (an AAV of $12.5 million). And seeing those numbers, I think Brian will look around at other options.

In the immortal words of Rod Tidwell, Rafael says "show me the money!"

So what are those other options? Well, take a look...

Jonathan Broxton
Broxton had surgery on his throwing elbow a little over a year ago to remove bone spurs and other loose bodies. He came back to pitch in 2012 with the Royals and Reds, putting up a total ERA of 2.48 with 27 saves (23 for KC, 4 for CIN). Unfortunately, on top of missing a few games with should soreness in 2012, his strikeout rate didn't bounce back to what it  was in a couple of years ago. He's an interesting option, but doesn't come without some red flags.

Matt Capps
Matt's had a number of issues with his throwing arm since 2009. Elbow, shoulder, wrist, forearm, culminating with a 2012 in which he missed 79 games due to shoulder inflammation. He struck out 7.3 batters per 9 innings in 2010, but has seen that number dip to only 4.7 and 5.5 the following two years. I my opinion you'd be crazy to trust him as your closer in 2013.

Ryan Madson - $11MM mutual option with a $2.5MM buyout
Looking at the numbers from 2009 to 2011, you'd think any team needing a closer would be all over Ryan. During those three years he had an ERA of 2.79, saved 47 games (32 of which were in 2011), had a strikeout rate of 9.65, and a walk rate of 2.41. The one reason I have to say "no" to him is a big one... Tommy John surgery on April 11th of last year. There's a chance he's ready for Opening Day, but I don't want to count on him as the Yankees new closer. I'd be interested in a one year deal to see how he bounces back after the surgery, but certainly not as Soriano or Rivera's replacement.

Brett Myers
Brett's career average strikeout rate is 7.3 per 9 innings, which is higher than we've seen from his since 2008, and it was a lowly 5.6 this past season. Although his walk rate isn't astronomically higher, that 2.1 per 9 innings is much worse when he doesn't miss many bats to go with it. And he's not as experienced as a closer either, as the 19 saves he saw with the Astros last season were his first saves since 2007.

Fernando Rodney - $2.5MM club option with a $250K buyout
Rodney has a fantastic season with the Rays in 2012, putting up a very low .60 ERA and .777 WHIP in 74.2 innings pitched. So right there you'd say "bingo", assuming Tampa Bay didn't pick up their club option. But when you look at the peripheral stats the picture on Fernando becomes clearer. Rodney had a strikeout rate of 9.2 per 9 innings, which was about 2 batters more than he had between 2009 and 2011. His walk rate was a very nice 1.8 per 9, but that was about 3 batters less than in 2009 and 2010 (I skipped 2011 because he had lower back issues, which likely skewed his numbers). And when I see a batting average on balls in play against of .225, I can't help but think the guy got pretty lucky in 2012.

Joakim Soria 
Joakim and Ryan Madson are in the same boat. Both men have had extraordinary numbers when healthy. Between 2009 and 2011 Soria struck out over 10 batters per 9 innings, and walked 2.47 per 9, while earning an all star bid, and Cy Young and MVP votes in 2010. Another resounding "yes" for a team that is looking for a closer. But the problem with Joakim is that, along with Madson, had Tommy John surgery the past April. Like Ryan, Joakim may be ready for Opening Day, but I have a hard time trusting him to close for the team all season. He's another guy that I wouldn't mind the team signing.

Jose Valverde
What's good about Jose is that he hasn't spent a single day on the DL since 2009, so he has that going for him. Another good thing is that Jose's seen his walk rate drop in each of the last 3 seasons, going from 4.6 to 4.2 to 3.5 per 9 innings, it's still on the high side. Unfortunately his strikeout rate also fell in each of the last three years, going from 9.0 to 8.6 to 6.3. And after seeing him implode this past postseason, giving up 9 earned runs in only 2.2 innings of work, from the ALDS through the World Series, I would hardly be excited to have him in New York next year.

Yeah, the lack of good options gave me that same look.

After looking at all the free agents, I really hope Mo returns for one more season (at least). For starters, I'm not sure I like the idea of even committing to Soriano for 3 years, let alone the 4 he'll probably want. And other than Rafael, the only two free agent closers that I'm intrigued by are just coming off of Tommy John surgery (Madson and Soria). The two guys already with the team that have closing experience, David Robertson and Joba Chamberlain, haven't exactly "killed it" in save situations. Robertson had 3 blown saves in 5 chances last season, and has 8 blown saves in 13 chances for his career. Joba isn't any better, having blown 6 saves out of the 10 chances he's had in his career. Mind you, those are pretty small sample sizes, but they don't help to instill a ton of confidence in them for 2013 should they get the closing gig.

This is definitely a story that I and other Yankee fans will be keeping a close eye on throughout the offseason.

Ervin Santana Comes Off The Yankees Board

Not that the Yankees necessarily had Ervin Santana on their board but if they did after the report earlier of the eagerness to trade him it is too late now. Ervin Santana has been shipped to the Kansas City Royals with cash considerations up to $1 million for LHP Brandon Sisk. The Royals will be on the hook for $12 million of the remaining $13 million after the option for 2013 was picked up. I do not know how high on the board Santana was for the Yankees but the price for Haren just wen't up a little.

Yankees Interested In Torii Hunter

In my Offseason Decisions: Nick Swisher post I mentioned some alternatives in free agency, but one guy I didn't mention was Torii Hunter. Well, according to Mark Feinsand, the Yankees are interested in the former Angel.

Hunter hit .313/.365/.451 last season, but that was a bit out of the ordinary for him. He had an extremely high BABIP of .389, which tells me that anybody thinking he can repeat that slash line is out of their minds. However, Torii does play solid defense, and could probably hit somewhere around .275/.340/.445, which would be plenty useful for the Yankees.

More on this as it develops... although I'm sure nothing will come of this news anytime soon.

Rafael Soriano Officially #Untuck's, Opts Out

Well we can put any speculation to bed, not that this is in anyway surprising, because Rafael Soriano has officially opted out of his final season of his contract and will accept a $1.5 million buy out from the Yankees. He will hope to build on his 42 of 45 saves in 2012 in place of the injured Mariano Rivera and will look for a four year deal, reportedly. The Yankees are still expected to offer him a qualifying offer of $13.3 million and either retain him or get draft compensation back for him if he signs with another team.

Yankees Donate $500,00 To Hurricane Sandy Relief

The New York Yankees continue to show why they are one of the classiest acts in all of baseball today by donating $500,000 to the Hurricane Sandy relief effort. This donation to the American Red Cross will go towards helping all affected in the Tri-State area so kudos to the Yankees organization. Love us or hate us we always step to the forefront and are always the first to help out in times of need across the country.

LAA To Trade Dan Haren And Ervin Santana

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of California of the United States of North America of Earth of the Milky Way galaxy of the Universe have announced that they are looking to trade both Ervin Santana and Dan Haren. The Angels hold club options on both players, Ervin for $13 million and Dan for $15.5 million. The buyouts on each deal are $1 million and $3.5 million, respectively. So this is a case of the team having options for the players that are too much, but where simply buying them out gets the team nothing in return.

Seeing as how they'd basically be on one year deals for the Yankees, and therefore wouldn't affect the 2014 payroll, it seems like a good idea to kick the tires on at least one of those pitchers (I'd think about Haren before Santana). But after hearing the news about Kuroda being okay with signing a one year deal, and a chance that Pettitte does return, I see no reason to give this a serious thought. Both pitchers had below average seasons (4.33 ERA for Haren, and 5.16 ERA for Santana), and I'd rather use the prospects to sweeten a deal for a young outfielder to take over for Nick Swisher.

In a few months I may look back and wish the Yankees had given things a harder look, but since the price isn't "all that" I don't think I have to worry.