April 19, 2008
Joba Back, 'Sado To Play First?
George King is reporting that Joba Chamberlain will return to the team this evening and that Jorge Posada will be playing first base tonight instead of Jason Giambi.
One has to wonder if Jorge at first is going to become a long-term thing...
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 03:05 PM | Comments (0)
April 18, 2008
Tomasino: Hughes At Crossroads
Via Dan Tomasino of The Post:
Phil Hughes is in dangerous territory. The 21-year-old Yankees right-hander will make his fourth start of the season tonight against the Orioles in Baltimore but already he faces a crossroads.
At 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA, Hughes could see his season spiral out of control quickly if he doesn't correct whatever has hindered him the last two starts.
Hughes and the Yankees coaching staff said his mechanics were off when the Red Sox pounded him for six earned runs on six hits and three walks during his two-inning performance Sunday.
"I see him rushing, trying to do too much instead of trusting his abilities, trusting his pitches," first-year pitching coach Dave Eiland said. "All young pitchers do it. He has to slow down the game a little bit in his mind. He's doing everything too quick."
That can be interpreted as a positive or a negative analysis.
On the plus side, it indicates that, if Hughes can calm his mind and allow his body to work, he'll be effective. On the other hand, for a pitcher who's been praised as much for his maturity and demeanor as for his fastball, the idea that his struggles are rooted in his mental approach is not a good sign.
"There's going to be rough spots," said Hughes, who will be opposed by hard-throwing right-hander Daniel Cabrera (0-0, 5.94 ERA). "You've just got to put your head down and go to work and get through them."
This will be the first time that Phil Hughes has ever pitched at Camden Yards. Here are Hughes' career splits, via Baseball-Reference.com, when batters hit the ball off him:
PA BA OBP SLG Babip To Infield 106 .058 .058 .058 .058 To Outfield 151 .500 .490 .804 .462 Ball In Play 250 .298 .294 .396 .291 Fair Terr 250 .327 .323 .510 .300 Foul Terr 7 .000 .000 .000 .000 Pulled-RHB 31 .400 .400 .600 .379 Up Mdle-RHB 78 .280 .269 .373 .260 Opp Fld-RHB 30 .172 .172 .172 .172 Pulled-LHB 34 .500 .500 1.088 .414 Up Mdle-LHB 64 .250 .250 .344 .250 Opp Fld-LHB 20 .450 .450 .750 .421
Note these splits (from the above):
PA BA OBP SLG Babip To Outfield 151 .500 .490 .804 .462 Pulled-RHB 31 .400 .400 .600 .379 Pulled-LHB 34 .500 .500 1.088 .414 Opp Fld-LHB 20 .450 .450 .750 .421
These suggest that Phil Hughes gets battered, but good, when he allows hits into the outfield - especially when it's hit towards left-field or pulled into right-field.
Camden Yards is not going to help Phil in this respect. It could be a very interesting game for Hughes tonight down in Hot L Baltimore.
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 03:29 PM | Comments (2)
April 17, 2008
Manny To Follow Damon On Haircut Trail?
Is there a chance that the Red Sox do not pick up Manny Ramirez' contract option for 2009?
Related, what happens if the Yankees do not bring back Bobby Abreu next season? You know that Jason Giambi will be gone after this year. Does the money saved on Giambi and Abreu, coupled with the need for a right-fielder and three-hitter (if Abreu leaves), bring cause for the Yankees to chase a 37-year old Manny Ramirez on the free agent market?
Me? In my lifetime, I've seen some great right-handed batters play: Jeff Bagwell, Edgar Martinez, Alex Rodriguez, Frank Thomas and Albert Pujols come to mind. And, I'd put Manny Ramirez up there with any of them - if not on the top of the list. But...man...the whole Manny being Manny thing...in Yankeeland? I dunno. I just don't know...
What about you? How would you feel about "Manny In Pinstripes '09"?
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 12:28 PM | Comments (12)
In Case Cooperstown Is Not Keeping Count
Alex Rodriguez played in 485 games with the Texas Rangers. And, he also played 790 games with the Seattle Mariners.
Coming into this season, A-Rod has played 629 games with the Yankees. This means, assuming Alex doesn't miss much time this year, come early 2009 Alex will have played in more games with the Yankees than any other major league team.
Any question what cap should be on Rodriquez' plaque in Cooperstown? Even if he retired today, I don't see how it can be anyone else but the Yankees now.
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 10:30 AM | Comments (6)
Rotation To Be Altered?
Via Kat O'Brien -
The Yankees may split up Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy in the rotation following the off-day Monday. Asked if that was under consideration, Girardi smiled and said; "It's a possibility."
It makes sense. Having Mussina, Hughes and Kennedy in a row is a tax on the bullpen. Back in March, I said that you don't want Pettitte and Wang pitching back-to-back. Nothing has changed that opinion for me.
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 09:59 AM | Comments (1)
April 16, 2008
SI: The Secret Of Wang
Albert Chen of SI has done a big feature on Chien-Ming Wang. Click here to read it. (Hat tip to the print issue of SI in the waiting room of my periodontist.) Some of the cool parts:
[Wang] sits in the passenger seat of a midnight-blue minivan with tinted windows as it squeezes through a swarm of cars and motorbikes, on the city's main avenue. Peering through the side window he spots a line of customers at a street vendor's cart and decides that he wants what they want: a small piece of cake stuffed with red bean -- a local specialty he won't be able to get once he returns to the U.S. in another week. But because he is Chien-Ming Wang, pitcher for the New York Yankees, he can't step out of his vehicle, or even roll down his window, without making news in the next day's papers. "The street food, it's what I miss most in America," he says in a rare moment of wistfulness. Wang could dispatch his bodyguard, Daniel, who is driving, but left waiting in a parked van, Wang would surely be recognized through the front windshield. It happened two years ago, when, on his way home from the airport, a mob of more than a thousand blocked the narrow street to his home. For more than a hour, he sat with his wife in a stationary car, surrounded by the throng until 40 policemen arrived.
So to the notion of buying a piece of cake, Wang says, "Forget it," and the van rolls on, headed to a gym, where it pulls up to the rear entrance.
Wang had been exposed as a one-pitch anomaly, or so said the baseball cognoscenti, the scribes and the sabermetricians who've long proclaimed the 6-foot-3, 225-pound righthander the beneficiary of a large amount of good fortune. How else to explain why a pitcher with a minuscule strikeout rate, who misses fewer bats than almost every other major league starter, could be so successful? No, Wang's October wasn't just a pair of fluke performances in an otherwise accomplished season, nor was it the result of a tired arm, but rather the sign of something larger. This, the skeptics said, was perhaps where the end began.
The adopted son of workers in a metal utensil manufacturing company, Wang played Little League but was never regarded as a standout while growing up in Tainan. "In high school, he was kind of terrible," says Louis Yu, a sportswriter who covered Wang then. "He was tall and very, very skinny. His delivery wasn't smooth, and his fastball was not impressive."
Just as Wang was about to sign with Seattle, with him and his family sitting at home in Tainan wearing Mariners caps, New York swooped in with a $1.9 million offer. "While we knew Tsao could be a star," Yu says, "Wang never had a great game in high school or college like him. People in Taiwan were surprised [the Yankees] gave him so much money. No one thought he could be a star."
Wang's sinker gradually earned a reputation as one of the game's filthiest pitches. "An ultimate weapon, like Johan Santana and his changeup," says Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte. "It's the best sinker I've ever seen."
Halfway around the globe, in a baseball-crazed country starved for somebody to root for, Wangmania took off.
Now Taiwan's major newspapers charge a higher advertising rate for issues published on a day that Wang pitches, as well as the day after each start. The country's largest circulation daily, Apple Daily, estimates that it sells as many as 300,000 extra papers on days that carry reports of another Wang victory. Endorsements that have come Wang's way include McDonald's, Ford, E Sun Bank (one of the largest in Taiwan) and computer-maker Acer, which claims that Wang's name alone has increased its product sales by 10% and lowered the average age of its consumer by almost four years.
On the Yankees, Wang has no close friends. He has known second baseman Robinson Cano the longest -- the two rose through the minors together and were promoted to the majors within a week of each other in the spring of 2005 -- but neither can recall the last time they socialized outside the ballpark.
More than the fans, major league clubs believe what they've seen from Wang. Over the last two years they have signed 15 players from Taiwan, and nearly half the teams have full-time scouts on the island. Kao sees the talent coming up through the high schools and colleges, and it gives him hope. "The quality level here is getting better," he says. "Coaches are learning, coaching smarter."
Will there be another Chien-Ming Wang? Kao laughs, sounding as if he thinks the question is absurd. "No, I don't think so, not while I'm still living," he says. "He is a precious gem. Our precious gem."
Great story.
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 07:55 PM | Comments (0)
Farnsworth: "Time To Stop Finessing Slider"
Hey, check out Farnsie...he's going John Daly on us. Grip it and Rip it. Via Newsday -
Farnsworth said he watched video of his slider on Monday and feels as if he may have picked up something that will help him get it down and in to a lefthanded batter - like Joba's slider - instead of in the fat of the plate.
"At times I've babied it a lot, which is stupid of me to do," he said. "I'm not a finesse pitcher. Just trying to make a perfect pitch like a finesse pitcher would do. I don't need to be doing that because my arm will drag and more times than not it's been left over the middle of the plate."
This could be a "Ebby Calvin 'Nuke' LaLoosh" moment for Kyle. Don't think, Meat. It can only hurt the ball club.
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 12:16 PM | Comments (1)
Keri On Why Yanks Will Win Or Lose A.L. East
Jonah Keri via the New York Sun:
WILL WIN IF: The young pitching pans out. Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy are off to rough starts this year. But Hughes in particular has both the stuff and the minor league track record to succeed at the big league level — it's just a question of when it will happen. There's a potential chain-reaction effect on the Yankees' staff. If Hughes or Kennedy don't pan out or Andy Pettitte's balky elbow gets the best of him, the Bombers could consider moving Joba Chamberlain to the rotation. Underrated and talented newcomer Jonathan Albaladejo has a chance to become a very good setup man if the team lets him, which could make it easier to get Chamberlain in the rotation where he belongs.
WILL LOSE IF: The team's veteran hitters show their age. Already, the normally durable Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada have battled injuries. Jason Giambi's been declining for a while now, Johnny Damon looks like a Punch-and-Judy hitter and Bobby Abreu hasn't topped 20 homers in three years. The offense will be good, no matter what. But it needs to be great for the Yankees to win it.
It's an interesting point on the "power" question. Are Godzilla and A-Rod the only "true" power threats on the Yankees now? I could see where a case could be made to support that claim.
Posada and Cano should be good for 20 homers each - but, not much more. At this point, the only two guys on the Yankees who are pretty much "good" for 25+ homeruns these days are Matsui and Rodriguez, no?
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 11:48 AM | Comments (2)
Former Yanks P.R. Director To Lead Hall At Cooperstown
Via the Daily Star -
The Daily Star learned exclusively Tuesday night that Jeff Idelson will be named the permanent president of the National Baseball Hall of Fame today. An announcement will be made during a media conference this afternoon at the shrine in Cooperstown, a source speaking on the condition of anonymity said.
Idelson, 43, succeeds Dale Petroskey, who resigned March 25 after nearly nine years. The same day, the Hall named Idelson as its acting president, an interim tag that lasted three weeks. The Hall’s 17-member Board of Directors made the decision to hire Idelson, the source said.
The Hall hired Idelson as its director of public relations and promotions in 1994. In 1999, Idelson earned a promotion to vice president of communications and education, an appointment he continued to hold even after he was named acting president. Before working at the Hall, Idelson served as assistant vice president and senior press officer for World Cup USA in 1994, the year the U.S. played host to the World Cup for men’s soccer. From 1989-93, Idelson worked as the New York Yankees’ director of media relations and publicity after holding a similar position with the Boston Red Sox from 1986-88.
Idelson graduated from Connecticut College with a degree in international economics May 25,1986, and began working in the Red Sox’s PR department 11 days later.
After having to deal with the 1986 Red Sox and those Yankees teams from 1989 to 1992, dealing with anything else should be a snap.
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 11:36 AM | Comments (1)
April 15, 2008
Salfino: Evolution & Pitching Mechanics
Michael Salfino of SNY.tv takes a look at internet reports on the mechanics of Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy and Joba Chamberlain. Click here to read his feature.
I can remember watching a Yankees game in 1995. At that time, Jim Kaat was comparing the mechanics of two young pitchers in the Yankees starting rotation: 23-year old Andy Petitte and 24-year old Sterling Hitchcock. If I recall correctly, Kaat (then) projected Pettitte more likely to be free of issues because his delivery ended on a bent leg whereas Hitchcock pitched off a stiff front leg. In retrospect, Kitty was right.
I'd love to see someone with a lot of pitching experience, as a player and a coach (and maybe a broadcaster too), take a look at the mechanics of Hughes, Kennedy and Chamberlain and see what they have to say...someone like Kaat, Orel Hershiser, or...hey, what about Al Leiter? (Nah, YES would never go for that.)
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 02:01 PM | Comments (3)
Trenton Trappings
Stephen Cornell of phillyBurbs.com has a nice column today on some happenings with the Trenton Thunder - including updates on Austin Jackson, Chase Wright and Jason Jones. Click here to read it.
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 09:27 AM | Comments (0)
April 14, 2008
Many Thanks To Jessica Alba & Ricky Ledee
Because it's just not right for me to keep calling him "The fat kid from the Nationals that we traded Tyler Clippard for....," I'm now going to make a concentrated effort to learn how to pronounce Jonathan Albaladejo's last name.
Back when the Yankees traded for him, their official site read that Albaladejo was pronounced "Alba-la-DAY-ho."
That doesn't look that hard. It starts with "Alba" as in "Jessica Alba" and it ends with "ho." I think I can remember those two parts easy enough. And, in the middle, it has "la-DAY," which is sort of like how "Ricky Ledee" had his last name pronounced.
(Jessica) Alba, (Ricky) la-DAY, ho.
I'm not sure how Jessica would like that, but, Ricky may enjoy the sound of it. And, it's going to help me, for sure, remembering how to say his name.
Jonathan, Alba la-Day ho.
Yeah, I'm golden with this one now. It's locked down, solid.
It's so nice to no longer have my tongue tied on "Albaladejo."
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 06:37 PM | Comments (1)
Klapisch On Hughes
Via Bob Klapisch of The Record:
Scouts still believe Hughes is on a long-range path to success; but he’s making obvious mistakes with a fastball that’s been curiously anemic. On Sunday night, the radar gun had Hughes in the 90-91 mph range, and sometimes it wasn’t even that quick.
"Obviously (Hughes) is not where we want him to be, but he’ll get better," Joe Girardi said. "I still believe in my guys."
It’s true, Hughes is being given a wide berth by everyone in the organization, up to and including Hank Steinbrenner. But make no mistake, the corporate plan also calls for a 13th consecutive trip to the postseason, and if the Yankees have any hope of winning the wild card, let alone catching the Red Sox, they’ll need more from Hughes.
Question is: Just how much can the Yankees really expect from the prospect who was hailed as a young John Smoltz?
In three starts, (11 innings), Hughes has allowed 11 earned runs on 16 hits, including eight walks. These aren’t just growing-pains numbers, these are signs of distress.
One scout who’s watched Hughes recently said, "He’s going to need a plus fastball to keep hitters honest. He’s got a great curveball, but they’re going to start sitting on it sooner or later."
"I wish I could pinpoint it," Hughes said of his struggle. "I pride myself on getting ahead in the count and then having pinpoint control of my fastball. But I have been out of my comfort zone lately."
You know, the super-hype on Phil Hughes goes back for at least two years now - probably even longer...going back to when he was drafted in 2004.
The more I think about it...it seems like it's just too much pressure to live up to those expectations. And, now, it's worse for Hughes, because of the whole Johan Santana trade-talk thing.
Andrew Brackman is next up...the hype is already building on him.
It just seems like it's going to much easier for guys like Zach McAllister and Alan Horne to break into the big leagues, in the New York market, than the Hughes and Brackman types who need to be lights-up from jump street.
It's too late to make things easier for guys like Hughes - with respect to the spot-light being on them. Hopefully, there's a lesson learned in here for the team. Don't support or allow the hype and give these kids a chance to ease into it. Do whatever you have to make it possible for them to sneak in a back-door rather than just throw them out on stage...billed as the next coming of the savior.
It's bad enough that it's all uphill trying to break into the bigs as a pitcher. Is there really a need to tie weights to the guy's shoulders at the same time?
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 10:33 AM | Comments (9)
April 13, 2008
Pascarelli: Hughes To Be Future Ace
Via Peter Pascarelli of ESPN.com -
In Hughes, the Yankees have someone who they believe is destined to be an ace-caliber pitching star. Only Arizona's Justin Upton (by two months) is younger than Hughes in the major leagues this season. But Hughes' ability is far beyond his years.
And in his brief major league tenure, Hughes has already earned the respect of his veteran Yankees teammates. "He's going to be an ace down the road when he gets comfortable and pitches more at this level," said Yankees outfielder Johnny Damon.
What makes Hughes such an enticing prospect is not just his considerable physical ability, but his feel for pitching, which is so advanced for someone so inexperienced.
"When he's putting his fastball in the spots he wants, he can handle any lineup," said first-year Yankees pitching coach Dave Eiland, who has overseen Hughes throughout his meteoric rise through the New York farm system. "He has a very good curve ball -- a legit outpitch -- and both his change and slider have kept improving.
"He also has a poise and presence that you don't see in many young players. He can be as good as anyone."
Via the Complete Baseball Encyclopedia, career leaders in Runs Saved Above Average (RSAA) since 1973 by pitchers 21 or younger with at least 10 big league starts:
RSAA RSAA IP GS 1 Dwight Gooden 99 744.2 99 2 Dave Rozema 51 427.2 56 3 Bret Saberhagen 42 393 50 4 Fernando Valenzuela 40 495 62 5 Mark Fidrych 38 250.1 29 6 Frank Tanana 36 552.1 72 7 Dennis Eckersley 25 386 54 T8 Felix Hernandez 20 465.2 73 T8 Britt Burns 20 250.2 34 T8 Jose Rosado 20 106.2 16 T8 Rick Ankiel 20 232 41 12 Mike Witt 19 308.2 47 T13 Ismael Valdes 18 226 28 T13 Bob Welch 18 111.1 13 T15 Storm Davis 16 301 37 T15 Matt Cain 16 237 38 T15 David Palmer 16 132.1 12 18 Kerry Wood 15 166.2 26 T19 Terry Forster 14 172.2 12 T19 Jerome Williams 14 131 21 T21 Dontrelle Willis 12 160.2 27 T21 Dennis Blair 12 309.1 49 T23 Gil Meche 10 171.1 30 T23 John Candelaria 10 120.2 18 T23 Yovani Gallardo 10 110.1 17 T26 Mark Prior 9 116.2 19 T26 Bill Gullickson 9 142 19 T26 John Henry Johnson 9 186 30 T29 Chad Billingsley 8 90 16 T29 Don Robinson 8 228.1 32 T29 Dan Petry 8 262.2 40 T29 Floyd Youmans 8 77 12 T29 Jamey Wright 8 91.1 15 T29 Steve Trout 8 177.1 21 35 C.C. Sabathia 7 390.1 66 T36 Scott Kazmir 6 219.1 39 T36 Jeff Russell 6 68.1 10 T36 Rick Jones 6 104 14 T36 Edwin Nunez 6 140 10 T40 Juan Cruz 5 142 17 T40 Bud Smith 5 84.2 14 T42 Brandon Lyon 4 63 11 T42 Alan Wirth 4 81.1 14 T44 Brandon McCarthy 3 67 10 T44 Brad Havens 3 78 12 T44 Mark Lemongello 3 244 34 T47 Roger Clemens 2 133.1 20 T47 Dave Stieb 2 129.1 18 T47 Jerry Garvin 2 244.2 34 T47 Phil Hughes 2 72.2 13 T47 Miguel Asencio 2 123.1 21 T47 Jon Garland 2 186.2 29 T53 Steve Avery 1 309.1 55 T53 Wilson Alvarez 1 56.1 10 T53 Jaret Wright 1 90.1 16 T56 Dan Larson 0 92.1 13 T56 Andy Benes 0 66.2 10 T56 Bill Pulsipher 0 126.2 17 T56 Pete Redfern 0 118 23 T60 Sid Fernandez -1 96 16 T60 Mike Jones -1 80.1 12 T60 Tom Carroll -1 78 13 T60 Tom Gordon -1 178.2 18 T60 Ramon Martinez -1 134.1 21 T65 Rich Harden -2 74.2 13 T65 Mark Gubicza -2 189 29 T65 John Mitchell -2 121.2 20 T68 Steve Baker -3 63.1 10 T68 Jim Abbott -3 181.1 29 T70 Brett Myers -4 72 12 T70 Tommy Boggs -4 117.2 19 T70 Dennys Reyes -4 114.1 15 T73 Kyle Davies -5 87.2 14 T73 Chris George -5 74 13 T73 Rich Dotson -5 222.1 37 T73 Carlos Zambrano -5 116 17 T77 Jeff D'Amico -6 221.2 40 T77 Joel Davis -6 176.2 30 T79 Jim Clancy -7 76.2 13 T79 Pat Mahomes -7 69.2 13 T79 Lary Sorensen -7 142.1 20 T79 Gene Nelson -7 162 26 T79 Alex Fernandez -7 279.1 45 T79 Nick Neugebauer -7 61.1 14 T79 Sean Burnett -7 71.2 13 T86 Mike Norris -8 112.2 22 T86 Larry Demery -8 95 15 T86 Mario Soto -8 78.2 11 T86 Jake Peavy -8 97.2 17 90 Scott Scudder -9 100.1 17 T91 Pete Falcone -10 190 32 T91 Kevin Kobel -10 177.2 25 T91 Larry Christenson -10 229 36 T94 Ramon Garcia -11 78.1 15 T94 Gary Serum -11 207 23 T94 Moose Haas -11 213.2 34 T97 Edwin Jackson -12 75.1 14 T97 Todd Van Poppel -12 88.2 17 T97 Roger Erickson -12 265.2 37 T97 Bruce Robbins -12 97.2 14
As you can see from the list, there have been about 60 pitchers, since 1973, who pitched well in the majors at the same age, or younger, that Hughes is now, up until that stage. And, there have been at least another 40 pitchers, same age, etc., who didn't pitch all that well.
Of these 100 pitchers combined, some went on to have nice careers, a few became Hall of Famers, and many (or most?) of them flamed out due to injury and/or ineffectiveness.
Based on this, I would suggest this is the way one should look at Phil Hughes future/potential: There's a 5% chance he'll be a Hall of Famer, there's about a 25% chance that he'll go on to have a fine major league career, and there's about a 70% chance that his career, albeit due to injury or lack of performance, will be a disappointment.
Just being young, advanced, poised, polished and in the big leagues doesn't make you a lock to be a future ace.
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 08:49 AM | Comments (9)
April 10, 2008
Giambi: Yanks Playing Like Old Men
This quote from Jason Giambi yesterday is getting a lot of play in blog-land; so, I thought I would add to the party:
"You've got the young kids (on the Royals) running around like maniacs," Jason Giambi said, "and we're playing like a bunch of old men right now."
Last time I checked, the Yankees only have two non-pitchers on their team who are age 35 or older: Jorge Posada (who didn't play last night) and Jason Giambi.
So, if Jason is concerned about the Yankees being more youthful, maybe he should retire now and then the team can replace him with someone like Shelley Duncan or Brett Gardner? If Giambi were to express an interest to retire, today, I'm sure that the Yankees would be willing to discuss some settlement terms on the remainder of his contract to make it work for both him and the team.
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 12:46 PM | Comments (9)
Buck Showalter Heading Back To ESPN
Some Buck Showalter news via the USA Today -
...ex-Texas Rangers manager Buck Showalter is being added to ESPN's Baseball Tonight.
Not a bad spot for Buck to be in...keeps him in the public view...just sitting there waiting for an opening somewhere...
There's no question that Buck deserves another chance to manage again. I could see it happening in the next one to two years.
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 12:00 AM | Comments (1)
April 09, 2008
Sickels Talks Yankees
Bugs & Cranks has a nice Q&A posted with John Sickels on some Yankees prospects. Click here to check it out. (Hat tip to Sliding Into Home.)
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 04:38 PM | Comments (0)
Alberto Gonzalez Coming?
Via George King -
Shortstop Alberto Gonzalez was lifted from Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes Barre's game against Louisville last night and is a good bet to be with the Yankees in time for tonight's game versus the Royals.
With Derek Jeter out at least until Friday and possibly a DL candidate due to a strained left quad, the Yanks need somebody better defensively at short than Wilson Betemit, who has filled in the past two games.
Gonzalez, who was obtained from Arizona in the Randy Johnson deal, is a defensive whiz with trouble putting two good halves together at the plate.
GM Brian Cashman said he would be comfortable with Alex Rodriguez returning to the position he played during the first 10 years in the big leagues. However, Cashman said that would only happen in a long-term situation. As of last night, a decision to place Jeter on the DL hadn't been made.
Girardi said yesterday that Jeter, who initially felt what he thought was a cramp during Sunday's game, left Monday's game after two innings and had an MRI Monday night. The test didn't reveal a tear but showed something, and Jeter will miss the three games against the Royals and be evaluated prior to Friday night's tilt at Fenway Park against the Red Sox.
Jeter couldn't tell what shape the leg was in yesterday since he didn't test it. Jeter started the 2001 season on the DL with a strained right quad.
"I haven't done anything today," Jeter said after an extensive stint in the trainer's room for treatment. "I don't feel it walking around. I don't have anything for you."
As for placing Jeter on the DL, Girardi said that decision isn't imminent.
"We are a long way away from that," Girardi said. "We will evaluate after this three-game series."
I would be pretty excited to see what Gonzalez could do, defensively, if given an extended period to play short in the big leagues.
What happens, if, Alberto shines with the leather (and is not an auto-out with the stick) and, say, Jason Giambi breaks down in a major way? Would the Yankees then dare ask Jeter, when he returns, to play first (for Giambi) and keep Gonzalez at short? Would Jeter do it?
What a story that would make, huh?
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 11:30 AM | Comments (17)
Ian "Throw Back" Kennedy
One of the things that has always interested me about Ian Kennedy is his face. When I see him, I think he looks like, facially, what ballplayers looked like in the 1930's. Anyone else ever see this?
Here's a side-by-side of Monty Stratton and Ian Kennedy. (Click on the thumbnail to enlarge it.) See what I'm talking about here?
It just seems like Ian has that "1930's" look - again, to me.
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 10:04 AM | Comments (4)
April 08, 2008
Today's Forecast In K.C.
The current weather report for today's Yankees game via the K.C. Star:
Kansas City, MO
Conditions as of 10:23 AM
Rain
Temperature: 45°
Wind: ENE 12 mph
Dew point: 41°
Pressure: 29.85 in.
Wind chill: 39°
Humidity: 87%
Visibility: 2.0 miles
Observed at: Kansas City, MO
Seeing this, I wonder if the Yankees should consider using Phil Hughes the way that the Giants used Tim Lincecum last week? But, that all depends if it looks like the rain will break later on in Kansas City. If it's going to rain all day, then it makes more sense to just start Hughes and see where it goes from there.
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 11:57 AM | Comments (0)
Would Yanks Use A-Rod To Fill In For Jeter?
Via the Post:
The Yankees don't want to believe Derek Jeter's strained left quadriceps will cost him more than a few games. But what if they aren't so fortunate?
One possibility Joe Girardi didn't rule out last night was moving former shortstop Alex Rodriguez back to his old position.
"There's a lot of different scenarios we would talk about as a club," Girardi said after the Yankees beat the Rays 6-1 at the Stadium. "Right now we're just keeping our fingers crossed it won't be too long."
Is A-Rod at shortstop among those scenarios?
"It's something we'll talk about internally and let [everybody] know," Girardi said. The manager said Wilson Betemit will start today's game in Kansas City at shortstop. Betemit began last night's game at first base and shifted to short in the third inning after Jeter departed.
Rodriguez last started a game at shortstop in his final season with the Rangers (2003).
Since joining the Yankees, A-Rod has played short for two innings in 2004 and for six innings in 2005. So, in the four years prior to this season, Alex has played eight innings of shortstop.
Based on this, it seems a bit unfair to ask Rodriguez to play there again - outside of an emergency basis. The last thing Alex needs, or the Yankees - for that matter, is for A-Rod to be in a situation where he hurts the team, or himself, because he's pressed into duty for a few games at short.
Call someone up from Triple-A, even if it means sending down Shelley Duncan or Ross Ohlendorf for ten days or so, if Jeter is going to be day-to-day for a week or so. Either that, or, stick Giambi or Jeter on the D.L. and give them a full two weeks to heal.
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 10:46 AM | Comments (6)
April 07, 2008
Don't Believe Kay's Folktale About Jeter & Torre
During the bottom of the 3rd inning in yesterday's game, on the YES broadcast, Michael Kay went into a story about how Derek Jeter, in his rookie season, was thrown out trying to steal third (against the White Sox) when there were no outs in the inning. As Kay tells the story, Jeter went right up to Joe Torre on the Yankees bench, immediatley after the mistake, and sat down next to him - rather than avoid any possible lecture about not making the first or third out at third base during an inning. (As Kay tells the story, Torre told Jeter to "Get outta here" because Jeter didn't need to be reminded that it was a bonehead play.)
In his "Big Book Of Baseball Legends," Rob Neyer noted that Kay also told this story during a YES broadcast on June 13, 2007.
However, as Neyer notes:
"Jeter was caught stealing seven times in his rookie season. Once was at third base: August 12 against the White Sox. However, it was the third out of the inning - not the first - so Jeter couldn't have sat down next to Torre (at least not right away) because he had to immediately grab his glove and play shortstop."
Maybe Jeter went to Torre during the top of the 9th or 10th innings of that game? And, because it's a much better story, Kay makes it out to be like Jeter did it right after he was caught stealing. It's possible.
Actually, in the 10th inning, Jeter was on-deck when the final out was made. So, he probably only had a small window to make it happen in that frame - if it happened at all. And, the 9th inning for the Yankees in this contest was quick too - three up, three down. If Derek did it then, it probably had to be quick as well.
There's a good chance that this story never happened at all, in reality.
Update, 4/7/08, 1:00 pm ET: Thanks to reader "christopher" for some links (in the comments below) that indicate Jeter went to Torre in the next half-inning (during the 9th). It appears this story does have some legs! (Sorry Michael!)
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 11:43 AM | Comments (6)
The 21 Project
Derek Jacques has an intersting idea on addressing the La Troy Hawkins uniform number situation. Click here to see it.
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 09:14 AM | Comments (0)
Pags: Hughes Loses Velocity Because Of Mechanics
Last week, I reached out to Jim Callis, Kevin Goldstein, and Deric McKamey on the topic of Phil Hughes' fastball, its current velocity, and how it impacts Hughes' status as a prospect. Their feedback suggested that Hughes' heater is what it's always been - and that there was nothing wrong with it and therefore his status was just fine.
At the same time, I reached out to Mike Pagliarulo with the same question. Last night, Mike posted his response at Dugout Central. With the permission of Adam White (the CEO of Dugout Central/Baseline Group) here's what Mike Pagliarulo wrote...
...via Dugout Central:
Great question from Steve L. over at www.waswatching.com:
Mike - Last season, the Yankees Phil Hughes’ fastballs were averaging 89 to 92 miles an hour. However, reports said that Phil usually threw around 92 to 95 MPH. Even Yankees GM Brian Cashman was curious about this last August. At that time, Hughes’ fastballs were averaging 88 to 91 miles an hour, according to Cashman, when they should have been 91 to 93. Here’s what Cashman had to say about Hughes drop in velocity: “I don’t know why. It’s our job to continue to look and see if there’s anything mechanically. He could still be just building arm strength from being down for so long.” Phil Hughes, this spring, said that he never really trusted his leg (after his hamstring injury) and that did not allow him to let loose with his pitches. But, Hughes maintained that he was sound now and it was no longer an issue. However, in his start last night, Hughes was, once again, consistently at 91 MPH with his fastball. In your opinion, how does this development impact Phil Hughes in terms of his status of being a pitching prospect?
A big difference between good organizations and bad organizations is their ability to develop their own prospects. Scouting and the ability to make sound player acquisition decisions are the other two big ones, but we’ll leave those for another day.
The reason Phil Hughes isn’t throwing his fastball faster than 91 MPH is mechanics – and nothing else. Why doesn’t Brian Cashman know this? Because he’s an expert at managing groups, people and processes; he’s NOT a baseball expert in terms of scouting, of understanding pitching mechanics, or understanding hitting mechanics, etc. That’s in no way an insult to Brian. Jack Welch, formerly CEO of General Electric, is one of the most respected business leaders of our time, and he couldn’t build a jet engine or a refrigerator himself. But he could manage the people who could.
So, it’s unfair to ask Cashman the Hughes question since it’s not his area of expertise. It’s like asking Joe Girardi about brain surgery.
What to do about Hughes? He needs to change his delivery, just as Roger Clemens did when he went from Boston to Toronto. Hughes’ mechanics are the weakest during pitching stages three and four, the time in which he takes the ball out of glove to when the ball leaves his hand. Two issues: First, he’s not getting full arm extension after taking the ball out of his glove – and this creates an inconsistent release point and, therefore, an inconsistent pitcher. Second, he’s leading with his head instead of staying back and throwing “around” his head – something that young, aggressive hitters can be guilty of.
The effects of these issues:
+ Reduced velocity on his fastball, because he isn’t able to fully leverage his lower half.
+ His changeup is ending up off the plate to Hughes’ arm-side of home plate.
+ His curve (normally a 70/75 grade pitch on a 20-80 scale) is being left up in the zone.
You’ll notice that Hughes has been throwing his slider more often, despite the fact it’s just his fourth best pitch. Because of his mechanics, Hughes’ arm slot is lower than ideal and, thus, his slider is the only breaking pitch that he can command effectively. It’s the same reason you don’t see three quarter or side arm pitchers with good curveballs. It’s also why if you’re looking at Hughes behind home plate his curve ball is breaking at a 10 to 4 angle as opposed to its typical 12 to 6.
The good news is that Hughes’ mechanics are fixable. Whether he is coachable – a trait needed for a player to improve – is another thing. I’m not saying he isn’t coachable; I just don’t know the guy, so I can’t say.
My guess is that if Yankees pitching coach Dave Eiland is allowed to really work with him, Hughes will be on track by 2009 or 2010. Let’s not forget this kid should still be in AA Trenton.
But this is the risk the Yankee front office is taking. And it’s a big risk, given that it deviates from previously successful methods of developing prospects for championship teams in the minors, not the majors. Looking at the last generation of Yankees stars, Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte, Bernie Williams, Mo Rivera and Jorge Posada were all much more advanced in their development prior to their call-up than Hughes. Jeter (21), Pettitte (23) and Williams (22) were close to the same age as Hughes when they started contributing to the major league club, but development is about being ready to produce, not just age.
This is interesting stuff. And, it somewhat ties into what Carlos Gomez had to say about Hughes last season - that's it's an arm slot and/or angle of release, related to throwing the curve, that's impacted Hughes' fastball.
It seems, based on the reports from Pags and Gomez, that Hughes is not helping himself by throwing a 1-7, 2-8, or 10-4 curve in addition to trying to throw one with a 12-6 break. Maybe Phil should stick with one type of curve - or just ditch it and go back to the slider? Personally, when I hear all this talk about monkeying around with the curve and a (perhaps) slower fastball, I start to get Barry Zito images in my head. And, while Zito was great from ages 22 to 28, we all saw what happened to him last season (and this one, so far).
In any event, my thanks to Mike Pagliarulo for taking the time to write about this matter - and to Dugout Central for allowing me to share it here.
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 08:30 AM | Comments (7)
April 06, 2008
Gardner Hits Big Fly
Via the Scranton Times Tribune:
It’s not a question about what Yankees fans will be excited about when they scan the Triple-A box score this morning.
Nor is it a question of what they should be excited about.
There, in the small type next to the home run category, they’ll find Brett Gardner’s name. They’ll see that he hit a two-run blast in the fifth inning that helped the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees put away Lehigh Valley for the third consecutive day — this one a 7-2 triumph. And that will be exciting enough.
What they won’t know is that this wasn’t a cheap home run. It was a blast off a fastball from a pretty good left-hander named Brian Mazone that landed in the net that hangs from PNC Field’s message board in right-center field, just to the right of the power alley and the 371-foot sign on the blue wall.
Fans will see that, and see a brighter future. All that debate about whether the 5-foot-10, 180-pound leadoff man could ever drive the ball well enough to stick in pinstripes will probably end for a while. This will be all the proof some fans will need.
If you’re one of them, just keep this disclaimer from the man himself in mind.
“That’s one at-bat, so you can’t say I’m a power hitter after I hit one home run in however many at-bats,” Gardner said. “It’s not a case where I’m going to try to hit a bunch of home runs this year to try and prove people wrong. I’m just going to try to become a better hitter, whether I don’t hit another homer all year or end up hitting 15. I’m just trying to be more consistent all year.”
Interesting timing. When Giambi came up lame yesterday, my first thought was "If they D.L. him, maybe Gardner gets the call-up? And, maybe he can be a spark for this team like Cano in 2005 and Melky in 2006?" But, then, thinking about it, the question was "Where would he play?"
Damon, Cabrera, Abreu and Matsui fill the outfield and DH slots. And, Gardner is not going to play first. Basically, for Gardner to have any shot at playing time, he needs one of the Yankees outfielders to go down, not Giambi.
The numbers are just not working here for Gardner, now - in terms of getting a window to join the Yankees (this season).
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 08:37 AM | Comments (1)
April 05, 2008
It's Now Time For Me To Lay Off Phil Hughes' Fastball
On April 3rd, I wrote:
If Hughes is throwing 91 MPH as a 21-year old, he's not going to gain speed as he gets older. It doesn't work that way. Give him about 2,000 big league innings and he will lose four MPH on his fastball (at the least). And, then, Phil Hughes will be a 31-year old pitcher who features a fastball that's in the range of 89 to 87 MPH. And, that's not good.
And, some Yankees fans didn't take kindly to that comment. So, I decided to take the question to a higher court.
I reached out to a few folks "in the know" and (pardon the pun) "pitched" the following to them:
Last season, the Yankees Phil Hughes' fastballs were averaging 89 to 92 miles an hour. However, reports said that Phil usually threw around 92 to 95 MPH.
Even Yankees G.M. Brian Cashman was curious about this, last August. At that time, Hughes' fastballs were averaging 88 to 91 miles an hour, according to Cashman, when they should have been 91 to 93. Here's what Cashman had to say about Hughes drop in velocity: “I don’t know why. It’s our job to continue to look and see if there’s anything mechanically. He could still be just building arm strength from being down for so long."
Phil Hughes, this spring, said that he never really trusted his leg (after his hamstring injury) and that did not allow him to let loose with his pitches. But, Hughes maintained that he was sound now and it was no longer an issue.
However, in his start [on April 3rd], Hughes was, once again, consistently at 91 MPH with his fastball.
In your opinion, how does this development impact Phil Hughes in terms of his status of being a pitching prospect? He's 21 years old now. Will his velocity increase as he approaches age 30, or, will it stay the same? Or, will it decrease? What about life after age 30? If he's throwing 91 MPH in his 20's, should we expect Hughes to be throwing in the high 80's when he's in his 30's? If so, should Yankees fans be concerned about the long-term projection on Hughes' performance?
Here's what they had to say:
Via an e-mail from Jim Callis of Baseball America -
This doesn't concern me at all. Interesting to see Hughes confirm what I thought all along about 2006, that he wasn't 100 percent physically and that led to decreased velocity. He pitched just fine anyway, of course. As for last night's start, it's one start, it's early in the year, it wasn't warm--I don't think this means we saw what his velocity is going to be from here on out. And even if he sits at 90-92 mph, he has good life on his fastball, he commands it well--it will still be a good pitch. As for how well he maintains velocity in the long run, a lot of that has to do with how hard he works and how healthy he stays--hard to project with much accuracy at this point.
Via an e-mail from Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus -
In the minors, Hughes was generally 90-95, so if he was consistently 91 his first time out, I wouldn't really be too concerned at all or see it as a trend, yet. Maybe something to keep an eye on at most, but hardly a reason to panic. A lot of velocities are off in start No. 1.
I also spoke to Deric McKamey of Baseball HQ and he said that past reports on Hughes' velocity, as is often the case with pitching prospects, were greatly exaggerated. Deric said that he personally timed Phil Hughes while he was in the minors, and, while Hughes was able to touch 95 MPH "maybe a handful of times," that Phil's fastball was in the range of 89 to 92 MPH and that was "pretty much what he threw."
That said, McKamey offered that Hughes was more about movement on the fastball and an ability to disguise his pitches - offering batters the same look, arm-slot, etc., whether it was a two-seam fastball or a curve.
As far as the future, Deric suggested that "big guys" (like Hughes) who "use their legs" generally don't lose velocity as they get older. He did say that Phil could lose a few MPH when he's in his mid-30's; but, that he should still be around 91 MPH when he reaches thirty.
Just for the fun of it, I shared my "Andy Benes" observation with McKamey and he thought that was a "pretty good comp." It's important to note that, Deric stressed, as I did last year, that there's nothing wrong with being the next Andy Benes - and that most organizations would be thrilled to have a 21-year old Andy Benes on their roster.
This was an interesting exercise for me. First, I want to thank Callis, Goldstein and McKamey for their great insight! Secondly, it has changed my opinion on the matter.
I'm no longer concerned, at all, with Phil Hughes' fastball velocity in terms of where it sits now with respect to what it was, reported, in the past; and, in terms of what it means with respect to his future. Unless Phil's fastball starts to dip below the 90-91 MPH mark, I feel there's no need to be tracking it. And, I'm not going to expect him to be hitting 95 MPH with any consistency - because that seems to be a myth in the first place.
So, personally, it's time to just look at Phil Hughes pitching results and not the speed of his fastball - as long as he keeps it around 91 MPH. I cannot wait until his next appearance and the start of this new view for me.
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 08:45 AM | Comments (6)
April 04, 2008
Wait Till Next Year?
These are the top team payrolls in baseball this season:
1 New York Yankees $209,081,579
2 Detroit Tigers $138,685,197
3 New York Mets $138,293,378
4 Boston Red Sox $133,440,037
The Yankees have a chance to take $81 million off their payroll this coming off-season. When you factor in bare-minimun replacement players, that would put the Yankees payroll for next year closer to $133 million.
If that happens, there's a chance that the Yankees will not have the highest payroll in baseball next year. How about that?
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 12:22 PM | Comments (15)
Jason "Twinkle Toes" Giambi
Via Howard Megdal -
“I’d get hurt all the time, and I just took it as part of getting older,” Giambi said as he stood near his locker before yesterday's game against Tornoto, a bat leaning against his leg. “But when I worked toward getting back from the plantar fasciitis, I worked with a new doctor, who deals with—well—ballet dancers. And he told me that I had really high arches. I got these inserts—“he gestured toward prescription orthotics in his cleats “and suddenly it didn’t hurt to run anymore.”
His high in batting average since 2002 is .271, and last year he even saw his power drop precipitously, to just 14 home runs in 254 at bats.
His ability to take walks remained, though, and Giambi believes that his stronger legs will improve his offense, too.
“Well, for one thing, I hope my doubles go back up,” said Giambi, who had as many as 47 doubles in his prime, but just 8 last year. “A lot of singles last year should be doubles this year. And there should be more first-to-third, more second-to-home.”
Let's just hope that these inserts are better than the ones Giambi got last May - because they didn't seem to work out.
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 11:37 AM | Comments (1)
April 03, 2008
Yeah, You Can Let "Him" In
Via Neil Best with a hat tip to BaseballThinkFactory.org:
In my item in Tuesday's paper on Paul O'Neill limiting himself to 25 games per season on YES, I forgot to mention an amusing moment:
I was walking with O'Neill toward the Blue Jays' locker room when a security guard stopped him and demanded to see a credential. O'Neill didn't have one, but politely pointed out he is, well . . . Paul O'Neill!
The guard wasn't buying it. I was about to chime in (and risk arrest) when another guard came over and said O'Neill was OK to go through.
I told O'Neill that maybe if he called more than 25 games a year, the staff would know who he is.
Maybe the guard though O'Neill was a La Troy Hawkins imposter?
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 11:25 PM | Comments (0)
General Joe Knows Math
Looks like Joe's sister is not the only math-person in the family. Via Peter Abraham -
Today was my first look at the manager’s office at Yankee Stadium since Joe Girardi took over.
But what caught my eye immediately was a copy of the Baseball Prospectus 2008 annual on the shelf behind the desk. Baseball Prospectus in the manager’s office?
Yep, Joe Torre doesn’t live here any more.
Reason # 127 to love having Joe Girardi manage this team.
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 10:27 AM | Comments (1)
April 02, 2008
Game 2 Streak - Albeit A Little One
Last night was a fun one in Yankeeland. How will today's game go?
Let's hope it's better than Game 2 of 2007. Proctor, Vizcaino and Jeter were not great that day. In fact, as a team, the Yankees were 3 for 13 with RISP. This is what I wrote about that game:
A: The rear view of an adult male baboon with external hemorrhoids.
Q: What is almost as ugly as the way the Yankees, as a team, played in this game.
And, then there was Game 2 of 2006. In that game the Yankees bats went 2 for 15 with RISP and Proctor blew it in the 9th. But, as I wrote back then...Joe Torre was more to blame for that one than Proctor.
The Yankees wouldn't pull this again, tonight, in Game 2 (for the third year in a row) would they? If so, can they just tell me now and save me the drive tonight...please?
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 01:19 PM | Comments (4)
Mussina Feels Better This Year
Via Peter Botte -
Following what he referred to as a "more-involved" workout regimen before and during spring training, Mussina says he feels "better physically now than I did last year," when he missed a few early starts with hamstring problems.
With Mussina's contract set to expire in October, the Yanks are counting on a healthy and productive season from the righthander, who is 43rd on the all-time list with 250 wins after reaching double-digits for an AL-record 16 straight season.
"It's just like the end of any other contract. You've just got to play," Mussina said. "This team doesn't negotiate early, so that's not an issue. And because I'm getting up there in age, there are other factors that go into what I'm going to do next year. So I'll just play."
I'm not expecting much from Mussina this season. But, I would be thrilled if he does well - because that would be good news for the team. However, I will say this: Even if Moose has a season this year where he goes 20-3 with an ERA under three, there's no way in the world do I want the Yankees to resign him after this season. If the Yankees bring Mussina back, well, I dunno what I will do...but it won't be pretty.
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 09:37 AM | Comments (1)
Where We Are With A-Rod & Canseco On April 1st
Via the Daily News -
Alex Rodriguez maintained his silence regarding all things involving Jose Canseco Tuesday. A-Rod said he would have nothing to say about Canseco's allegations "for the rest of the year," vowing not to comment regardless of what Canseco has to say during his book tour.
Via Newsday -
While Alex Rodriguez has been reticent in responding to allegations of steroid use, Jose Canseco hasn't been shy about sharing his thoughts on the Yankees' star third baseman.
Canseco said Rodriguez's relative silence on the issue is an attempt at trying to "sweep it under the rug."
"He should just say it was the truth and move on," Canseco said at a book signing in Ridgewood, N.J. for his newest book, "Vindicated."
Canseco questioned Rodriguez's recent responses by saying if he was ever wrongly accused, he'd immediately, and publicly, fight back.
"Really, you have to win this in the public's opinion, and how do you do that? Take a polygraph, pass it and get the results out," Canseco said.
I thought it would be interesting to make note of where we are with this story, on April 1st, to use as a point of comparison in the future. Will it go away? If not, will we be at this same point - where Canseco says "X" and Alex will not comment? And, for how long will it stay this way? Until the All-Star Game? The end of the season? 2009? I just have a feeling that, at some point, something more will come of this...and one of these two will be proven to be telling the truth. Either it will be a ex-girl friend that comes out of the woods, or, some former teammate that pops-up, or something else, that will be the source of something that will be the ammo that either Canseco or A-Rod needs to get this story to go one way and stay that way. It always seems to work out that way, no?
And, I have to wonder, if Alex is proven to be a PED-user, how Hank will feel about all that extra money he's going to pay A-Rod for reaching homerun marks - - if the public ends up feeling the same way about Alex reaching them as they did about Barry Bonds reaching them (after we found out he used PEDs).
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 07:33 AM | Comments (6)
April 01, 2008
"Mad Dog" Russo: Pedroia Takes Back-Seat To No A.L. 2B - Including Cano
Since some have brought this up in comments made here today, I thought that I would add my two cents. Yes, I heard Chris "Mad Dog" Russo on WFAN (660 AM Radio in NYC) today, between the hours of 5 pm and 6 pm (ET), go into his mini-rant on how Dustin Pedroia was a 'winner' and a 'gritty player' (etc.) and how Pedroia should not have to take "back-seat to any second baseman in the A.L." Russo went on to say that Pedroia was a clutch post-season performer, saved no-hitters, etc.
First of all, I think Russo was trying to push buttons with this comment. But, let us assume that he actually believes this to be true. Does he have a case?
Last season, as a 23-year old second baseman, in 581 Plate Appearances, Dustin Pedroia had 15 Runs Created Above Average as a batter. In 2006, as a 23-year old second baseman, in 508 Plate Appearances, Robinson Cano had 21 Runs Created Above Average as a batter. And, last season, Cano had 11 Runs Created Above Average in 669 Plate Appearances. So, on the whole, it appears that the two are close in age and somewhat close in terms of their relative offensive production. But, I'll get back to that in a moment.
What about defense? According to The Fielding Bible, Robinson Cano was +17 in the field last season for second baseman - which was third best in the league behind Aaron Hill and Mark Ellis. And, Pedroia? Well, all we know from what's publicly available (and free) is that Dustin Pedroia was less than +7 and greater than -10 in 2007. So, clearly, last season Robinson Cano was a better defender than Dustin Pedroia.
Getting back to hitting, check out the home and road splits for these two players.
In his career, at this moment, Dustin Pedroia's BA/OBA/SLG marks at Fenway Park are .334/.391/.482 - but, on the road they're just .265/.335/.365.
In his career, at this moment, Robinson Cano's BA/OBA/SLG marks at Yankee Stadium are .296/.329/.468 - and, they're .330/.361/.508 on the road.
This is interesting - as it shows that Pedroia can't reach base outside of Fenway Park and Cano has issues reaching base in Yankee Stadium...but, at least Cano drives the ball, no matter where he plays, whereas Pedroia has no pop outside of Fenway.
So, in the end, this (to me) suggests that Cano is a better defensive player than Pedroia. And, Cano's bat carries more sock than that of Pedroia. If that's not a back-seat position for Pedroia (compared to Cano), I don't know what is...right?
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 10:24 PM | Comments (8)
Freakonomics Q&A With Bill James
Bill James answers some Yankees related questions. Via Freakonomics:
Q: Based on your statistical analysis, how do you feel about the Yankees’ young prospects, namely Chamberlain, Kennedy, and Hughes, making a huge (positive) difference for the Yankee pitching staff?
A: The same as I feel about our young pitching prospects with the Red Sox, really — Buchholz and Lester and Masterson. When you’re depending on young pitching, you’re vulnerable. Some of these guys are going to be very good, but probably not all of them, and there are going to be bumps in the road that will rattle your teeth.
Q: Do you think we will ever see another 300-innings-pitched season from a starter? How could they do it in the past, but not now? Given a Phil Hughes-type pitcher, what is the best regiment he could be given now that could prepare him for 300 I.P. in the future?
A: There is absolutely no way you could train Phil Hughes to throw 300 innings in modern major league baseball. “Ever” is a long time, but I don’t see it. Many different changes in the game are working against that happening — for example, the length of the games, in minutes and hours, and the fact that there is more emphasis now on getting strikeouts.
Unexpected changes occur because the system breaks down at some point. But until it breaks, there are 30 different trends in motion which all have the effect of driving innings by top starting pitchers downward.
There are many, many, other questions that James addresses in this Q&A. It's worth checking out.
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 04:55 PM | Comments (3)
Can You See Me Now?
If you see someone up at the Stadium tomorrow, wearing a Yankees 100th Anniversary Cap and a Redesigned On-Field Premier Yankees Jacket, there's a good chance that it will be me.
Say hello if you're there and you think that you've spotted me.
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 12:57 PM | Comments (2)
Biff At Yankees Spring Training 2008
If you haven't seen it yet, go over to the Letterman site and check it out.
Just don't drink a soda while you're watching it. If you do, it will come out your nose.
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 12:42 PM | Comments (0)
Girardi Wants '08 Yanks To Remember '07 - Like the '98 Yanks Remembered '97
Via Jack Curry -
Even though the Yankees were supposed to play their first game Monday, Girardi explained that he gave his season-opening speech Saturday. He said he thought some players would be too busy on game day to absorb the message.
Before Girardi spoke to the team Saturday, he showed a seven-minute videotape. The tape opened with the last game the Yankees played, a 6-4 loss to the Cleveland Indians in the 2007 American League division series. The current Yankees watched Jorge Posada strike out for the final out and then watched the camera shift from one glum Yankee to the next.
Girardi wanted the players to remember how despondent they felt because he still recalled how depressed he was after the Yankees lost to the Indians in the 1997 playoffs. On the flight home from that series, Girardi opened his laptop, wrote about his feelings and used those memories to motivate himself in the off-season. He wanted these Yankees to do the same.
“We talked about where the club ended up last year and how empty that feeling is and doing whatever it takes to not let that happen again,” Girardi said.
When it comes to motivation, it always boils down to pleasure and pain: I will do this because it will give me pleasure. Or, I will do this because, if I don’t, it will bring me pain. (On the flipside, it’s: I’m not doing this because it brings me no pleasure. Or, I will not do this because, if I do it, it will bring me pain.)
I think Torre was playing the “do it” for “pleasure” card long enough. Clever move by Girardi to try the “do it” to avoid “pain” card now. I also (like Girardi) think that "pain" factor motivated the ’98 Yankees. Hopefully it will do the same for the 2008 Yankees.
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 11:49 AM | Comments (1)
March 31, 2008
That Crazy New Math
Bruce Bukiet, "NJIT's indefatigable math professor," is predicting that the Yankees will win 98 games this season. Then again, last season, he predicted that the Yanks would win 110 games.
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 11:05 PM | Comments (0)
Getting Jiggy With Cash
Via Ken Davidoff:
The conditions were brisk but beautiful, the 2008 Yankees took their first hacks at this cathedral in the Bronx and a relaxed-looking Brian Cashman held court in the home dugout. You can't see the new Yankee Stadium from the old Yankee Stadium, yet Cashman's mind-set - at reporters' prompting - veered in that direction.
"We're hoping to rock the house for one more season before it's done," a smiling Cashman said yesterday. "Or someone's going to rock my house."
[Tom Jones with some help from Art Of Noise] Think I'd better dance now... [/TJwshfAON] To that end...
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 10:48 PM | Comments (0)
Pinstriped MacArthur Parking Ticket
Like the members of the team, fans get pretty excited about Opening Day as well. Those on the team talk about getting "butterflies." I can understand that - as you do feel the excitement in your stomach on Opening Day, even as a fan. (At least, I do.)
The weather today was a true wet blanket on that, again, at least for me. It's like the relief pitcher who gets the call to warm up in the pen and then is told to sit down (rather than come into the game). The players have an expression for that. The first word is "dry" and the second word starts with an "H" and rhymes with "lump."
Once those butterflies are stirred, it's hard to recapture that feeling again. I'm going to be thrilled to watch Yankees baseball tomorrow - in a game where it counts - but, it's not going to be amped up to the level of a "true" Opening Day. It's just not the same.
Plus, with so many other teams having now already enjoyed their opener, it feels like the holiday has passed and the Yankees fans were left off the party list.
If you never understood what was meant by the phrase "Someone left the cake out in the rain," well, baby, this is it.
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 09:50 PM | Comments (0)
I Just Heard The Groans Of 57,545 People
Via the Yankees site:
The final Opening Day at Yankee Stadium will have to wait. Rain postponed Monday's game with Toronto, which will be played on Tuesday at 7:05 p.m. ET.
Betcha less than 40,000 return for the game tomorrow. That retractable dome would have come in handy today.
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 02:33 PM | Comments (4)
Today's Game
Is it just me, or, is this weather today a total bummer?
There's no way in the world, at this point, that the game will be called. So, get ready for a sloppy mess and the possibility a few rain delays too.
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 12:15 PM | Comments (1)
Yikes, I Never Thought Of It That Way
Via Ed Price -
The new stadium opens in a year. But the Yankees' new era begins today.
Owner George Steinbrenner has ceded control of the team to his two sons. Joe Girardi takes over as manager after Joe Torre guided the team to the playoffs 12 straight years. And there is a commitment to young players -- such as Phil Hughes, who was 9 years old the last time someone other than Torre managed a Yankees game.
Think about that for a minute. When Jim Leyritz hit that homer in the rain, Phil Hughes was almost 9 years and 4 months old.
Makes you wonder what 9-year olds out there now will be in the Yankees starting rotation in the year 2020?
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 11:20 AM | Comments (1)
Ehrke: Are Players Better After Joining Yanks?
Don Ehrke of Dugout Central looks at the question "Does putting on a Yankee uniform still make a man a better player?
Looking at "at every significant performer (minimum 200 at bats or 60 innings pitched) who joined the Yankees from another team between 1997 and 2007," Don concludes:
Overall, 45 significant players joined the New York Yankees between 1997 and 2007, and surprisingly, 25 didn’t play as well in the Bronx as they had with their previous team.
And, who was the G.M. of the Yankees during almost all of this time period?
The biggest problem found in the study was pitching. As Don wrote:
Twenty-four pitchers joined the Yankee staff from a different club and pitched 60 innings or more. Nine pitchers improved their ERA plus while 15 declined. Among pitchers who performed better in New York the average improvement in ERA plus was 24 points, while the average decrease among those who performed worse was 56 points (excluding Chris Hammond – an extreme statistical outlier).
And, that didn't include Kei Igawa. Ouch.
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 10:49 AM | Comments (2)
March 30, 2008
Mussina: Torre Would Close Barn Door After The Horses Got Out
Via The Globe and Mail -
"Joe [Girardi] does a little more talking to the players as the game goes along," Mussina said on Friday. "Joe [Torre] kind of sat back and let the guys make the mistakes and then gave the instructions. Joe [Girardi] may not let it go that far. He might make sure he reminds people of stuff before it ever happens.
"I know he's talked to me a lot more than Torre did," Mussina added. "It can be good or bad, you know? There are certain situations where you want to let the guy work out of it.
"But there's also time to remind guys what to do in different situations because this is a game of different situations, where you can experience something suddenly that you haven't experienced for two or three years."
...[Torre] kind of sat back and let the guys make the mistakes and then gave the instructions...
Just another feather in the cap of the theory that once Don Zimmer left New York any hope for Yankees in-game strategizing went with him.
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 10:08 PM | Comments (2)
Serby Q&A With Murcer
Steve Serby has a nice Q&A posted today with Bobby Murcer - some highlights:
Q: Being in the booth with Scooter (the late Phil Rizzuto)?
A: One of the greatest times in my whole life. I became the cannoli expert of the world for Oklahoma. We had more cannolis and salamis and cheeses. ... I never gained so much weight in my life. I learned a lot from Scooter. You had to be on your toes because he was liable to throw you a curveball or a spitter at any time.
Q: You were in the booth for the George Brett pine-tar game.
A: I've never seen such a crazed man in my life. It's a good thing somebody intercepted him. He was ready to choke somebody, wasn't he? Good thing he was in shape, otherwise he might have had a stroke! I was doing the color with Frank Messer. I actually got it right, what they were doing when they were measuring with the pine tar being too far up the label.
Q: You didn't appreciate Gaylord Perry's spitball, so you sent him a gallon of lard.
A: I think I got the clubhouse kid to get it. I just asked him to get me some pure, old grease.
You'll never find a nicer guy than Bobby Murcer.
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 09:59 AM | Comments (0)
Hawkins Is A Good Teammate
Via George King -
When the Yankees signed La Troy Hawkins as a free agent, they heard he was a wonderful presence in the clubhouse. Friday night he proved it.
Seeing that Scott Patterson was upset about being sent out, Hawkins headed for Patterson's locker. Hawkins knew Patterson was almost perfect in eight games (one hit, no runs in 71/3 innings) and figured he needed some encouragement.
"I told him to go to his room and have some drinks and charge it to my room, 901," Hawkins said.
Patterson didn't run up Hawkins' room service bill but appreciated the support.
"That was awesome, I probably needed that at that point," said Patterson, who will open the season at Scranton-Wilkes Barre.
Hawkins also gave Patterson advice he received from Kirby Puckett, Rick Aguilera and Kevin Tapani when he was with the Twins.
"I told him I have been there before and they know what you can do," Hawkins said. "He isn't that far away. They put him in every situation they could and he came out smelling like a rose. He got big-league hitters out. It was OK to be upset."
Love to see this stuff. Great move by La Troy.
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 09:41 AM | Comments (0)
Abraham Q&A With Cashman
In case you're one of the few to miss it, you should check out Peter Abraham's fan Q&A with Brian Cashman. I loved what Cash said about Brett Gardner.
For the record, I sent Pete a question as a suggestion. It was not used. Here's the question from me:
Brian, last season you elected to feature two question-marks in the starting rotation, Pavano and Igawa, and it backfired. Luckily, you were able to go out on the market to pick up Roger Clemens as a band-aid last year - albeit an expensive one. This season, you've elected to feature two question-marks in the rotation again, Hughes and Kennedy, along with a quasi-question mark in Mussina. If some of these question-marks in the rotation fail this season, what's your contingency plan for this year - without having a Clemens type out there to fall back on?
Shame, I really would have liked to have heard what Brian's plan was for this season on this matter.
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 09:25 AM | Comments (4)
March 29, 2008
And, That's A Wrap On Spring Training...
With their win tonight, the Yankees go 14-12-2 for the spring. Considering that, coming into tonight's contest, New York had lost 5 of their last 6 games, 14-12-2 is pretty good.
An interesting game by Phil Hughes tonight.
The great news: He threw 64% of his pitches for strikes, used only 3.45 pitches per batter, and retired 75% of the batters that he faced. Plus, his fastball was clocked at 94 to 95 MPH in the fifth inning. If he does all that every time out, he'll be a 20-game winner.
The only concerning news: 73% of Hughes' non-strikeout outs came on fly balls - on a night playing in a big ballpark with wind at 11 MPH coming in from center. Ideally, you want to see Phil keep the ball on the ground more. (Paul Hoover gave one shot off Hughes a pretty good ride in the fourth. Had that one been a little deeper, it changes the look to Phil's outing tonight.) But, at the end of the day, it all worked out for Hughes this evening in terms of the bottom line.
So, now, we wait until Monday afternoon...it's going to seem like forever.
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 10:38 PM | Comments (10)
Wild, Wild, East?
Ken Davidoff is predicting the Yankees to finish in third this season - behind Boston and Toronto.
Bob Nightengale and Mel Antonen of USA Today both also have the Yankees finishing in third this season - with the Blue Jays finishing in first followed by the Red Sox.
You don't see too many predicting the Yankees to finish in third place this season.
What do you think? What are the odds that the Yankees finish third in 2008?
Me? I suppose that it's possible. But, for me, it would mean that both Toronto and Boston have more than 92 wins this season. I think Boston should be right around 92 wins. But, Toronto? Well, I could see them winning about 87-88 games. So, with some luck, they could push that to close to 92 wins.
And, as crazy as this sounds, I saw a projection somewhere (I forget where) that had the Rays getting close to 90 wins this season. When you factor in that the Red Sox, Yanks, Jays and Rays all play each other 19 times this season, each, well, it could just be a Wild, Wild, East in the A.L. this season.
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 09:49 AM | Comments (5)
Thank You Colorado
Gerry Fraley looks at the chain of events that led General Joe to the Bronx:
After another consuming spring training day in the crucible that is managing the New York Yankees, Joe Girardi pondered a what-if question.
What if the Rockies had not selected Girardi in the 1992 expansion draft?
"Without Colorado," Girardi said, "I'm probably not sitting here."
Without Colorado's foresight, Girardi would have sunk deeper into the role of backup catcher with the Chicago Cubs.
Without Colorado's opportunity, Girardi would not have made himself into an attractive player during three seasons as the Rockies' starter.
Without Colorado's payroll squeeze, Girardi would not have been traded to the Yankees after the 1995 season.
The deal started a relationship that will enter a new chapter Monday, when Girardi is scheduled to make his regular-season debut as manager in the final Opening Day at Yankee Stadium.
For a moment, Girardi might flash back to the Rockies' first home opener, when a crowd of 80,227 at Mile High Stadium saw him catch Bryn Smith in an 11-4 win against Montreal.
"I've been fortunate everywhere I played," Girardi said. "But Colorado was a special experience."
"We knew there were so many positives that Joe could contribute to a first-year club," said Arizona vice president Bob Gebhard, who was the Rockies' first general manager. "He was not only a good defensive catcher. He was smart, a leader, a very respectable young man. He was the right type of guy for us."
At the same time, Girardi grew in stature. His ability to work with and protect a pitching staff, which the Cubs had discounted, caught everyone's attention.
"Joe was the leader," said Yankees bullpen coach Mike Harkey, a Girardi teammate with the Cubs (1990-92) and the Rockies (1994). "He was the most prepared guy I'd ever been around. It wasn't going to work with him. You learned."
The run ended after the 1995 season, when the Rockies sent Girardi to the Yankees for right-hander Mike DeJean and a minor league pitcher. The trade was surprising because Girardi had played such a vital internal role on a club that reached the playoffs as a wild card.
Girardi, who had a prominent role with the Major League Baseball Players Association, had a run-in with Rockies management during the 1994-95 strike regarding its efforts to use minor leaguers in spring training replacement games. Girardi does not believe his stance caused the trade.
"I believe things happen for a reason," Girardi said. "You're always sad when you leave a team, because you've developed relationships with the guys there. But it works out."
Gebhard said payroll concerns influenced the decision. The Rockies had re-signed shortstop Walt Weiss and were pursuing free-agent second baseman Craig Biggio. They could not afford to keep Girardi.
"I did not want to lose Joe, and Don did not want to lose Joe," Gebhard said. "He was vital to our success. But it was a dollars-and-cents decision."
A great story of one door closing and another one opening.
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 09:27 AM | Comments (0)
March 28, 2008
What's The Best Way To Peel Baseball?
Ken Rosenthal threw down an interesting glove in his column today predicting who will win it all in 2008. Here is what he said:
Bloggers, it's your lucky day.
Not that you ever need prompting to rip apart the latest ill-informed splattering from the mainstream media, but here's an invitation on a gold-engraved, all-but-autographed platter:
Embarrassing as it is to admit, my annual column predicting which team will win the World Series often defies sabermetric orthodoxy, not to mention conventional logic. Sort of like baseball itself.
Statistical analysis is an invaluable tool; that discussion is over. But we've gotten to the point where everyone from the casual fantasy player to the shrewdest GM wants to know the end of the story before Chapter One is written.
Mercifully, that's not how the game works.
Phil Allard, for one, is already on Rosenthal for this statement.
It's an interesting debate. When it comes to making declarations like these, do you go with your head or your heart? Or, do you combine the two and use the "Part Art, Part Science" approach?
I have to confess, for me, it's the combination thing. But, it's not a 50-50 deal. Actually, most times, I'll go with my feelings and then see if the numbers back it up.
Truly, there were many things that I intended on publishing here, at one time or another - but, once I looked at the numbers behind what I felt, and realized that I was wrong, I ditched them.
Sure, that makes it sound like I live and die by the stats. But, it's not true. I don't let the stats drive me towards my thoughts - I only use them to prove them out (after my gut gets me there).
Well, at least, that's most times. There are still some things out there where I cannot turn my back on what my sixth-sense tells me. So, I somewhat understand Rosenthal here in that, at times, you have to let the force be your guide...
Speaking of space, there's a line from the very first episode of Star Trek Deep Space Nine entitled "Emissary" where the character Benjamin Sisko uses the game of baseball to explain the concept of linear time and essentially how humans experience life:
"The rules aren't important. . . .what's important is - it's linear. Every time I throw this ball a hundred different things can happen in a game. . . . He might swing and miss, he might hit it. . . .The point is you never know. . . . You try to anticipate, set a strategy for all the possibilities as best you can. . . . but in the end it come down to throwing one pitch after another. . . . and seeing what happens. With each new consequence, the game begins to take shape. . . ."
It's that "you never know" thing that made me fall in love with baseball. And, since "you never know," why not follow your gut once in a while instead of letting the math dictate your moves?
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 06:24 PM | Comments (2)
THT: Five Questions: New York Yankees
Click here to check out SG's Five Questions: New York Yankees feature at The Hardball Times. It's extremely well done and recommended reading. Here's his summary:
The Yankees project to have the top offense in baseball again in 2008, even with the expected declines by Rodriguez and Posada. I've got them projected to score around 930 runs this season.
Their defense won't be particularly great with Jeter and Giambi out there, but Damon replacing Matsui should help a bit. I figure them to be about 15 runs below average defensively in total.
On the pitching side, Pettitte and Wang should be good for 400 innings of 4.00-4.25 ERA, so the Yankees will sink or swim on the backs of their young pitching. If they get an overall average performance out of them and an average performance out of the bullpen, they are probably a 95-win team. If they get a 5.00 ERA out of the non-Wang/Pettitte part of the pitching staff, they would be closer to an 88-win team.
This all makes sense, if you ask me.
Posted by WW Staff at 12:22 PM | Comments (5)
Steinbrothers: Yanks Not For Sale
Via Mark Feinsand:
Despite rumors to the contrary, Hal Steinbrenner reiterated his stance that he and his brother, Hank, won't be looking to sell the Yankees any time soon.
"That's the plan," Hal Steinbrenner said. "There are no plans to sell, though I know there's been speculation. This has been in our family a long time - longer than we've been in Tampa, even. That's not going to change."
This reminds me of a scene from "Heaven Can Wait" -
Former owner: He got my team. The son of a bitch got my team.
Advisor to former owner: What kind of pressure did he use, Milt?
Former owner: All I asked was sixty-seven million, and he said "O.K."
Advisor to former owner: Ruthless bastard.
Let's hope someone like Donald Trump doesn't make the Steinbrothers an offer that they can't refuse.
Posted by WW Staff at 10:18 AM | Comments (5)
March 27, 2008
2008 Yankees Win Total Prediction
Always best to make a prediction before the season starts, right? O.K., here goes...
I've looked at many of the various "scientific" projection models performed to date for this season. And, I've done some 'back of the envelope' calculations on my own. Between what I've seen and how I feel...
[insert drum roll]
I'm predicting that the Yankees will win 92 games this season.
Of course, they could win a few more than that - if some things break their way. But, even if things are just close to "normal" for them, in terms of reasonable expectations, they should win at least 92 games (in 2008).
Now, I expect 37% of those wins to be credited to the pitching records of Andy Pettitte and Worm Killer Wang. So, if something should happen to one or both of them, well, then all bets are off.
If one of the two goes down for half the season, then the Yankees only win about 87 games this season. (If they both miss about 7 starts each, then the team probably wins about 87 games this season too.)
If one of the two goes down for most of the season, then the Yankees only win about 83 to 85 games this season. (And, if they both miss half of the season, then the team wins about 83 to 85 games too.)
If both Pettitte and Wang miss most of the season, then it gets real ugly in Yankeeland. In that case, I could see the team struggling to finish at .500 in 2008.
But, for now, I'm assuming that Pettitte and Wang can make 60 starts combined and the Yankees (as a team) will win around 92 games this season.
Will 92 wins be enough to get into the post-season? Man, that's a close call. There are probably a half-dozen teams in the A.L. this season capable of winning 90 games (including New York). And, 92 is so close to 90...
I feel pretty comfortable predicting the Yankees to win 92 games in 2008. But, I don't feel comfortable at all predicting them to reach the post-season this year - because 92 wins just may not be enough.
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 10:01 PM | Comments (6)
YankeeZzzzzzzzz Baseball?
The Yankees had 5 hits in their exhibition game today. And, yesterday, they only had 4 hits in their game. Both contests were losses.
In fact, the Yankees have now lost 4 of their last 5 spring training games.
Whatever happened to turning up the intensity a notch during the last week of spring training?
Posted by WW Staff at 04:02 PM | Comments (0)
BA's Callis: Yanks Funding Other Team's Farms
Baseball America Executive Editor Jim Callis just made Hank Stein's day.
Via Forbes.com:
While seven-figure bonuses have become the norm for top baseball picks, the league has actually done a pretty good job of taming the inflation that was so rampant in the 1990s, according to Baseball America Executive Editor Jim Callis.
During that decade, bonuses increased by double-digit percentages in every year but one, including three jumps of 40% or more.
The catalyst was infamous Yankee prospect Brien Taylor, who shattered the bonus record after he signed for $1.55 million as the top pick out of high school in 1991. Taylor eventually flopped, never making it to Yankee Stadium. By the end of the decade, owners had figured out a way to curtail the upward spiral of signing bonuses.
In 2000, the commissioner's office recommended a slotting system for the owners to follow, which set limits on the bonus of a top-five pick. While you'd think the players union would be up in arms about such price fixing, it isn't.
Why?
An agent who thinks a certain player can get more than a slotted amount for a high draft pick simply makes it known his client won't sign with a team poised to take him in the top five. The result: The player slips down to a large-market team that's willing to meet his demands.
"It plays right into the hand[s] of the big market teams," Callis says, adding that's how the Yankees were able to draft top pitching prospects Joba Chamberlain and Ian Kennedy.
So maybe it's no surprise that many of the top picks fizzle; they're chosen as much for economics as they are for ability.
Not that small-market teams mind such an arrangement--not when it comes complete with a generous revenue-sharing arrangement. With the draft costing the league's 30 teams some $150 million annually, the likes of Pittsburgh and Milwaukee are happy to make the trade-off.
"Most teams don't have a problem with the Yankees and Red Sox going over the slots," Callis says. "Those two teams effectively pay for their draft."
Posted by WW Staff at 01:05 PM | Comments (0)
TSN's Pinto: Rays Pitching Better Than Yanks Staff
The Sporting News' David Pinto just did not make Hank Stein's day.
Via TSN:
With the American League East pitching rotations coming into focus, the division looks to produce four competitive starting staffs. The Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays have a mix of outstanding veterans and talented young pitchers.
Which starting rotation is best? The projections might be surprising.
The wide range of possibilities for each team shows the difficulty in choosing the best rotation. Most teams will experience a mix of good and bad performances and probably end up near their mid point.
Tampa Bay, however, stands a good chance of becoming the class of the AL East. The Rays show strength in eqERA and innings pitched at every level. With only three-tenths of a run separating the top from the bottom, these four teams should produce great pitching matchups as they face each other 108 times during the 2008 season.
Posted by WW Staff at 12:58 PM | Comments (3)
SNY's Boorstein: Picking A 'Pen
Tom Boorstein of SNY.tv takes a look at the Yankees bullpen and thinks there are people there who can contribute this season. Let's hope he's right.
Posted by WW Staff at 12:28 PM | Comments (0)
It's A MAD World For Some Yankees Alumni
Thanks to Austin Trunick of Warner Brothers Entertainment Group for sharing a preview of the cover for MAD Magazine #489 (which goes on sale next month).
Click on the thumbnail below to enlarge the image:
Back in the early 1970's, I used to read MAD Magazine all the time. (That probably explains a lot.) Seeing this funny cover brought back a lot of cool memories. Thanks Austin.
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 12:14 PM | Comments (1)
Igawa Can Pitch His Way On To Team Today
Via Mark Feinsand -
Kei Igawa will start Thursday against the Pirates, making his final pitch for the long-relief spot in the bullpen. Although Jeff Karstens and Darrell Rasner were considered the two top candidates, Igawa has moved into the race, with one Yankees official saying he would be considered the front-runner with a strong effort today.
Is someone in the Yankees front office reading WasWatching.com?
Posted by WW Staff at 09:16 AM | Comments (1)
March 26, 2008
Verducci: Restocking A Rivalry
Tom Verducci has an excellent feature up today at SI.com on how the Yankees and Red Sox have been using the draft lately to their benefit. Click here to read it. Some highlights:
The Yankees' future, meanwhile, looked even more dire in 2005. After New York blew a three-games-to-none lead to Boston in the 2004 ALCS, G.M. Brian Cashman tried to fortify his pitching by acquiring Randy Johnson, Carl Pavano and Jaret Wright. None would be as good as advertised. "We had a chance to really go into an abyss," Cashman said earlier this year.
Cashman, who often clashed with owner George Steinbrenner's Tampa-based brain trust, persuaded the Boss to give him more control of baseball operations, a change he would get in writing in his new contract after the season. He promoted prospects Chien-Ming Wang and Robinson Cano to the majors in May and gave responsibility for the draft to scouting director Damon Oppenheimer.
"[Cashman] knew my passion was on the amateur side," Oppenheimer says. "He gave us a little more specific thinking on the draft, and we started looking for high-impact talent, premier players at premier positions."
Since 2005 the Yankees and the Red Sox have continued to sink more money into scouting and the draft. Says one rival AL G.M., "They've become what the U.S. and Russia were during the cold war: There is them, and there's everybody else. My goodness, the Yankees took a guy in the first round [Andrew Brackman in 2007] who needed Tommy John surgery, and they gave him a four-year major league contract. Nobody else can do that."
In terms of the Yankees - and Cashman giving Oppenheimer "more specific thinking on the draft" - well, better late than never, right?
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 12:22 PM | Comments (8)
Jeter Family Down With OCP
...as in Omni Consumer Products. (See the "RoboCop" mention below.) And, yeah, this WePlay.com thing could be a cash cow for Derek too. Should we start calling him "Captain Digital" instead of "Captain Clutch"?
Via the Herald Tribune:
Late last year, Pamela Firestone, the mother of Tony Parker, the San Antonio Spurs point guard, went rooting through her home in Paris and dug up a VHS tape of a 9-year-old Tony on a Parisian basketball court with his two brothers.
“O.K., let’s start,” the future N.B.A. star says in French. “It’s going to be the Chicago Bulls versus the San Antonio Spurs.”
In most families such artifacts are merely heirlooms, their value measured in memories. For the Hollywood talent agency Creative Artists Agency and the hedge fund Pequot Capital, these are assets to be exploited.
Photos and videos showing blue-chip athletes like Mr. Parker, LeBron James, Derek Jeter and Peyton Manning will be part of a new venture that C.A.A. and Pequot along with the Internet arm of Major League Baseball are expected to announce today.
The venture, WePlay.com, a social networking site for youth sports — something like Facebook for young athletes — is expected to start in mid-April. The site caters to youth athletes, parents and coaches — a vast audience. About 52 million children a year participate in organized sports leagues, according to the National Council of Youth Sports.
Young athletes will be able to set up a profile, post pictures, communicate with friends and share videos of games. Parents will be able to get practice schedules, coordinate car pools and find out which equipment to purchase. Coaches will be able to communicate with their players and parents, as well as learn about strategy and other skills.
Other athletes involved in WePlay.com have been looking for their own relics of early stardom. In a spare bedroom at her home in New Orleans, Olivia Manning collected relics from her son Peyton’s days as a child quarterback to be copied and digitized by an employee from Major League Baseball Advanced Media.
Mr. James’s mother rustled up old photos and videos of her son from a storage area in her garage. And in New Jersey, Mr. Jeter’s mother found a video of her son playing Little League — a treasure whose value was diminished 10 minutes into the film because someone in the Jeter family taped over it with the movie “RoboCop.”
So for players like Mr. Jeter, who will make about $20 million this year playing shortstop for the Yankees, being a hired promotional gun is not enough. Mr. Jeter, who in addition to receiving equity in WePlay in exchange for his involvement also invested some of his own money (he will not say how much), began filming clips for the site in mid-December. Having equity, Mr. Jeter said in a telephone interview, is “very important, because you can really feel good about something if you help build it.”
The focus of the business also fits with Mr. Jeter’s own philanthropy. “What it boils down to is, it’s a really outstanding idea,” he said. “I have my own foundation, and we are trying to get kids to be active and play sports. Kids today spend too much time playing video games, and there’s a huge obesity problem in this country.”
Posted by WW Staff at 10:06 AM | Comments (1)
March 25, 2008
Allard: Who Is Joe Girardi’s “Man” At 3rd?
Phil Allard takes an interesting look at the Yankees third base coach this season, Bobby Meacham, with some fun memories mixed in. Click here to read it.
My funny (?) story on Meacham: I saw an interview with Bobby's wife on TV once, around 1990ish. Meacham was with the Royals' Triple-A team trying to get back to the bigs, if I remember right. I think the interview with her was to get the wife's take on life in the bushes. Anyway, in the interview, she offered this gem: "Before I met Bobby, I dated Mark Langston. I guess I married the wrong ball player?"
Ouch.
And, Mrs. Meacham has a tie to Joe Girardi too. Back in 1997, she wrote a feature on Joe coming to New York for a site called TheGoal.com - which is connected to TheGoal.org. If you follow this link, you'll find stories about many Yankees on TheGoal.com.
Posted by Steve Lombardi at 04:56 PM | Comments (1)
A-Rod On Canseco Book News: "No Comment"
Via Ken Davidoff and Kat O'Brien -
When first told Tuesday morning that Canseco had leveled accusations against him, Rodriguez asked what more Canseco had said than in previous accusations. Told that Canseco had written about introducing him to a known supplier of steroids, Rodriguez said, "I really have absolutely no reaction."
Lavin, who posted his findings on his blog, joelavin.com, also reported