New York Yankees

The MLB trade deadline came and went without the biggest name on the market being moved. Often times Mid-July festers numerous rumors within the Majors. The largest topic of discussion this year was Toronto ace Roy Halladay. Other notable players moved (most of them left Cleveland), but Halladay stayed.

Continue reading "Championship: Make It Happen"

I got into a discussion with Sean yesterday about the post I made a couple of weeks ago concerning when a runner has officially taken possession of a base.  We consulted the rule book (online at baseball-almanac.com, a great site) and found no specific details about the situation.  (Though, admittedly, I did not carefully pore over every bit of it research-style, since we were simply having an entertaining discussion.)  While shifting through various alternative scenarios to try to tease out the answer, this fun one came up:

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With World Baseball Classic ads starting to be run of ESPN, talk about starts to fire up. You’ll start hear U-S-A, olé olé olé, my country his better than your country, but seeing as how I was born and raise in the good old US of A, that’s is the team that I will be talking about. The 2006 World Baseball Classic team looked like it could prove that baseball was America's past time. You had the king of Swing in Ken Griffey Jr., two captain of their respected team in Derek Jeter and Jason Vartex. You have a batting title winner in Derek Lee, and a soon to be Homerun king in Alex Rodriguez. You had a loaded pitching rotation with Rodger Clemens, Dontrelle Wills and Jake Peavy and a dominating closer in Brad Lidge. USA was going in with a “this is going to be so easy” kind of mentality. But that wasn’t the case. Team Mexico and Team Canada proved that they could play with the big boys, and the USA struggled against Pacific Ocean rivals Team Japan and Team South Korea. But this year is different in different ways. Team USA will bring in a Mark Johnson, who helped lead the USA Olympic baseball team to a Bronze metal. But that’s not going to be the only difference. The king of swing Kin Griffey Jr., who lead the team in batting average and tied for first in homerun, won’t be playing of team USA, as well as the man he tied for Homeruns Derek Lee said that he won’t be playing either sighting that Red Sox’s Kevin Youkilis would be getting most of the action at first. A-Rod, coming o ff steroid problems, as said that he won’t be playing for the USA, but he will play for the Dominican Republic (maybe he’ll get more steroids, ha). Derek Jeter has said the he’s game for the classic and is the captain of team USA. Veritex, who played but did suffer and injury, won’t be playing after struggling to land a job back with the Red Sox’s. Rodger Clemens has retired and face a crap load of legal stuff, so don’t look for him to pull a Brett Favre, and the WBC was the down fall of the D-Train, who after being traded to the Tigers was given a hug contract and then sent to Single-A ball. The 2009 team will have a veteran pitching staff with such aces as Padres Jake Peavy, Astros Roy Oswalt and the Orioles young ace Jeremy Guthrie, as well as Cubs control pitcher Ted Lilly. Added to the Bullpen are lefties John Grabow (Pirates), J.P. Howell (Rays), and Matt Thornton (White Sox) as well as the guys that set the big men up; LaTroy Hawkins (Astros), Scot Shields (Angels), and Brad Ziegler (Athletics). And there is a frenzy of different player that could take the closers role left by the withdraw of Twins pitcher Joe Nathan, Blue Jays B.J. Ryan, and Angels new comer Brian Fuentes, but there are still several pitchers that could get the nod when it comes time. Heath Bell, Matt Lindstrom, and Jonathan Broxton could get start on closing games early as both are being handed the closing job because of the departure of the past closers, Bell for Trevor Hoffman, Lindstrom for Greggs, and Broxton for Takashi Saito. Joel Hanrahan for the Nationals did well the few times that he was called on, but I don’t see him as the guy manager Davey Johnson will turn to. And that leave only the big apple’s J.J. Putz, who before being traded to the Mets was a dominant closer for the Seattle Mariners, and is the person I see getting the nod for the ninth inning. Catching will be an area to watch during this World Baseball Classic because manager Mark Johnson is only bring two young catchers with him, Brain McCann and Chris Iannetta, compared to the team before that brought three. While Brain McCann has been in the league for several years he is mostly know for his bat than his game calling and Chris just finished his first full season duty as a catcher. While both of these catchers are young they aren’t fast and they are inexperienced when it comes to game calling. The Infield has been re-vamped from the 2006 team, which really didn’t have much speed but they hit for a high average. This year there are players with crazy speed, such as Jimmy Rollens, who stole 47 bases for the world champs (Phillies), and AL MVP Dustian Pedroia, who swiped twenty bases (Red Sox’s). But those aren’t the only players that will run, there isn’t a player that is on the infield roster that doesn’t have a stolen base, and we all know that Derek Jeter (Yankees), and David Wright (Mets) can run, but not as fast as Rollins and Perdoia. The corners will be guarded well with David Wright, a two time gold glove, Kevin Youkilis winner of the gold glove in 2007, and finally Chipper Jones, who hasn’t earned a Gold Glove yet, but has never had a fielding percentage below .950 since 2002. If someone were to go down Indians Mark DerRosa has experience at every position on the field (ok, well not pitcher and catcher but I’m sure if they asked he would do it) and can serve as a solid back-up. The Outfielder has changed from what it was in 2006. The 06 team had good players but they never really came out and showed who they were. The team had some speed with Randy Winn and Vernon Wells and there was defense but that in Wells, who’s a three time Gold Glove winner and Francoeur who the pervious season season lead the league in outfield assists. Other than Griffey the outfield really struggled with its hitting. This year you won’t have Vernon Wells returning to hold down the fort but you will have the Tigers’ power hitting, fast running centerfielder in Curtis Granderson, the Brewers young kid Ryan Braun, who didn’t commit a single error in the outfield last year, the Nationals new power house Adam Dunn, as well as the Phillies hard noised flying Hawaiian Shane Victorino . With everything being added up the road to reclaiming baseball as America’s past time won’t be as easy as pie. Team USA has first to go though team Canada, Team Italy, and Team Venezuela, all have several players with major league talent. Team Canada gave team USA fits which lead to the early exit. Team Venezuela won’t be any easier seeing as how they too have many good major leaguers on their roster. Team Italy, while wanting to prove that they have talent, I don’t see them being a hug threat to team USA. Overall, team USA wants to show that they can win, and I will predict an advance to the second round where they will take on the Dominican Republic or Puerto Rico. There who know what will happen. It will be a though road from them, but in the end it will depend on how well team USA’s pitching will do against power house countries.

Continue reading "2009 Team USA World Baseball Classic"

Alex Rodriguez could have taken the approach of baseball legends Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Mark McGwire, but he didn't. He took an approach similar to less notable star Jason Giambi. A-Rod honed up to the report and took the blame that he deserved. He did not claim to not know what it was, he did not play the victim. He took the high road and took responsibility for his actions.

Continue reading "Alex Rodriguez admits it: Does this ..."

With the MLB playoffs set to begin, there is a subtle difference in the air compared to start of any other postseason. In the NHL, fans can potentially look forward to a great Canadians/Bruins series that is not only exciting, but has a historical kick to it. Likewise basketball fans always have the chance to see if the Suns can finally get past the Spurs and football fans love seeing the rivalry of the Eagles Vs the City of Philadelphia when the Eagles so much as get tackled for a loss.

Continue reading "The Ups and Downs of the MLB Playoffs"

Entrance into the Hall of Fame is the highest individual honour that baseball has to offer. Getting into Cooperstown means that without a doubt you are one of the greatest players of your generation and have earned the right for children to stare at your plaque as parents tell tall-tales of your abilities for years to come.

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Dear God I love the Blue Jays. After all, what’s not to love? Sure, they may blow crucial games in crucial series, 90% of the time they can’t get a hit in extra innings to save their lives, they don’t steal bases and have never been able to beat the Rays (Devil or not), but after that, what else? Oh yeah, they can never seem to beat rookie pitchers, take advantage of bases loaded situations and every pitcher not named Halladay seems to start every at-bat with a ball. But still, every day I try to catch the opening pitch and every night check the standings… What’s wrong with me?

Continue reading "Why I watch the Jays"

To compete, a baseball team needs pitching and defense. An old adage maybe, but it exists for a reason. A team that continuously gives up runs ends up yanking their starters early in games and taxes their bullpen, lessening their effectiveness over time and thereby compounding the problem over the season. Ironically, trying to keep games close hurts the team in the long run. But with one of the best fielding percentages and team ERA’s in the league, the Toronto Blue Jays are competing.

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’s the top of the ninth inning and the Toronto Blue Jays are holding a slim 2-1 lead over the New York Yankees. Up to bat is Derek Jeter with Bobby Abreu and Alex Rodriguez on deck. Cito Gaston, in order to shut the door on the game and the series gets on the phone and brings in the big gun, Pedro Luis Lazo, winner of two Olympic Gold medals with Cuba and current closer of the Blue Jays. And even if he gives up a run its okay, because leading off the bottom of the ninth for the Jays is Alexei Bell, who hit 30 HR with 100 RBI with Santiago del Cuba last year.

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Two bits of news from former Seattle players, one surprising, but the other one, not so much.

Easy one first: the Yankees designated Richie Sexson for assignment yesterday, in a roster shakeup that included demoting starting center fielder Melky Cabrera. Sexson had hit .250 in 28 at-bats, with a grand slam and six RBis. Ever the all-or-nothing guy, Sexson had one or two big hits, and a whole lot of hits and weak groundouts. Yankees GM Brian Cashman was gracious about Sexson, saying he was an everyday player, not a bunch guy, and that was the problem.

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The Mariners announced today that Jarrod Washburn has cleared waivers, meaning he can now be freely traded to whatever team wants to take on his massive salary. There's no real surprise here, as it's doubtful any other team would want to take on his bloated $9.85M salary. So the failure of Seattle to deal him before the deadline isn't so awful, except that his value seemed to have peaked at that point for a couple of reasons: (1) he'd pitched really well to that point (4 ER in 19.2 IP in the three starts before the deadline, (2) his value diminishes with each day that passes, since that means less time he can spend with a contending team (e.g., the Yanks) starved for starters, which leads to (3) the team in question being more likely to go in another direction.

Continue reading "Washburn is ready to move"

In what is largely perceived as his final start in a Mariners' uniform, Jarrod Washburn threw his longest and best start of the year, logging 8 innings of one-run ball, giving up just four hits and walking two against two strikeouts. His only blemish was a solo homer to John McDonald, the Toronto shortstop's first of the year.

Continue reading "Washburn's Farewell"

As the July 31 deadline approaches, one of the most likely trade candidates mentioned in Seattle-New York trade rumors has been Jarrod Washburn. The Ms would love to shed his massively overpaid salary, while the Yanks need a starter who can eat innings, even if he does it in mediocre, Jarrod-esque fashion. That Wishy-Washburn has been good of late (since a May 21 2IP, 9ER meltdown, he's only given up more than 2 ER in two of his ten starts) makes him seem all the more attractive to the pinstripes.

Continue reading "Washburn to the Yanks?"

Offensively and defensively, the Yankees have been missing the services of Hideki Matsui since June 27, and Jorge Posada on and off for even longer. Matsui is an integral RBI guy to give ARod and Giambi protection in the five or six hole, and is needed more than ever in left with Johnny Damon's shoulder issues. Posada can hit pretty well, but can't throw, so even when he was in the game, other teams ran rampant--Jose Molina and Chad Moeller are decent defensive replacements, but can't match Jorge's bat.

Continue reading "Two Yankees, Toughing it Out"

As I expected, Richie Sexson was signed by the one team in major league baseball who signs every single castoff, just in case he might turn it around in pinstripes: the Yankees. The temptation of that short porch in Yankee Stadium right field, combined with Sexson’s power potential, was too tempting to the team that claimed Jose Canseco off waivers in 2000, just to be sure he didn’t go to a division rival.

Continue reading "Sexson a Yankee; LaHair a Mariner"

One of the All-Star Break traditions: Reassessing our predictions from the first half of the season. Some of mine have changed, some have stayed the same—and some were just damn wrong. Living in the West, I will take the contrarian position and roll from west to east in my choices.

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After yesterday’s game, the Yankees held a closed-door meeting among coaches and players—reportedly, manager Joe Girardi spoke, followed by Johnny Damon and captain Derek Jeter. In a postgame news conference, Girardi repeatedly (and sometimes heatedly) refused to reveal what was said in the meeting, although the gist of the discussion was obvious: the can’t-lose Yankees have been losing.

Continue reading "More Bad Yankee Luck"

The Yankees and Red Sox are rivals in many ways—traditional and league rivals for years, they now regularly battle for free agents, as they might do with Indians trade bait C.C. Sabathia. And now both teams have some pretty crazy pitchers in their minor league systems, both of whom have a good shot at making the bigs in the next few years.

Continue reading "Two Kooky Pitchers"

The dominoes continue to fall in Seattle, as John McLaren was handed his walking papers yesterday, three days after GM Bavasi tried on his own pink slip. In some ways, this was handled better than the Mets’ embarrassing and insulting firing of Willie Randolph. At least McLaren wasn’t dangled for weeks before a midnight assassination, and there were suitably kind words for McLaren upon his dismissal, with new GM Lee Pelekoudas obviously distressed about having to fire his longtime friend and colleague.

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As I remarked in my blog when he was released, Sidney Ponson has brought his teams little but grief to go with his occasionally adequate pitching. When the Rangers released him, I’d hoped that would be the last of Sir Sidney.

Continue reading "Sidney "Poison" Ponson"

OK, that title was irresistible, but in fact I'm going to say that Chien-Ming Wang's foot injury should force the Yanks hand in a trade, especially when combined with other injuries this season. Funny how little things can combine to lead to something even larger, accumulating momentum gradually until it becomes irresistible, as it has with the murmurs about a trade for C.C. Sabathia, which is really more the point of this blog.

Continue reading "Off On the Wang Foot"

When a guy gets named "Moose," you generally figure it's because he's a knucklehead or looks like he should be one. Bill Skowron had the lumpy face of a prizefighter, but he was generally known as a gentle giant with a smooth, opposite-field stroke. His nickname came from his Polish grandfather, who thought his haircut at one point reminded him of dictator Benito Mussolini. But Skowron wasn't any sort of dictator, just a good guy who could drive ball into the gaps.

Continue reading "Around The Horn With The '61 Yankees: 1B"

The Yankees have had many World Series champs, and many more All-Star players and all-time lineups. The 1927 Yankees pretty much set the bar for everyone else to follow, but there were some other memorable ones, too. The '36 Yanks, the first year of Joltin' Joe, and the last great one from Lou Gehrig, along with typically solid contributions by Bill Dickey, Tony Lazzeri and the usual cast of star Yankees.

Continue reading "The Unsung Heroes of the 1961 Yankees"

I've been a Yankees fan since the early nineties, pre-Showalter, pre-Torre, pre-post-seventies-World-Series-victories days, and it seems to me they're as vulnerable as they've ever been. I like Girardi, I like the New Steinbrenner regime that doesn't look to scour out every single prospect for the possibility of Winning Right Now--but I think they are (dare I say?) approaching those dreaded Rebuilding Years.

Continue reading "Rebuilding the Yankees--A Good Thing?"

Mussina is on the hill today for the Yanks and, while I admire him and think he's a very good pitcher and a modest, intelligent, generally good fellow, I wonder about his Hall of Fame credentials. Dave Niehaus, the mellow-toned broadcaster, has repeatedly called him a shoo-in or a lock for the Hall during the game today, and it's made me wonder. To me, a player in the HOF represents someone who was genuinely and consistently feared (on the field, not off) during his career, the kind of pitcher that batters hated to face (and vice versa). And not for one year, but for several; you can be Sandy Koufax and be unhittable for four or five seasons (and merely outstanding for a handful more) or Nolan Ryan and be unhittable for twenty years.

Continue reading "Mike Mussina for the HOF?"

In the days following the excavation of the "cursed" Ortiz jersey from the fresh concrete at "Yankee Stadium--The Sequel" we've seen Jorge Posada go on the DL for the first time in his long career, and ARod join him for the first time since donning pinstripes.

Continue reading "Yankee Injuries = Ortiz Curse?"

Two weeks into the 2008 season and the Boston Red Sox must be pleased with how the season has gone thus far. Granted they are only two games over .500 at 8 and 6 and have split their last 10 games, but things could be much, much worse. When the Yankees went to Japan to open the season, they proceeded to go 11-19 in the first month of the season before finally snapping out of it and going on to win the division. Boston is only half a game out of first place in the tightly packed American League East which is currently lead by the surprising Baltimore Orioles who do not figure to hang around much longer.

Continue reading "Red Sox Should Feel Good About The Season So Far"

te-type the Boston views him as, they will be sorry they didn’t do more to acquire Santana.

New York Yankees

Will the Yankees be able to find enough quality innings from their pitchers?

Continue reading "MLB 2008 Season Preview: American Leauge East"

The New York Yankees try to carry themselves with the belief that they are the classiest team in baseball. Earlier this week manager Joe Girardi took a stance that was not supported by many others in baseball when he harshly criticized a home plate collision in a game earlier this week, calling it dirty and something that you don’t do in Spring Training. If a young player trying to get noticed by his manager his coming into home and the plate is completely blocked, he has every right to barrel over the catcher. If Girardi doesn’t want such a thing to happen, he should tell his catcher not to block the plate in Spring Training. Nonetheless, I can understand Yankees pitcher Heath Phillips throwing at Evan Longoria in retaliation the next time the two teams met, that at least sends a statement to your teammates that you’ve got their backs. However, when Shelley Duncan slid into second base with his spikes high, that is just plain dirty and something that is unacceptable at anytime in the season. The home plate collision was a young kid trying to make a play, done with no malicious intent. Sliding into a base with your spikes in the air can only be seen as trying to injure another player.

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I am thoroughly looking forward to the Hank Steinbrenner Era. It seems he is hell-bent on replacing his father as the most obnoxious loudmouth, know-nothing owner in baseball. After watching the display he put on this winter in the Johan Santana Sweepstakes and his recent comments about the existence of Red Sox Nation, I don’t believe there is a bigger blowhard in sports today. All we need is for him to revive the Billy Martin routine with Joe Girardi, a possibility that may not be that farfetched as it appears Girardi not necessarily that easy to get along with. Little Stein seems to be unpredictable and impatient and not only expects the team to win now, but to do so in spectacular fashion. Earlier this year, Hank implied that general manager Brian Cashman would be on the hot seat if the plan to hold on to their young pitching instead of going all in for Santana didn’t pan out. If Steinbrenner allows his arrogance and impetuousness to take over the organization, I envision a return of the Yankees to the "glory" years of the 1980's when George was the show.

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For the past decade the order of finish in the American League East has practically been predetermined from day one. The Red Sox and Yankees would battle for first place, Toronto Blue Jays would finish in the middle of the pack, the Orioles would be afterthoughts and the only question with Tampa Bay was whether they would lose more than 100 games or not. This seasons looks like it could be entirely different and the division is experiencing more depth than it has since the mid 1990's when Boston, New York and Baltimore were all contenders.

Continue reading "American League East is a Beast of a Division"