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PR-Rod

Posted by Chris H. at 9:55 pm No Responses »
Feb 132009

From the AP (via Yahoo!):

Saying he had a responsibility to give back, Alex Rodriguez briefly addressed the drug scandal that has enveloped his life for the last week Friday night when Miami formally renamed its baseball field in his honor.

With his name affixed to the scoreboard in left field, Rodriguez—who was greeted by a 45-second standing ovation—spoke in public for the first time since acknowledging he took banned substances as a member of the Texas Rangers from 2001-2003.

“I have been so fortunate to have received so much from a game I love so much,” Rodriguez said. “That doesn’t mean I haven’t made mistakes, and unless you’ve been in a cave under the ocean this last week, you know that I’ve made some. What it does mean is that I understand only in America can you dream big, work hard, and be rewarded beyond your wildest dreams.”

Ha! When all else fails — praise America.

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Who is the Long Man?

Posted by Tom Gaffney at 3:45 pm 6 Responses »
Feb 132009

One of the most overlooked aspects to any team, right along with the utility man, is the long reliever spot. It tends to be a spot that turns over a few times every year, rather than being a guy that is a steady rock of the team. When the Yankees ruled the world, however, they had an extremely valuable long man by the name of Ramiro Mendoza, who got the Yankees out of countless jams in big spots, particularly against the Red Sox in the playoffs.

Mendoza was the type of pitcher who could be equally successful in long spot duty as in setting up Mariano, Nelson, or Stanton (of course that may have contributed to him blowing out his arm). With a guy like Joba in the rotation this year, however, and all the problems getting innings from their starters last year, Joe may want to keep a steady long guy rather than having a short guy who can sometimes go long in an emergency.

The Candidates:

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Agreeing With Curt Schilling

Posted by Moshe Mandel at 3:44 pm No Responses »
Feb 132009

This is an issue that I have been harping upon for a while, and now I find out that Curt Schilling agrees with me. I feel a bit nauseous:

During the 2001 season, in the clubhouse, Pedro [Gomez] and I got into a shouting match about players and steroids. In the middle of the discussion he uttered this statement:

“I personally know of at least three, and more likely four guys on this team that are using steroids.”

Whoa… What?

I asked him how the hell he could “know” that. He said he knew, “people” had told him. I asked him what “people.” He said, “People.” I pushed and asked, “Players?” He said, “Let’s just leave it at people.”

I often times thought of sharing this story with someone from the media just to call Pedro out and see if he denied ever saying what he said to me. In the end it wasn’t worth the time or the effort.

But now this man is going to act as if he was a ‘victim’ of the same thing we all were? Worse yet, so many of these writers and media members are standing on the tallest mountain shouting to anyone who will listen how wrong all of this is, how bad all of it is, and how dare we players sat by idly and did nothing.

These men were privy to the same scenes we were on a daily basis. They saw us dress, and undress, they rolled their eyes the very same way many players did at the guy who ‘worked his ass off’ when he’d really ‘worked his ass on’ and put on astronomical muscle mass in 4 short months.

They saw hitters go from 18 to 40 home runs, pitchers go from 88 to 90mph, to 95-97mph yet we’re the ones who put our heads in the sand? Weren’t these the men and women with the power of the pen?

But please spare me the daily media insistence on lambasting anyone and everyone in the game for this PED nightmare, while at the same time giving a free pass to journalists. It’s as if they are standing on the sideline looking out on the field and saying, “Wow, I can’t believe what you guys have done to the game.”

There are some who bear every bit as much accountability in this as the innocent players who ‘didn’t speak out’ and ‘turn over’ on their teammates and fellow players.

Curt frames the issue perfectly. The media is just as much at fault as the clean players who kept their teammates’ secrets, and they should either ‘fess up or keep quiet.

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RAB: Top-30 Yankee Prospects

Posted by EJ Fagan at 1:41 pm 2 Responses »
Feb 132009

Mike A. posted his always fantastic and well-reasoned list at River Ave Blues today. He and I clash on some prospects, but are overall in agreement. The Yankee system has been largely uprooted and replanted this season, and that will lead to an interesting reckoning in 2009. Which fast-risers will disapppoint us? I’ll be offline until Sunday, but its an interesting question that I will be explore soon.

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Yankees Trade Value Rankings

Posted by Moshe Mandel at 12:47 pm No Responses »
Feb 132009

Each season, Bill Simmons of ESPN.com posts his NBA trade value rankings, in which he lists the top 40 NBA players in terms of their trade value. I figured that I would steal the idea and apply it to the 2009 Yankees. Essentially, I am asking the following question: If Brian Cashman decided to turn over the entire roster, who would garner him the highest return on the trade market? I listed my top 25 in terms of trade value, and hope that you might vehemently disagree with me. Just remember, salaries and age do matter.

1) Joba Chamberlain: I think he is obviously the most valuable asset that the Yankees have. If he is on the table, the other side will never be able to hang up the phone without giving the deal plenty of thought, regardless of the player they would be relinquishing.

2) Alex Rodriguez: I know that not all teams would be willing to take his contract or his drama. However, I think that the Yankees would be able to find someone who wants him, and the return for him would be very strong.

3) Chien-Ming Wang: A young, consistent top of the rotation starter is valuable commodity.

4) Mark Teixeira: Similar to A-Rod, with less drama, money, and talent.

5) CC Sabathia: Young aces, no matter their salary, are worth their weight in gold. For CC, that is a lot of gold.

6) Mariano Rivera: If he became available at the trading deadline, the auction for him would be fierce.

7) Robinson Cano: Young middle infielders who have hit .340 are a pretty rare commodity.

8 ) Phil Hughes: He still is viewed as a top prospect among MLB evaluators.

9) Derek Jeter: Coming off 2007, he would be a lot higher. But his age suggests a decline rather than an isolated poor year.
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Jennings Writes Smart Things About Everyone

Posted by EJ Fagan at 11:29 am 3 Responses »
Feb 132009

Chad Jennings has one of the best roundups of Yankee pitching that I’ve ever read. He looked at every pitcher heading into camp this weekend and speculates on their role following spring training. The highlights:

Michael Dunn
In camp to make the kind of impression that could accelerate his climb through the system.
Likely to end up in the Trenton bullpen.
Worth knowing that Mark Newman has said Dunn could be a surprise big league roster candidate this spring.

David Robertson
In camp to compete for one of the spots at the back of the New York bullpen.
Likely to end up in the New York bullpen. I’ll go ahead and pick Robertson as the seventh major league reliever, joining Giese and beating out Albaladejo, Coke, Melancon and Aceves. This is, obviously, subject to change.
Worth knowing that the grand slam Robertson allowed to Adam Jones on July 28 was the first home run he surrendered as a professional.

Mark Melancon (right)
In camp to fight for a spot in the major league bullpen, possibly a role in the late innings.
Likely to end up in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre bullpen, but I do believe he has a very real shot to open in New York. This one might be 50-50 whether he’s in the big leagues or Triple-A. I’ve got some quotes from Melancon that you all will like. I’m planning to post them this weekend.
Worth knowing that as Melancon went from Tampa to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre last season, his opponents batting average got lower with every stop while his strikeout-to-walk ratio got higher.

Phil Coke
In camp to make the Yankees want him in the big league bullpen rather than the Triple-A rotation.
Likely to end up in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre rotation, but I’m saying that strictly because the Yankees have told him to prepare himself as a starter. He seems to have as good a chance as any of the candidates to land one of those big league bullpen openings.
Worth knowing that Coke made one spot start for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre early last season and was knocked around, but he returned to Triple-A late in the year and went 11 straight relief outings without a run.

The rest is worth reading.

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Looking Back At 1999

Posted by Moshe Mandel at 9:54 am No Responses »
Feb 132009

As pitchers and catchers report for Spring Training 2009, Marc Hulet of The Baseball Analysts is looking back at how the baseball landscape has changed over the last ten years. Here is his capsule on the Yankees:

The Yankees had eight players making $5 million or more in 1999, with the highest paid player being outfielder Bernie Williams at $9.8 million, followed by pitcher David Cone at $9.5. Derek Jeter batted .349 and drove in 100+ runs for the only time in his career. Rookie Ricky Ledee was given an opportunity to seize an everyday role, but he failed to impress and was shipped off to Cleveland in 2000. Joe Girardi spent his final season in pinstripes as a player while backing up Jorge Posada behind the dish. Two young Dominican infielders – who were oozing with talent – made their MLB debuts in 1999: D’Angelo Jimenez, 21, and Alfonso Soriano, 23. Jimenez was considered by some to be a more promising prospect than Soriano. Mariano Rivera led the club with 45 saves (surprise, surprise), while both Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte had down years with ERAs of 4.60 and 4.70, respectively. They combined for just 28 wins (a low total for those two), but they still did better than every New Yorker’s favorite player Hideki Irabu, who posted a 4.84 ERA.

10 years ago, the Yankees had a large number of their players making exorbitant sums, and Mariano Rivera was a pitching god. It does not seem like that much has changed. It is interesting to note the disparity between the careers of Jimenez and Soriano. They were considered similar prospects, and Jimenez flashed some skills in his brief opportunities with the Yankees. In the 1999 offseason, he suffered a broken neck in a car accident and was never the same. The Yankees traded him in 2001 for Jay Witasick. Soriano, on the other hand, flourished, and was later traded for Alex Rodriguez. The vagaries of life hits athletes just as they do the rest of us. As we enter spring training, I look at this team and ask: who is this year’s Soriano, and who will suffer a fate such as Jimenez did?

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It Begins

Posted by Chris H. at 2:27 am 1 Response »
Feb 132009

Catchers and pitchers report to camp today and Chad Jennings has a great writeup on the pitchers that will be in attendance. He does a particularly good job in speculating where each player will ultimately end up (e.g. roles, level).

Based on recent reports that I’ve read, including CJ’s assessment, I feel as though the Yankees are going to churn out relievers by the dozen—now and in the future—and while some may read that as a “knock” against the team’s young “starters,” producing quality relievers is obviously not a bad thing (not by any means).

Also, if you’re still looking for a ST fix, check out RotoAuthority’s entertaining “Spring Training Cliches” (via MLBTR), as it’s a good summation of notorious, reoccurring stories that appear with every new year (the “I’m in the best shape of my life” guy, the yoga lover, etc.).

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