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TYU All-Star Week Yankee Trivia Contest (Updated: We Have A Winner)

Posted by Moshe Mandel at 8:32 pm No Responses »
Jul 152009
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The Blair Witch Project buy With the dearth of news during this week leading to the same topics being brought up repeatedly, The Yankee Universe is running a Yankees trivia contest as a diversion.

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The rules are simple. The first question is below. The answer to that question should be put into your web browser’s url area, where you should follow it with .blogspot.com. This will lead you to a page with another question, where the same rules apply. On each page, specific instructions are included to make sure you enter the right words, so be careful. For example, the answer may be Derek Jeter, and the instruction would read, add a 1 at the end of the name. This means the web address to the next question is derekjeter1.blogspot.com. There are 42 questions of varying difficulty, in honor of the great Mariano closing another All-Star game victory. The winner must leave a comment on the final page. Included in the comment should be the answers to questions # 4, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, 42,and a name. The winner should then email me by using the contact us feature at the top of this page. If you think I made an error in the setup, email me. The winner gets to write a guest post of any length on any topic in the week following the contest, and a barely used copy of the new Thurman Munson biography. Good luck, and happy hunting.

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Question # 1: Let’s start with an easy one. What were the Yankees called immediately before they were the Yankees? Give the city and team name. (ie newjerseycornhuskers.blogspot.com)

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UPDATED: download Fuck We have a winner. Keep playing for the fun of it!!!

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Catching up with Cash

Posted by Steve S. at 5:49 pm 17 Responses »
Jul 152009

Mike Silva of NY Baseball digest was part of a group of reporters who caught up with

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Yankee GM Brian Cashman today. Brian was down in Trenton for the Eastern League All Star game. Here are some highlights:

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- Wants to solve issues internally first. Is talking to other clubs, but wouldn’t even mention the name Roy Halladay, citing tampering rules.

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- When asked if anyone is “untouchable” he said that some players are more tradable than others. In a word no.

- Looks like Sergio Mitre is going to get the fifth spot. Nothing solidified, but he praised his staff for finding Mitre, and mentioned Girardi’s experience with him in Florida. Expect him to get that fifth slot.

- Wants two lefties out of the bullpen (kudos Frank Russo for having that for us already). Marte, of course, is starting a rehab assignment, but, in my opinion, that is the one area we can expect to see a deal.

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– He mentioned Ivan Nova quite a few times and sounds very excited about his development this year. Since his promotion from Trenton opponents are only hitting .190 against him in the International League. Could we see him in the Yankees bullpen before too long?

- Sees Montero as a catcher more and more everyday. In his words we “always knew he was a hitter”, but “the catching situation changes things drastically”. Remember, a catcher that can hit, like Montero, is so valuable in a lineup (see Mike Piazza). It would be very painful to give him up in a deal.

Piecing all of this together, it would appear Cash’s position is the same as mine. No one is untouchable when you’re talking about one of the top 2-3 pitchers in Baseball. But Montero is about as close as there is to being untouchable in the Yankee system. I think we all expected Mitre to get the next start, it was clearly a mistake to start Aceves against the Twins, and we could have won 1-2 of the Angels’ games had we had Aceves available out of the bullpen.

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Roy Halladay = Mike Mussina

Posted by Moshe Mandel at 5:37 pm No Responses »
Jul 152009

Over at RAB, a few of us were having a spirited conversation about Peter Abraham’s suggestion that the Yankees give up Joba Chamberlain, Jesus Montero, and any two others not named Phil Hughes in a trade for Roy Halladay. One poster compared Halladay to Mike Mussina, who was about Halladay’s age when he joined the Yankees, and is in fact one of Doc’s “through current age” top comparable players. Commenter TSJC came through with the following numbers:

Mussina when acquired by the Yankees (32 years old):

Career: 129 ERA+, 1.175 WHIP, 6.9 K/9, 2.1 BB/9, 200 IP and 4 CG per season

Fragile dvdrip 3 most recent seasons: 129 ERA+, 1.191 WHIP, 7.7 K/9, 1.9 BB/9, 215 IP and 4 CG per season

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Halladay now (32 years old):

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Career: 132 ERA+, 1.201 WHIP, 6.5 K/9, 2.0 BB/9, 160 IP and 3 CG per season

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Those numbers are extremely close, with Halladay possibly having a slight edge. However, Doc does have some injuries in his past, while Moose had been a picture of perfect health to that point. Now, Moose pitched well for the Yankees, especially in those first three years. However, they never won a championship with him despite initially adding him to a stacked, can’t miss rotation. I highly doubt that Yankees fans would give up Joba, Montero, and anyone else not named Hughes if I told them that they were getting the 7 years they got from Moose’s initial contract.

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The fact is, nobody over the age of 30 is worth that much. Halladay is likely the second best pitcher in baseball over the last 5 years, but he is really no better than Moose was when he joined the Yankees, and has a more suspect injury history. Moose was very good, but you expected more than one season with an ERA plus over 130 over the life of his initial Yankee contract. Per Fangraphs, his WAR from 2002-2008 was 31.1. That is very good but not something that Joba and Montero cannot reach collectively. Halladay’s ace type performance is in no way guaranteed.

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"Zeet Games," Or What We Can Learn From Barry Zito

Posted by Moshe Mandel at 2:30 pm No Responses »
Jul 152009

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Tim Kawakami recently devised a new “statistic” to try and crystalize the problem with having Barry Zito in the Giants rotation:

Yes, I went back and looked it up, just to see if Zito’s long and ugly run of quick-KOs as a Giants pitcher are any worse and any more horrifying than anybody else.

Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo movie download And I found: If you count up any outing of 5 innings or less, in which the starting pitcher gives up 4 earned runs or more–call it a Zeet Game-guess who leads the way this year and for the last two years?

* Zito has 6 six Zeet Games (in 18 starts), tied for most ZGs in baseball.

That’s fully one-third of his 2009 outings in which he gave the Giants almost no chance to win. (Even with a perked-up offense, the Giants are 1-5 in ZGs. They’re 8-10 in his starts overall. They’re 41-29 in everybody else’s starts.)

* I didn’t go through every pitcher in baseball, so I might’ve missed somebody or two ZG-count somebodies, but I went through every qualifier with an ERA over 4.50, and a few others.

Only two two pitchers have been so bad as to tie Zito in the category.

FernGully: The Last Rainforest movie download -Minnesota Francisco Liriano 6 ZGs in 18 starts. (Extenuating circumstances: Coming back from elbow surgery, playing in home-run infested home stadium.)

-And Pittsburgh’s Ross Ohlendorf 6 ZGs in 18 starts. (No extenuating circumstances.)

Others ZG contenders:

-Philadelphia’s Jamie Moyer 5 ZGs in 17 total starts. (Extentuating circumstances: he’s close to 50 years old and pitching in crazy HR park in Philly).

-ADD: Jonathan Sanchez has 5 ZGs in 14 starts. (Interesting that he was rightfully pulled from the rotation for 5-in-13 and only got back in to throw his no-hitter because of an injury-opening. Same rules for Zeet, if he goes over 33% ZG rate?)

-St. Louis’ Todd Wellemeyer 5 ZGs in 18 starts. (No exentuating circumstances that I can think of.)

-Colorado’s Jorge De La Rosa 5 ZGs in 17 starts. (Pitches in altitude.)

-NY Mets Livan Hernandez 5 ZGs in 17 starts. (He’s Livan.)

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-San Diego’s Josh Geer 5 ZGs in 14 starts. (Nothing.)

Those with 4 ZGs: Randy Johnson, Ricky Nolasco, Scott Baker, Bronson Arroyo, Carl Pavano, Kevin Slowey, Jeff Suppan, Vicente Padilla and the A’s Trevor Cahill.

I thought it would be interesting to apply this standard to the Yankee starting staff, being that Mike Francesa and other Yankees fans would likely call these “Joba Games.” It can help us identify games where the pitchers put the Yankees in a position where they were forced to claw back from a deficit early in the game, or gave up a large early lead to deflate the club.

CC Sabathia: 1 ZG in 19 starts (on Opening Day).

AJ Burnett: 1 ZG in 17 starts (he did have another where he allowed 3ER but added 2UER, both against Boston)

Andy Pettitte: 3 ZG in 18 starts (all since start of June, plus one where he allowed 6R but only 3ER)

Joba Chamberlain: 2 ZG in 17 starts (plus one that would qualify if unearned runs were tallied)

Phil Hughes: 2 ZG in 7 starts (plus one that would qualify if unearned runs were tallied)

Chien-Ming Wang: 4 ZG in 9 starts (plus one that would qualify if unearned runs were tallied)

What have we learned?

- CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett will keep you in games. If they pitch poorly, they will likely give you length, and if they do not give you length in a game, they will find a way to limit the damage.

- Andy Pettitte has been pretty awful since June started, and may find himself pitching for his job if this should continue.

- Chien-Ming Wang has neither given the Yankees length, nor has he limited the damage. He has been awful.

-Phil Hughes may not be ready as a starter, as he has the second highest ZG rate on the team. He looks more confident in the pen, and hopefully he will carry that over to the rotation.

-Joba Chamberlain’s struggles have been overstated, most likely because his last two starts were Zeet Games. For the most part, he has been adept at limiting damage, so that he does not give up many runs despite struggling through a limited number of innings. He has put pressure on the bullpen, but at least he keeps the team in the game.

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Who Are The Available Relievers?

Posted by Moshe Mandel at 12:30 pm No Responses »
Jul 152009
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Earlier this week, I discussed

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available starting pitchers to try and ferret out the best options for the suddenly pitching weak Yankees. Today, we look at bullpen options, as the Yankees may choose to solve their starting pitching problems by moving Phil Hughes to the rotation. The following list is taken primarily from MLBTR, with some of my own additions.

Kerry Wood: He has performed awfully (5.28 ERA, 1.43 WHIP and makes a ton of money (upwards of 10 million for next season). He could be had for free, but the contract and poor pitching makes me say no.

Rafael Soriano and Mike Gonzalez: If the Braves fall out of the race, these two may become available, as both are free agents at the end of the season. Both are having very strong seasons, with Soriano being particularly dominant. Either one will cost you a legitimate prospect.

Danys Baez, George Sherrill: Outside of two awful outings, Baez has been very good and has a solid track record. Sherrill is still under club control, so he will likely be costly.

LaTroy Hawkins and Jose Valverde: Hawkins is unlikely to return to NY, but he has been very effective since leaving. Valverde has an expiring deal, and may be the best pitcher on the list. I doubt he can be head for anything less than Zach McCallister.

Rafael Betancourt: Betancourt has been solid this year, and has a career WHIP of 1.14. His slightly down year might make him a good bargain play.

Michael Wuertz, Brad Ziegler, Craig Breslow: Breslow is a solid lefty who should not require much to acquire. Wuertz seems to have found a niche in the bullpen, and can be used in one inning stints or in a similar manner as Aceves has been used. Zeigler is a good late inning option as well, and he and Wuertz are going to cost something of real value.

Chad Qualls: The D’Backs already traded Tony Pena, so they may be reluctant to part with Qualls. Qualls also has some elbow issues, which make me reluctant to trade the legitimate prospects that Arizona will want for him. When healthy, he is as good as any guy on this list, as he does not allow many home runs and has very solid control.

John Grabow, Matt Capps: Capps is a good pitcher having a rough year, while Grabow is an overrated lefty. I would stay away unless the price is absurdly low.

Juan Cruz – Strikes out a ton of guys, walks a ton of guys. He is the rich man’s version of Jose Veras, and the Yankees need to stay away.

Joe Beimel – He is a solid lefty that should not cost much and has had some success on a playoff team. Not a bad option.

Heath Bell- My favorite guy on the list, Bell is the kind of arm who can end the “who will pitch the 8th” debate once and for all. If the Yankees want to move Hughes to the rotation without getting a ton of flack in the media, they should give up some prospects to get this guy. McCallister, Melky, and Melancon is the package I was considering, but that might be a bit light.

Damaso Marte: Marte recently started rehabbing. If he can be the Marte that was a very good reliever prior to joining the Yankees, this entire article is moot.

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Who did I leave out? Who would you target?

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Scouts On Joba And Hughes

Posted by Moshe Mandel at 10:42 am No Responses »
Jul 152009

Fans are often afflicted by the “If I have not seen it, it does not exist” fallacy when attempting to evaluate athletes. Mike Francesa is convinced that Joba Chamberlain belongs in the bullpen, because he has seen his succeed as a reliever and struggle as a starter. Apparently, some major league talent evaluators have the same problem:

So, who has more value? That depends on whom you ask and who has seen them recently.

“I would want Hughes if I am dealing with the Yankees, because even though he has been good in the pen, he is a starter and Chamberlain is a reliever,” an NL talent evaluator said.

Another believed it was even because, “In my mind both are relievers.”

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A third scout said because of Chamberlain’s upside he would take him but has been impressed with Hughes’ work out of the bullpen.

These scouts are clearly major league advance scouts who have never watched a minor league game ion which Chamberlain or Hughes pitched. If neither had ever pitched an inning out of the bullpen, this would not be a topic of discussion. No one ever profiled either of these guys as relievers, primarily because they have the stuff and stamina to start. Yet, because some people have seen them struggle as starters and thrive in the bullpen, they have already decided that these incredibly young pitchers would be best served by pitching in relief. The whole thing has reached a point of absurdity. There are no calls for the Rays to send David Price to the bullpen, or for the Dodgers to send Chad Billingsley back there. These are starting caliber arms, and wasting them in the bullpen would be criminal. Unless, of course, you ask Goose Gossage The Hitcher II: I’ve Been Waiting full

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“For me, it’s a no-brainer,” Gossage told The Post, incredulous the Bombers insist on using Chamberlain as a starter instead of in the setup role in which he excelled during 2007.

“I look at ballgames that this guy could’ve impacted that they lost. I’m just shaking my head. I can’t believe it.

“This guy was their savior two years ago when they didn’t have a set-up guy. They wouldn’t have made the playoffs without Joba. He’d be the perfect [set-up] guy. If you could impact three or four ballgames a week instead of one … I think you’re wasting a tremendous talent.”

Firstly, Gossage creates a false dichotomy whereby he suggests that in the bullpen, Joba would be impacting 3 or 4 games a week. The odds of that happening are slim, as there are typically not 3-4 games a week that need to be “saved” in the 8th inning. Furthermore, he would be impacting fewer innings, and creating a position of weakness in the rotation. Finally, Goose references all the games that he could have impacted that they lost. The Yankees are 37-3 when ahead starting the 8th inning, and are 9-0 when tied starting the 8th. They have blown 3 games all season when leading starting the 8th, and one of those was blown by Mariano. Basically, there were two games that he might have impacted. The argument for Joba in the bullpen frequently is forced to turn to specious arguments not grounded in fact. Both of these guys deserve every chance to succeed in the rotation. Patience, Yankees fans.

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