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A-Rod meeting feds on Friday

Posted by Chris H. at 11:56 pm No Responses »
Mar 222010

To discuss his relationship with Canadian doctor, Anthony Galea, who is currently under investigation following drug (HGH, Actovegin) charges from last October, Yankees third baseman, Alex Rodriguez, will meet with federal agents on Friday, in Buffalo. A-Rod could presumably miss the game against the Phillies that day – it is at 7:05 pm – however, he will probably end up at the meeting earlier on, allowing him to attend the exhibition matchup in the evening.

I really doubt this will go beyond the meeting. Hopefully, after Friday, we won’t have to hear about it anymore.

Photo by the AP

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Discussion: What Do You Expect From Baseball Writers On Twitter?

Posted by Moshe Mandel at 6:12 pm 8 Responses »
Mar 222010


Twitter has entirely changed how baseball reporters and writers deal with the information that they collect and how they interact with their readership. Ken Rosenthal chimed in on this topic last night (h/t @crashburnalley):

Early in my career, I would lose sleep if I reported something inaccurately, even worry about losing my job. The standards now are much lower; too often, the emphasis is on being first rather than factual. Many stories lack nuance and context, particularly when reported in 140-character tweets.

I’m not preaching from any mountaintop here — I pride myself on accuracy, but occasionally make mistakes, too. It is the nature of the business now. It is not a step forward. And from the perspective of an executive such as Williams, it is just one more hassle.

Rosenthal is right, as the nature of Twitter sheds details from stories and often leads to misinterpretations by readers and fans. Furthermore, the offhand nature of Twitter tends to make it impossible for readers to distinguish whether a tweet is the writer’s opinion or is based on actual reporting. We had one example last night from Jon Heyman, as Steve clarified this morning. Heyman was just stating an opinion about Joba Chamberlain, but a number of people ran with the story as if he was reporting it. Similarly, Mark Feinsand sent out the following tweet this afternoon:

Yankees postgame notes: M. Rivera has hamstring injury; J. Vazquez among latest round of roster cuts.

The actual notes referred to Mike Rivera and Jorge Vazquez, but some believed that Mariano Rivera was hurt and a mini-panic started. When Feinsand revealed that he was just kidding around, most shrugged it off and laughed, while others were fairly upset (others ran and wrote a blog post). This lead me to think about these reporters and their responsibilities when using Twitter.

Being that people follow them due to their status as baseball writers, do they have a responsibility to maintain similar journalistic standards to those they are expected to have on their blogs and in their papers? Should the writer assume that everything he says about the team will be taken as an act of reporting unless otherwise denoted? Or is it the responsibility of the reader to filter the information and assume that Twitter reporting is less likely to be precise or accurate?

I lean towards it being the responsibility of the writer to contextualize all of his team-related tweets. A simple IMO (in my opinion) can delineate between reporting and analysis or opinion, and avoiding misleading data can be done with just a little bit of diligence. However, being that reporters are still figuring out the medium, I think that readers need to be cognizant of the fact that the standards on Twitter are lower at this point, and use the information accordingly.

How do you feel about this issue?

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Yankees Return Hoffmann, Could They Get Him Back?

Posted by Moshe Mandel at 4:08 pm 10 Responses »
Mar 222010


The Yankees returned Rule 5 selection Jamie Hoffmann to the Dodgers today, completing what was a fairly disappointing spring training with the Yankees for the 25 year old prospect. Hoffmann went just 3-23 for the Yankees, and was unable to wrest a position on the team away from the equally horrendous Marcus Thames (3-28). The Yankees likely decided that they had enough speed and defense out there with Brett Gardner and Randy Winn, and chose to take Thames’ power bat. However, that does not mean that the Yankees are done with Hoffmann.

Mark Feinsand is reporting that there have been whispers in recent weeks about the Yankees sending Sergio Mitre or Chad Gaudin to the Dodgers for the rights to Hoffmann, so that the club could stash him at AAA without any of the Rule 5 constraints. Now, I am not sure if these whispers were from within the organization or if they stem from the suggestions made on this issue by bloggers, so I am not certain what to expect. I would not be averse to such a move, as the Yankees clearly like Hoffmann and have surplus pitching depth. If they think Hoffmann can help the major league club soon, then it is a move that they should pursue.

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David Robertson and Expectations

Posted by Matt Imbrogno at 1:00 pm 5 Responses »
Mar 222010

We’ve been here a few times before. In at least two different seasons in recent memory, we’ve seen a young relief pitcher get hot in a short period of time and we’ve gotten delusions of grandeur. The recent examples are Brian Bruney, Jose Veras, and Edwar Ramirez; neither one of these pitchers is still on the Yankees.

With David Robertson, whose earned his stripes according to pitching coach Dave Eiland, we hope there is no repetition of history.

In 2008, Jose Veras pitched to a 3.59 ERA despite having a 1.405 WHIP and walking 4.5 men per nine. He got by on a rock solid 9.8 K/9, but it all fell apart in 2009. Edwar Ramirez had a 3.90 ERA in ’08 with a good 1.229 WHIP, 10.2 K/9, and an acceptable 3.9 BB/9. Like Veras, he couldn’t keep it up in 2009. In 2006 and 2008, Bruney wowed us in two short stints (20.2 IP and 34.1 IP respectively), but was unimpressive in 2007 and was injured and inconsistent in 2009.

Now, after a very impressive 43.2 innings in 2009 (3.30 ERA, 1.351 WHIP, 13.0 K/9, 3.05 FIP), it appears that David Robertson is ready to fill a bigger role in the 2010 Yankee bullpen. Might he turn out like Veras, Ramirez, and Bruney? Yes, it’s possible. However, I don’t think it’s likely.

There is one mountain Robertson does need to climb, though. His career 4.6 BB/9 is too high. He combats it nicely with a career 12.0 K/9 (2.61 K/BB), but it still needs to come down. In the minors, his BB/9 was lower by one full walk (3.6). The difference could be the batters Robertson is facing. Despite his incredible curveball, he is still facing major leaguers who are more likely to be able to lay off of a breaking pitch than minor leaguers. If the walks don’t decrease, Robertson could face trouble.

What makes Robertson different than those other enigmatic relievers, then? First, there’s the strikeouts. While Veras, Ramirez, and Bruney all had good stuff that struck batters out, the only one who comes close to Robertson’s strikeout numbers is Ramirez (10.6 K/9), and even he misses by almost two strikeouts. The other is that Robertson has, thus far, kept the ball in the park. His HR/9 sits at 0.9, the same as Brian Bruney. It is, however, a mark lower than Veras’s (1.2) and it dwarfs Ramirez’s (1.7). I’ll take this as the opportunity to say something: it is a bit unfair of me to lump Bruney in with Ramirez and Veras. Those two were just ineffective in ’09 and were likely flashes in the pan; Bruney, on the other hand, was injured and inconsistent and may have something left in the tank. He’s still got a chance to make something of himself. I’m only using him as an example in this post because, like Edwar and Jose, he had brief flashes of success and is no longer with the Yankees.

While Robertson walks a few (maybe one) too many guys per nine innings, his strikeout numbers are essentially epic thus far and he does a good job of keeping the ball in the park. Those two things should make him a successful reliever going forward. So, what do the projection systems say for D-Rob in 2010?

The systems project him for a season with 52 games, 56.75 innings pitched, a 3.49 ERA, a 1.304 WHIP, an 11.10 K/9, a 4.12 BB/9, a 2.69 K/BB, and a 3.25 FIP. For a late inning bullpen guy, that would be awesome.

This projection is very favorable for Robertson. Obviously, it doesn’t guarantee success and as I’ve said in the past, D-Rob’s got a good amount to prove in the majors. Hopefully, he won’t become like Ramirez, Bruney, and Veras. I don’t think he will.

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Review: MLB At Bat 2010 For Android

Posted by EJ Fagan at 11:00 am 2 Responses »
Mar 222010

Last week, I dropped 15 dollars on MLBAM’s new app, MLB At Bat 2010. A similar app (more on the differences later) is available for Blackberry and various Apple products. Overall, its a pretty good value, but I’ll have a couple of warnings.

As many of you may know, I no longer live in the New York area. On top of typical out-of-market issues that I have watching Yankee games, I’m now stuck in an apartment with a spotty internet connection. Streaming video from Youtube or Hulu is problematic enough, but live video or audio from MLB.tv is just too much for my cheap wireless. My phone’s 3G connection, on the other hand, streams video fine. But more on that later.

The Android MLB 2010 App costs 15 dollars, and has no monthly subscription fee, though I will probably have to buy the 2011 version for next season. For that (by far the most expensive app that I’ve seen), you get a bunch of cool features:

  • Access to Gameday Audio streams for either the home or away team
  • Live box scores
  • MLB.com-style pitch-by-pitch and play data
  • Video highlights

The audio is nice. I definitely expect to have one ear on the Sterling broadcast while at games this summer, especially up in the nosebleeds in Baltimore. I ran pretty well in the poor-reception environment of the DC Metro, although I had to press a button a few times to renew the stream a few times. DC reception is spotty sometimes, so that’s understandable.

The video is a cool little thing to have access to, though its hard to tell during spring training. MLBAM uploads game highlights and recaps, which stream pretty smoothly to your phone. There was some MLB network stuff in there, so I assume that once the season starts I’ll get a chance to view top plays and other cool highlight reels. Its not a bad distraction while waiting for a subway train, but I don’t find myself checking it too much while listening to games.

The box scores and play-by-play stuff is almost exactly what you’ll find on MLB.com’s Gameday. Pitch/Fx data isn’t available because of spring training, but I’d expect that to be around once the season starts. These are a little buggy on my Droid right now – the box scores are slow to refresh, and the play-by-play tends to need be refreshed a bit. But overall, they work as you’d expect.

However, the one thing that the Android MLB At Bat 2010 app lacks is streaming live video. You may know about the same iPhone app which allows MLB.tv subscribers to stream games on their phone. I had bought the app in hopes of doing the same down here. Unfortunately, MLB says that the Android operating system can’t support live streaming video. Hopefully this can change, since its BS, and I’ll be able to watch games again. Just one thing for you to look out for.

I’m also counting on some of the bugs to be fixed as the season starts.

Overall, definitely worth 15 dollars. I can listen to any 2010 MLB game on my phone without having to pay a subscription fee, and I get a few little goodies to boot. Just don’t expect to watch games live on it, for now. I can’t imagine MLB ignoring the growing Android market because they are too lazy to figure out how to stream live video like the NBA does.

Photo Credit: Androidjunkies.com

Folks, please don't listen to Jon Heyman

Posted by Steve S. at 7:43 am 17 Responses »
Mar 222010

Would you buy a used car from this man?

Last night, Jon Heyman Tweeted that the Yankee 5th starter race is over. The Yankee blog community was abuzz with the news, thinking that Hughes had won the competition and Joba will be heading to the bullpen. Here’s his Tweet:

joba is out of #yanks rotation derby. RT @JackCurryYES: No Joba-Hughes showdown Mon. Hughes will face Phils. Joba will work intrasquad game

Just one problem. It’s not even remotely true. Here’s the Jack Curry Tweet that Heyman based his report on:

No Joba-Hughes showdown vs Phils on Mon. Hughes will face Phils. Joba will work intrasquad game

Do you see anything there about the race being over? Any declarations from Girardi or the participants? I don’t. For background, Heyman is a long-standing B-Jobber. He’s a regular on Francesa’s WFAN radio show and has always been firmly in the camp that Joba was “born” to be a closer. So what we have here is a case study in media bias. No, check that. Bias would be the best case scenario. It’s just as likely he’s being sensational during a slow news time and knows exactly what he doing. In either case, don’t pay any attention to him. That’s what he wants.

(h/t Riddering)

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