IMPORTANT BLOG ANNOUNCEMENT

PLEASE CHANGE YOUR BOOKMARKS AND FEEDS TO THE NEW URL, YANKEEANALYSTS.COM. TYU IS IN NO WAY AFFILIATED WITH THE NEW YORK YANKEES OR YANKEES UNIVERSE.

Yankees Need Jeter At Short

Posted by Chris H. at 10:34 pm 1 Response »
Jun 022010

Over at the beloved ESPN New York, writer Andrew Marchand ponders Derek Jeter’s defense on the season, and, related to that, his future with the Yankees. Essentially, Marchand views Jeter’s defense through a fairly negative lens – he has had a few issues going to his left, but his defense, on the whole, has not been terrible in my opinion (it has not been great, but it has been manageable, thus far) – and then goes on to wonder how his glove will influence the free agent negotiations he has with the Yankees come the end of 2010. Assuming the Yankees resign Jeter, Marchand also reflects upon a possible position change for the 35-year old shortstop. Marchand’s piece is basically the same article you have read over and over again regarding Jeter’s defense, especially prior to last season’s defensive revival, as it touches upon all of the common defensive themes.

In fact, Marchand seems to discuss everything except for the fact that, regardless of his diminished range, the Yankees need Derek Jeter at shortstop because they do not have a suitable internal option to replace him. And, as younger players continue to up their capital in baseball – older players are seemingly cast aside nowadays – while choosing to forego free agency dollars in order to sign lengthy multiyear contracts with the organizations that raised them, nor will it be easy to find a suitable replacement for The Captain via free agency or trade. Hence, the Yankees need Derek Jeter, not in left field, at DH, or in RF, but as their shortstop. As long as Jeter continues to hit and can be deemed “manageable” at short, the Yankees will need and want to continue playing him there. There is no one else waiting in the winds – sorry Eduardo Nunez fans – and the team does not have much else that they can do. Replacing someone means having a replacement, after all.

If Jeter signs a 4-year deal ($20 million per), as an agent in Marchand’s piece predicts, can you really see the Yankees having a capable replacement to takeover short during that period? Can you really see them asking Jeter to move around the diamond if he manages to hit inline with his career numbers? I just do not see that happening. Perhaps if the Yankees had a young prospect with a good bat that was also defensively superior the “move Jeter” idea would make sense. They do not have that, however, making the idea seem farfetched. Therefore, to quote Kevin Goldstein, “Jeter will likely play shortstop in New York as long as he wants to.”

Tagged with: , , ,

Jorge's Return

Posted by Matt Imbrogno at 3:00 pm 4 Responses »
Jun 022010

Tonight, we’ll likely see the return of Jorge Posada to the Yankee lineup and even with the return of Curtis Granderson, this is a very welcome addition. Like it became when Granderson returned, the lineup will be even further lengthened when Posada is penciled in tomorrow night.

The nice thing is that Jorge will likely be the DH tomorrow, as Mark Teixeira is going to be day-to-day after exiting last night’s game due to fouling a ball off of his foot. Regardless, this is the end of the second Moeller era in Yankee history. Chad had one hit, a double, in six at bats across two games with the Yankees.

Jorge’s definitely coming back at the right time, especially considering how much Francisco Cervelli has struggled of late. Since reaching a ridiculous 1.012 OPS on May 14th, Frankie is hitting just .213/.286/.255/.341. May had been kind to Jorge. He was hitting .355/.429/.581/1.009 for the month and was on a five game hit streak before being sidelined.

So what’s the lineup going to look like? I think it’ll depend on who’s the pitcher the Yankees are facing. When a right hander is on the mound, I think we’ll see the Yankees trot out a lineup of:

1. Jeter, SS
2. Granderson, CF
3. Teixeria, 1B
4. Rodriguez, 3B
5. Cano, 2B
6. Posada, C
7. Swisher, RF
8. Miranda, DH
9. Gardner, LF

Against lefties, I think we’ll see this lineup:

1. Jeter, SS
2. Swisher, RF
3. Teixeria, 1B
4. Rodriguez, 3B
5. Cano, 2B
6. Posada, C
7. Granderson, CF
8. Thames, DH
9. Gardner, LF

Your thoughts? Anyway…

By getting Posada back, the Yankees get a big boost in that they’ll regain the weapon they’ve had for so many years: a hard hitting catcher. Jorge Posada’s been the best hitting catcher in baseball not named “Piazza” over the last fifteen years and it’ll be nice to have him back.

Tagged with:

Guest Post: O's Struggling, But Future Looks Brighter

Posted by Moshe Mandel at 1:00 pm 4 Responses »
Jun 022010

This is a guest post from the quite excellent Daniel Moroz of Camden Crazies and Beyond the Boxscore.

The Orioles sit at 15-37 on the season – easily the worst record in baseball. A season that was supposed to be a stepping-stone to contention – and possibly even a chance to crack .500 already – sees the team on pace to finish with just 47 victories. After many years of losing with mediocre retreads and washed-up veterans, the team brought Andy MacPhail on board to finally rebuild in earnest. Top older players were traded*, top younger players were singed to extensions, and the draft was invested in. And yet, MacPhail wasn’t able to stop the team’s downward trajectory. The O’s win total has fallen from 74 to 70 to 69 to 68 to 64, and they’ll need to raise their current winning percentage by over .150 points from here on out to even get back to that 64 win mark in 2010. Things are dark in Baltimore (at least until football season), but there is hope.

* Erik Bedard to the Mariners for Adam Jones, Chris Tillman, George Sherrill**, Kam Mickolio, and Tony Butler.

Miguel Tejada to the Astros for Luke Scott, Matt Albers, Dennis Sarfate, Troy Patton and Mike Costanzo.

** Turned into Josh Bell and Steven Johnson.

Nick Markakis had a down 2009, but he’s gone back to using his great batting eye to draw a lot of free passes and has a cannon in right-field. Adam Jones started out the year ice cold with plate discipline issues, but is only 24, has a Gold Glove under his belt*, and has the skills to hit for both average and power. Matt Wieters is taking more time than some expected to adjust to major league pitching, but has already made great strides behind the plate. In fact, he once framed a pitch so perfectly that it counted for two strikes. They have the potential to form a championship caliber core, with back-up from veteran second-baseman Brian Roberts, outfielders Nolan Reimold and Felix Pie, and (soon) slugging third-baseman Josh Bell.

* Though not exactly the most deserved of ones.

Pitching has been a perennial problem for the O’s, with a team ERA below 4.50 exactly once since 1997. That’s were the majority of the team’s minor league talent lies though. Lefty Brian Matusz is already having some success in the majors and has a tendency to pitch beyond his years with an arsenal of quality pitches including one of the better change-ups around. Chris Tillman has drastically improved his control, and has a big overhand curveball that I think’s a plus-plus pitch already. Brad Bergesen doesn’t have the most impressive stuff, but when he’s locating his sinker down in the strike-zone he’ll give the team a chance to win more often than not. Then in the minor’s there’s still power-righty Jake Arrieta and his sub-2 ERA, and Zach Britton throwing tons of groundballs from the left-side, along with an assortment of mid-tier pitching prospects.

At this year’s trade deadline, there’s a pretty good chance that the team will add even more young talent as Kevin Millwood, Miguel Tejada, and perhaps other veterans get shipped off to contenders. This is all to say that the Yankees don’t need to worry about the Orioles this year. Or likely next year. But they also didn’t need to worry about the Rays right up until they won the division coming off a string of sub 70 win seasons. And while they’re not there yet, the O’s are building towards that same type of success with many of the potential pieces already in place.

Tagged with: , ,

Answering Steve's Question

Posted by Matt Imbrogno at 11:00 am 3 Responses »
Jun 022010

The other day, Steve wondered what the Yankees’ next move for Joba Chamberlain will be. He left it open-ended and there was a wide variety of responses in the comments section. I was away for the holiday weekend, so I was unable to respond. Consider this my extended response.

The first thing that could cross one’s mind is to trade Joba Chamberlain. Put frankly and simply, this isn’t going to happen. The biggest impediment is that Chamberlain is struggling right now and trading a player at his lowest point is just a silly move (see: Swisher, Nick). Chamberlain’s poor May further lowered his value that was essentially shot in Spring Training when the Yankees decided to make him a reliever for the 2010 season. Basically, a player’s value could not be lower than Chamberlain’s is now (non-Randy Winn/Gary Mathews division). There’s no way Joba gets traded for anything decent at this point.

Option number two is to send Chamberlain down to the minors. I don’t see this happening and, frankly, it’s not that desirable. David Robertson is banged up and Damaso Marte has been spotty, so there wouldn’t really be anyone to fill in for Chamberlain, especially given the absence of Alfredo Aceves. Getting bullpen work in Scranton will not help. The only way Joba should be there is if he’s starting, which, sadly, isn’t likely to happen.

The third choice is to just keep throwing him out there and hope he does well. He just finished a perfect inning and it’s worth noting that now 11 of his 14 outings have been scoreless. The only way he’s going to get better is by pitching. However, it’s not that easy, especially considering how few innings he’s thrown. He threw 10.1 in April and 11.1 in May. It’s hard for a pitcher (again, non-Mo division) to learn good delivery repetition and get a feel for pitches when he throws that few innings. If the Yankees want Joba to get better, they need to just let him pitch. It seems like the Yankees have done anything but that since 2007, but like they say, better late than never.

Tagged with:
© 2011 TYU Suffusion theme by Sayontan Sinha