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Three Catcher Era to End Soon?

Posted by Matt Imbrogno at 3:00 pm 9 Responses »
Jun 092010

According to Chad Jennings, Jorge Posada started catching drills yesterday, so we can assume that the three catcher era of the 2010 Yankee season is about to come to an end.

And, while Jorge Posada hasn’t hit hotly since coming off of the disabled list, this will be a welcome move. Since May 15th–the day after reaching a 1.012 OPS on the season–Francisco Cervelli has hit just .172/.282/.203/.485. The walk rate is encouraging, but everything else is unacceptable. I’ve long said that the Yankees could stick with Posada at DH and Cervelli at catcher until it was clear that the latter could not be in the lineup every day. It’s clear that Francisco Cervelli should not be in the every day lineup.

This should come as no surprise. There was obviously no way Cervelli was going to be that good a hitter for any extended period of time and his success as a hitter going forward is still unclear. As previously mentioned, his increased walk rate in this season is very welcome, but that .068 IsoP (not including last night) is more than “meh.” But, to be fair, no one’s expecting him to put up power numbers. If he can keep up his 9+% walk rate and maintain a .329 wOBA, though, while providing solid defense, I’ll be thrilled with him as a backup.

There is, however, a caveat to the end of this “era”. It’s only been six days since Posada was activated, so unless the Yankees can fake an injury rather quickly, they’ll have to wait four more days to recall Juan Miranda to fill in as the vs. RHP DH. I assume Marcus Thames will be the vs. LHP DH.

Adding Miranda and losing Chad Moeller gives the Yankees a little more pop on their bench and makes their lineup against righties a little stronger. His .319 wOBA doesn’t inspire much confidence, but his .217 IsoP and 9.8% BB rate have me hopeful. Here’s an early farewell (for a second time) to Chad Moeller. It’s been real?

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Expanded Draft Reactions

Posted by EJ Fagan at 1:23 pm No Responses »
Jun 092010

I’ll be back to chime in if the Yankees do anything interesting in the late Day 3 rounds. For now, I’d like to say a few things.

I still don’t really know what to make of the Cito Culver pick. The Yankees are definitely betting that their judgment on the kid is better than everyone else’s. That’s not necessarily a knock on the Yankees – its definitely a confident move on their part – but it makes the pick less safe. Culver isn’t heading to the best baseball program in the world at the University of Maryland, so he shouldn’t be a tough sign. Considering that this was a fairly weak draft, the Yankees may have elected to go for the cheaper player and put their money into later round signability or IFAs.

The Yankees drafted a really interesting mix of players yesterday. They added a ton of college relief pitchers, or college pitchers with a certain future in the bullpen, and a lot of athletic high school talent. In the middle-upper rounds, they took college corner infielder sluggers Robert Segedin and Kyle Roller. Segedin is by far the better player, but Roller had a pretty impressive college career in the same solid conference.

The focus on relief pitching is strange, if not a bit bewildering. The Yankees have been very successful at raising experienced big program college starting pitchers, but increasingly are finding that there is little room in the organization for them. The Pirates love the Yankees for it, but the team isn’t getting a whole lot out of developing pitchers good enough for the AL Central but not good enough for the AL East. They may not have that same problem with college relief pitchers. At least that’s how I read this draft.

The toolsy high school players, on the other hand, is refreshing. I love DeAngelo Mack, Colin Curtis and all the other low ceiling college hitters that the Yankees have brought in recently, but besides Kevin Russo and Brett Gardner, they don’t have a whole lot to show for a lot of drafted hitters. The high school picks are riskier, but there’s a great chance of developing a real pro in the group. They have also proven, with Austin Jackson, Austin Romine, Jesus Montero, and others, to be good at teaching raw young hitters to play good baseball.

As always, I will reserve from grading the draft until the August signing deadline. As we saw with the Cole pick in 2008, a good looking draft can be look disastrous when players start to slip through your fingers. We’ll also see if the Yankees draft budget has been further slashed from past years.

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Homemade Soup

Posted by Rebecca Glass at 1:00 pm No Responses »
Jun 092010

From our friends at NoMaas, I want you to take a look at this graphic

Peruse it, think about it, and come back here when you figure out what everyone has in common.

***

You know the common complaint, that the Yankees buy their World Series, and all of that, and yet we have here, perhaps the first time in a long time, a case in which every major traditional category, both batting and pitching, is being led by a home-grown Yankee.

Yes, you can argue that well, there are only four players here–Canó, Rivera, Pettitte and Hughes–but it’s four extraordinary performances by home-grown Yankees, and two of the them, especially, Canó and Hughes, are making their case to be playing in Anaheim come July.

Given the early season struggles of imports Sabathia and Vazquez (the latter who is not really struggling any more), and AJ Burnett being…well, AJ, the onus has fallen on Pettitte and Hughes to be consistent and holding up the latter part of the rotation. They haven’t done just that; they’ve also become the team’s best pitchers in the process.

As for the offense, after the departure of Hideki Matsui, the Yankees needed someone to step up, to be able to “protect” Alex Rodriguez, to provide the Yankees’ power while their three and four hitters struggled early. Robinson Canó, who if not for a mini-slump in early May might still be hitting .400, has been more than up to the task.

With both Hughes and Canó it’s been gratifying to see prospects begin to reach potential, but with Canó, who has been around longer and frustrating fans for so long that people in 2008 were clamoring for a trade, is especially satisfying.

This is no knock on Sabathia or Burnett or Teixeira or Rodriguez, but rather an excuse to remember, in the shadow of the draft, that yes, the Yankees do occasionally know what they’re doing, and that homegrown success often tastes the best of all.

Mike Lupica Writes Something Silly

Posted by Matt Imbrogno at 11:00 am 4 Responses »
Jun 092010

In an other wise relatively harmless article that was in yesterday’s Daily News, Mike Lupica said something that really got under my skin:

Cano covers No. 3 and No. 4 in the order, he covers no-show Nick Johnson and Curtis Granderson and Brian Cashman letting Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui just walk out the door.

I’m not mad about the Cano praise, but I’m peeved by the comments on Granderson and Cashman. Why is Lupica blaming Granderson for getting hurt? It’s also worth noting that Granderson has been hitting well of late. Including last night, he’s batting .324/.390/.595 with four doubles and two homers–one a grand slam–since returning from his groin injury. I’m not sure what Lupica’s watching, but that comment seems totally unfounded.

As for the shot at Cashman? That’s completely unnecessary. The Yankees made offers to both Hideki Matsui and Johnny Damon and they definitely made every effort to retain Johnny Damon, even offering him a two year contract when no one else was doing so.

How are the two of them performing? Matsui started hot, hit a skid, and is now back up to respectability with a .344 wOBA. Damon has cooled off as well, but is at a .354 wOBA, which is still good. Not including last night’s game, Brett Gardner’s wOBA is .377 and he’s been worth 1.4 WAR thus far, compared to Damon’s 1.0.

The Yankees are definitely doing more than okay without Matsui and Damon and Lupica’s comment is certainly out of line. But, then again, should I really expect something different out of him at this point?

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30 New Potential Yankees - Initial Reaction

Posted by EJ Fagan at 9:45 am 3 Responses »
Jun 092010

After a long day, I woke up early to start to process the Yankee draft Day 2. Here is a spreadsheet that I made with all their picks, and some of my notes:

Initial Thoughts:

Best Value Pick: Robert Segedin, 3rd round. This guy has a huge, towering bat. He played in a fairly tough conference (C-USA), and for a big program. He has a very sketchy injury history, with two back and one shoulder injuries in the past few years. Still, he was healthy in 2010, and hit the cover off the ball. If he can stay healthy, he’s a late first round type talent, from what I can tell so far. He’ll stick at 3rd too.

Most Intriguing Pick: Evan Rutchyj – I’m excited to follow Rutchyj’s development. He’s a true diamond in the rough. He converted to left-handed pitching just a year ago. he already throws about 90 mph. He’s 6’6″. And he’s from Ontario, Canada, so very few scouts probably eyeballed him since converting. If they can sign him, he’s a brilliant pick for the 16th round. He’s as much of  a project as they come, but one with serious potential.

Back at 1 PM with more.

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