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Matt's Halfway Point Reflection

Posted by Matt Imbrogno at 3:00 pm 3 Responses »
Jul 072010

Yesterday, Steve posted his thoughts on the Yankee first half, so I thought I’d follow suit.

In general, the team has done very well. They’ve got the best record in baseball as of now and this comes despite some injuries and general inconsistency. Despite injuries to their Opening Day DH, Nick Johnson, and CF, Curtis Granderson (not to mention a 15 day DL stint by Jorge Posada), the Yankees feature one of the best offenses in all of baseball. This also comes with under performance from sluggers Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez (who’ve been hot of late). Robinson Cano, Nick Swisher, and Brett Gardner have all hit very well, though, to make up for the slack from other players. Derek Jeter has struggled with consistency as well, but has also been hitting better lately. In terms of grading, I’d give the offense a A-. They’ve been inconsistent at times, but considering how many times they’ve had to miss player, they’ve done fantastically.

The starting rotation has been the most pleasant thing about this team. Though Javier Vazquez and A.J. Burnett struggled at different times, the other pitchers have been relatively consistent and when one has fallen, the others have picked him up. Phil Hughes has scuffled lately, but that’s to be expected from a young starter. Burnett had a solid start his last time out; Pettitte is pitching incredibly; CC is CC. All is right with the Yankee rotation. I give them a solid A.

The bullpen has been iffy at best, with only Mariano Rivera pitching well consistently. Damaso Marte has done well against lefties, too, but everyone else has been up and down. Like I mentioned in my post this morning, the Yankees could have help on the way in the person of Romulo Sanchez. Joba Chamberlain has been streaky, as has David Robertson. Sergio Mitre was pitching well before injury. Chad Gaudin has been ineffective and Chan Ho Park has been awful. I don’t think we’ll see those last two in pinstripes much longer. Bullpen grade? C.

Going forward, I think the Yankees could be scary good. If all the pitchers start clicking at the same time and the guys who can hit do the same, and the Yankees pull their usual second-half bullpen magic, this team could just steamroll others. With a team this good, I think we can be optimistic and say it’s more a matter if “when” they get rolling rather than “if” they get rolling. It’s been a fun 83 games thus far and I can’t wait for it to continue.

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10 Reasons To Send Swish

Posted by Stephen R. at 1:00 pm 13 Responses »
Jul 072010

With apologies to Delmon Young, Paul Konerko and Michael Young, this MLB Final Vote campaign really comes down to two candidates in the American League: Kevin Youkilis and Nick Swisher.  With less than 48 hours to go until polls close, Youkilis and Swisher are battling for the final spot, and Swisher has pulled ahead as of this morning.  Now is the time to dig in.  Do you have voter fatigue?  Are you feeling less than enthused about spending hours upon hours typing in the CAPTCHA code and unchecking the “Please Spam Me” box on MLB.com’s All-Star Final Vote ballot?  Do you need a pick-me-up to inspire you to carry Swisher across the finish line?  I thought up ten awesome reasons for you to burn out your eyes and wear out your mouse voting for Swisher.  Here they are, in no particular order.

1. Obscenity. Swisher used to make obscene gestures with Johnny Damon after each time one of them homered.  Here is an example (NSFW, obviously). Why is this a reason to send Nick Swisher?  Because Kevin Youkilis doesn’t have any friends with which to make obscene gestures, and the only time he made an obscene gesture in front of the camera was here (again, NSFW).  The person taking that photo was a four year-old Red Sox fan who cried for days afterwards.*  Youkilis hates his fans.

2. Good Humor. Ever see this commercial on ESPN?  Hilarious stuff.  He also appeared on How I Met Your Mother, which you can see here, and was equally funny.  Television critics generally agree that this commercial and this portion of the sitcom are the two greatest moments of television history in the aughts and the 10s-20s, as well as possibly since time immemorial.  Kevin Youkilis once appeared on Sully Versus McMurph** but quit after only 30 seconds because he didn’t like the lighting.

3. Ethics. Kevin Youkilis bludgeons baby seals.***  I saw him do it once and it was graphic and awful and he laughed like a maniac the entire time.  From what I understand, he does it regularly.  It’s how he soothes himself after a called third strike.****  Additionally, Youkilis knows how to plug the oil leak but refuses to share his secret.  Why won’t he tell?  Because he hates America.

4. Spite. The Boston beat writers are rooting for Youkilis.  Take Ian Browne*****, for instance. Check out these displays of homerism over the past few days: here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and just a few moments ago here. I think my favorite is the one about Youkilis lobbying with his bat.  Look, if Browne is going to be a fanboy and not observe the time-honored “no cheering in the press box” rule, then I think it is incumbent upon us to enforce it for him by keeping “Youk” at home.  Fair’s fair, or something.

5. Stats. Among American League outfielders, Nick Swisher has the fourth-highest wOBA, the seventh-highest wRC, the fifth-highest SLG,  the seventh-most HR and the eighth-most RBI.  If you restrict the parameters to RFers, Swisher ranks 2nd, 4th, 2nd, 4th and 4th in those respective categories.  That’s impressive.  If you restrict the parameters to strictly RFers that play in New York City then Swisher ranks first in all categories because Jeff Francouer is lame and probably should be playing in the indy leagues.  Swisher=1st.

6. Bribery. The Red Sox are offering Monster Seats to vote for Youkilis.  That’s called bribery where I’m from, and it’s completely untoward.  Untoward!  As an unrelated side note, I will give you a #FF on Twitter if you tell me that you voted for Swisher.  I only have 110 followers, but they’re awesome and also impressionable and they’ll all follow you immediately.******  If you don’t have a Twitter account then I will send you ten Gmail invites.

7. Good Times. When I went to the World Series celebration parade, I got to see all the players up close.  It was fun.  Cervelli, Pena and Matsui looked like they stepped out of a Canali ad.  Jeter looked like Jeter, with a fade and sunglasses that looked like they came straight from the mid-90s.  Sabathia looked cool as ever, and Tex looked like the whitest guy in New York City.  And Swisher?  He and his then-girlfriend, now-fiance Joanna Garcia looked like they had been partying for two days straight. And you know what?  I bet they had. That’s just how they roll.

8.  Heroism. One time I was walking home from the subway and there was a building on fire.  Firefighters were too afraid to go in because the heat from the flames was melting their hoses.  It was grim.  And then out of nowhere a flash of long hair went running into the building, straight into the flames.  We all screamed, “NO!  NO!  IT’S TOO HOT!  YOU’LL NEVER MAKE IT”, but the man paid us no mind.  In he went, and he made trip after trip into the flames.  Out came a baby in a bassinet.  Out came a grandmother in a rocking chair.  Out came three kittens.  Out came the family’s dried goods, their fruit and vegetables, their flatware and their coffee table.  Out came their television, their DVR and their collection of DVDs.  Finally the man collapsed on the sidewalk.  He smelled of smoke, and his hair was singed.  I think you know who it was, and now you also know how he got his mohawk.

9.  Empathy. Nick Swisher would vote for you.  Ever read his Twitter account?  He would totally vote for you, bro!

10.  Eye Candy.

Joanna Garcia

Swisher FTW.  Go ahead, get going.  Send Swish.

*Unverified, possibly made up by the author.

**Sully Versus McMurph is* a late night cable-access sports show on local Boston television featuring two middle-aged men arguing with one another about Boston sports.  Typical arguments include whether the 2007 Red Sox remind them more of the 2004 Patriots or the 2008 Celtics, as well as whether anyone would have the gall to deny that Boston-area sports teams are the best and that Boston-area sports fans are the most authentic.  Generally speaking, they rarely find anyone denying or attempt to deny any of it.  Then they argue over whether the mayor of Red Sox City should be Pedroia or Bruschi.

*As of press time I was unable to verify that this show exists.

***Unclear as to whether the bludgeoner was Youkilis or someone else; also unclear as to whether the object bludgeoned was in fact a baby seal; also unclear as to whether the said event ever took place, or whether it was imagined so as to gain sympathy for the author’s candidate of preference and arouse anger and loathing for his opponent; who can know such things?

****Please note that Kevin Youkilis has never had a legitimate third strike called against him; every called third strike was a ball and represented a personal slight toward him by the umpire.

*****This is the same Ian Browne that criticized Anthony DiComo for calling Mike Pelfrey “Pelf”.  Why is this relevant?  Because Browne can’t refer to Kevin Youkilis without calling him “Youk”, something that DiComo and I noted. Apparently Boston writers are the only ones allowed to be fanboys.  I really need to unfollow some of these guys.  It’s bad for my health.

******They probably won’t.

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Romulo the Reliever

Posted by Matt Imbrogno at 11:00 am 2 Responses »
Jul 072010

With the recent setback to Alfredo Aceves in his rehab from a back issue, we’ve learned that hard throwing Romulo Sanchez has been shifted to the bullpen, foreshadowing a recall to the Major Leagues.

I like this plan a lot. Romulo doesn’t have much of a ceiling as a starter and even if he did, there likely isn’t going to be room for him in the next year or so. Also, Sanchez just turned 26 in April, so while he’s got time, he’s not as young as other pitchers in the system and it may be time to convert him to a full time reliever so the Yankees can get some value out of him.

I think Romulo can make a successful transition to the bullpen for a few reasons. First is his arm. Everything we hear about Romulo is that he throws incredibly hard and that was proved during his appearance with the Yankees earlier in the season. His fastball averaged 95.6 MPH in his 3.2 inning stint in Boston. This obviously means he’s got strikeout stuff. Relief pitchers are most effective when they can keep runners off base and keep inherited runners from scoring. The best way to do this? Strikeouts. With a fastball that fast, and a changeup to compliment it (his CH in Boston went 84.4 MPH, a great differential), Sanchez could rack up the Ks in the Yankee pen.

The other reason he can fit well into the bullpen is that he is able to fill a dual role. Because of his impressive stuff, Sanchez can likely be just fine as a one inning-come in and blow ‘em away reliever. But, because of his past in the minors as a starter (43 MiL starts), he can also go multiple innings which is obviously very valuable. Without Aceves and Mitre, who was actually effective, the Yankees have had spotty multi-inning relief this season. If Sanchez is effective, he could plug a big hole and start the second-half bullpen resurgence that we’ve all come to expect from the Yankees in recent years.

Of course, Sanchez doesn’t come without one big question mark: control. His career BB/9 in the minors is 4.0, but in the last two seasons he’s walked 4.6 per nine and 5.2 per nine. This looks to be his weak point. If he can harness his control, the Yankees could have a very effective reliever. If not, well, he can be sent back down and perhaps Jonathan Albaladejo can get another shot.

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Not buying these Cliff Lee trade rumors

Posted by Steve S. at 7:11 am 3 Responses »
Jul 072010

I’m sure you’ve heard them by now. The Yanks are in on Cliff Lee. They have what it takes to get him. They can even draw up a scenario where they flip Javier Vazquez in a side deal and land the Lefty Ace. Yankee scouts were  reported to be in attendance during his last start, further fanning the flames. I think these reports range from the diversionary to the utterly meaningless. Let’s address them one by one:

-Do the Yanks have what it takes? Yes, we all know that Seattle covets a young Catcher in a trade and the Yanks are stacked at that position. But you don’t spend a rare, precious asset like that unless there’s a need to fill, and the Yanks currently have no need for a Starter, even one as good as Lee.

-The Yanks are playing the Mariners next week, I would expect them to have some scouts at a Mariners game even if Cliff Lee was no longer on the team. It’s called advance scouting, it happens all year long but people only take notice of these things around the trade deadline.

-The stuff about flipping Javier Vazquez is an attempt to make the Yanks appear to be serious bidders when any GM who looks at their roster would conclude they’re not. If you’re only involved to drive up the price, you have to be viewed as credible in order to be effective.

Would he improve the team’s chances in 2010? Of course he would. But the marginal difference between Javier Vazquez and Cliff Lee isn’t worth giving up a prospect like Montero. If you look at it using WAR, Lee have averaged being a 6.90 WAR player over the past 2 full seasons (he was sent down to the minors in 07) while Vazquez has been a 5.70 WAR player over that same time frame. Would you give up one of the best hitting prospects in the minors and controlling him over the next 6 years for that marginal gain? No way. That’s not overpaying, that’s insanity.

Will the Yanks being involved? Yes, absolutely. But for two purposes. First, they will want to see if the price falls so low that they wouldn’t be able to pass him up (unlikely). Second, they will want to make sure they establish a nice floor of prospects for the deal so the the team who gets him doesn’t steal him like the Mets did with Santana. We see the Yanks-Sox do stuff like that to each other all the time, but even if it’s a team like the Twins or Rangers they will still want to make sure they bid up the price to a fair market level. The Twins and Rangers are likely playoff opponents both now and in future years, dangling a Montero could force them to up their offer and cost the Yanks nothing when they back out at the last minute. The Mariners will (of course) be more than happy to play along with this and inform all the prospective bidders of the Yankee offer, since it’s in their interest to do so.

It simply makes more sense for the Yanks to wait until the off season and just give up the two draft picks and a boatload of cash for Lee. Is the Yankee interest in Lee totally serious? No, I don’t believe it is because they have no obvious need for him. It’s Roy Halladay all over again.

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