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7/15 Link Dump and Commentary

Posted by Matt Imbrogno at 3:00 pm 1 Response »
Jul 152010

Sal D’Amico of BBD implores Commissioner Selig to make up his mind about the All-Star Game. I sit on the exhibition side of this argument. Where do you guys sit?

Chad Jennings again reminds us of just how well Jon Albaladejo is pitching in Scranton. What else does this guy have to do to get a shot? The Yankees do want a guy who can give length, but this guy is pitching just too well to be ignored. There’s literally no way he could be worse than Chan Ho Park. Free the Alphabet!

Brian Cashman says A-Rod’s thumb is not an issue and he will not miss any time. That’s reassuring because any more of Ramiro Pena or Kevin Russo than necessary is something to which none of us would look forward.

No link, but how awesome was CC before the All-Star break? During his eight game win streak, he’s tossed 59.2 innings to a batting line of .204/.273/.256/.529. His ERA is a sparkling 1.81 and his K/BB is a solid 2.77. In these eight starts, he’s gone at least seven innings every time and has allowed no more than three runs. He’s also not given up a run in one of those starts, while giving up only one run in three of those starts. To borrow a phrase from Mike Axisa, CC is in beast mode.

Who Is A Contender, If Not The Yankees?

Posted by Moshe Mandel at 1:00 pm 13 Responses »
Jul 152010

I noticed this little blurb over at Rob Neyer’s SweetSpot blog, written by the fine folks over at IIATMS:

It’s hard to know what to expect from the 2010 version of the New York Yankees. Should we focus on the great starting pitching, and the hitting of Robinson Cano and Nick Swisher? Or should we worry about A-Rod’s nagging injuries and the shaky bullpen? True enough, the Yankees are on a pace to win more than 100 games. But they are 16-3 against the weakest teams on their schedule (Baltimore, Houston, Cleveland) and just 25-22 against everyone else. So far, the Yankees have won eight and lost eight against division rivals Boston, Tampa Bay and Toronto. We cannot pronounce these Yankees a championship-caliber team. Not yet.

These are sentiments that I have heard from plenty of Yankees fans, that despite the team’s lofty record, they are not a championship type team at this point. While I concede that the club is not perfect, I have to ask: if the Yankees are not a “championship caliber” club, who is? Watching the Yankees every day, some of us see flaws and tend to blow them out of proportion, turning bullpen struggles into an issue that is certain to torpedo their title hopes. We forget that the competition has flaws as well, and that their problems are likely greater and more numerous than those of the Yankees. The Yankees are most certainly a title contender, simply by virtue of being the best team in baseball. Is that where the analysis ends? Certainly not. There are circumstances under which the Yankees’ problems could get worse and other teams can improve, and suddenly the Yankees might be on the outside looking in. But as we stand now, I am quite confident in pronouncing the Yankees a championship caliber team.

Additionally, the concept of beating up on  bad teams is one that holds true for most good teams in sports. Would it speak better of the Yankees if they were terrible against the Orioles and had a strong record against better clubs? I think not. The 2009 world champion Yankees had a .680 winning percentage against teams below .500, compared to a .598 against teams .500 or better. This year’s team has seen a wider gap, but we are talking about a handful of games such that it is not a real significant difference (.731 v. .553, two different results in each category would see the same numbers as last season). As a point of comparison, the Red Sox have a .632 to .540 split, while the Rays are at a slightly more “impressive” .646 v. .575 (Interestingly, the Rays have played 40 games against over .500 clubs, while the Yankees have had 48 and the Red Sox 50). Good teams beat the teams that they are supposed to beat and hold their own against the better clubs. The Yankees are no different in that regard, and I see no reason for concern in these numbers.

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Another LHB Possibility

Posted by Matt Imbrogno at 11:00 am 1 Response »
Jul 152010

I couldn’t help but agree with Joe Pawlikowski of River Ave. Blues as he wrote yesterday that a lefty bat should be the Yankees’ number one priority at the trade deadline.

He ran through the typical candidates: Adam Dunn, Adam LaRoche, etc. One that wasn’t mentioned in the article, but was mentioned in the comments and in RAB’s off topic thread was that of Royals prospect Kila Ka’aihue.

This guy is simply wasting away in the Royals minor league system. For whatever reason, the Royals won’t give him any extended shot at the Majors. Right now, he’s the PCL’s OPS leader with a ridiculous 1.047 mark and in his distinguished MiL career, he’s had a fantastic 662/675 BB/K. He clearly knows the strike zone well (.126 IsoD) and with a .192 IsoP, he’s obviously got pop.

If nothing else, I think he’d be worth an extended shot. His minor league numbers are really impressive and at age 26, he deserves a shot. The only question, as with every trade, is price. Frankly, I’ve got no idea what Ka’aihue’s price would be. His numbers say he should be worth a lot, but the fact that KC won’t play him should give us pause. Are they just being stupid or is there something we don’t know? The way I see it, the inquiring team is at an advantage.

The inquiring team can say “Clearly you don’t like him; let us take him off your hands.” The Royals could counter by asking for the sky, but the inquiring team could just as easily say “If you like him so much, why don’t you give him a shot?” Ka’aihue would likely be the biggest winner in any trade talks that involve him. If a trade goes through, he’s likely to get an extended shot at playing time. If it doesn’t, maybe it knocks some sense into the Royals and they actually give him a shot at playing.

Of course, this comes with a big caveat: the Yankees already have a guy like this in their system and his name is Juan Miranda. Because of being blocked, he hasn’t gotten much of a shot. With Nick Johnson out and Miranda now healthy and raking, he should get the first shot at being the Yankees’ DH for the rest of the year.

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TYU on WFAN-Rescheduled

Posted by Steve S. at 6:00 am 11 Responses »
Jul 152010

Just a quick heads up, I received a call from Joe & Evan producer Pete Bilotti this afternoon, and the segment has been rescheduled for 2:00 on Thursday. So tune in if you can, it should be fun.

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