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.

Take The Poll: Lee or Jeter?

Posted by Moshe Mandel at 5:00 pm 30 Responses »
Oct 262010

Tom Tango has a poll up at his excellent website in which he asks the following question:

I AM a Yankees fan. My team has 150 million dollars to spend. I’d rather it go to:

1) Derek Jeter

2) Cliff Lee

Tom is trying to determine how attached Yankees fans are to Jeter, and whether they would sacrifice him for Cliff Lee. 88.6% of voters chose Lee. Tom has a very “saber” oriented audience, and I wanted to see whether a more mainstream readership would reach the same conclusion. I think the 150 million number is obviously too high, so I will just simplify and ask this:

I AM a Yankees fan. My team can afford to hand out just one expensive contract. I’d rather it go to:

1) Derek Jeter

2) Cliff Lee

Please take the poll to the right, and then chime in on this topic in the comments.

Tagged with: , , ,

Yankees Reportedly Sign IFA CF Wilmer Romero

Posted by Moshe Mandel at 3:00 pm No Responses »
Oct 262010

Wilmer Romero BP from Blake Bentley on Vimeo.

According to Melissa Segura of SI, the Yankees have signed international free agent CF Wilmer Romero. The video above is a brief clip of Romero taking batting practice. Segura does not have bonus data as of yet, but “imagines it is significant.”

Keith Law provided an encouraging scouting report on Romero prior to the July 2nd scouting period:

Romero is a potential five-tool center/right fielder who takes a huge BP and has above-average speed and arm tools. But he is still extremely raw and has to go through MLB’s age verification process. As a result, he won’t sign as early as most of these other players. Both de la Cruz and Romero train at one of the independent facilities on the island, the International Academy of Professional Baseball.

Romero seems to fit in with the Yankee philosophy of picking up high upside players who play the middle of the field, and the scouting report reminds me a bit of Slade Heathcott. Romero is certainly years away and is apparently quite raw, but it is encouraging to see the Yankees compile a large number of lottery ticket type prospects in both the draft and in the international free agent market.

Tagged with: , ,

Yanks To Splurge On Free Agents?

Posted by Moshe Mandel at 1:00 pm 7 Responses »
Oct 262010

Going into the 2008-2009 free agency period, it was pretty clear that the Yankees were going to make a big splash on the free agent market. The club had missed the playoffs in 2008, and had a number of contracts coming off the books. With a large need at the top of the rotation, it was clear that the team would make a run at CC Sabathia and either Derek Lowe or AJ Burnett. After signing Sabathia and Burnett and trading for Nick Swisher, it seemed like the Yankees were basically done retooling. However, Brian Cashman looked at the upcoming free agent markets and decided that Mark Teixeira was too good to pass up, and the Yankees swooped in and nabbed him at the last moment. All three free agents were instrumental in the Yankees 27th championship, and their presence on the roster allowed the Yankees to bypass a weak free agent market in 2009-2010.

Now, as the calendar begins to inch towards the 2010-2011 free agency period, I am left wondering whether we may be in store for a repeat of 2008-2009. While the Yankees do not have many contracts coming off their ledger, they may look to next season’s free agent crop and realize that this year’s market may be the only opportunity to upgrade for the next few seasons. Outside of first basemen (Pujols, Gonzalez, Fielder), there are no elite players expected to be available next offseason.

While everybody expects the Yankees to go after Cliff Lee, most are not quite as certain that they will have interest in players such as Jayson Werth and Carl Crawford. Neither player will be cheap, and the upgrade relative to Brett Gardner or Nick Swisher is likely not large enough to justify the cost. However, Brian Cashman might take a look at his aging offense and come to the conclusion that these free agents might be the only solutions on the horizon. While it seems odd that one would upgrade an older offense by replacing some of its younger members, those are really the only positions at which the Yankees can upgrade, due to their older players being entrenched or more difficult to replace.

I do not think the Yankees will sign Crawford or Werth, and I would not be surprised if Brian Cashman pulls off a Swisher type trade that obviates the need to hand out more than one big free agent contract this offseason. Then again, I was shocked when they signed Teixeira. If the Yankees look at future free agent crops and find them wanting, they may choose to splurge on quality now rather than wait for something less expensive to develop down the road.

Tagged with: , , , ,

Money Savers and Drainers

Posted by Matt Imbrogno at 11:00 am 3 Responses »
Oct 262010

As I like to do every season, I’m going to compare the Yankee players’ theoretical fWAR dollars to their actual salaries and see which players gave the Yankees the most value and which players drained the most money. We’ll do batters today and pitchers tomorrow.

We’ll do the list in WAR order (nine highest), then we’ll sum it up at the end.

1. Robinson Cano, 6.4 fWAR worth $25.5MM. Salary: $9MM. Value: +$16.5MM
2. Brett Gardner, 5.4 fWAR worth $21.6 MM. Salary: $0.425MM. Value: +$21.175MM
3. Nick Swisher, 4.1 fWAR worth $16.4MM. Salary: $6.75MM. Value: +$9.65MM.
4. Alex Rodriguez, 3.9 fWAR worth $15.3MM. Salary: $32MM. Value: -$16.7MM.
5. Curtis Granderson, 3.6 fWAR worth $14.3MM. Salary: $5.5MM. Value: +$8.8MM.
6. Mark Teixeira, 3.5 fWAR worth $14.00MM. Salary: $20MM. Value: -6.00MM.
7. Derek Jeter, 2.5 fWAR worth $9.8MM. Salary: $21MM. Value: -$11.2MM
8. Jorge Posada, 2.4 fWAR worth $9.7MM. Salary: $13.1MM. Value: -$3.3MM.
9. Francisco Cervelli, 1.1 fWAR worth $4.4MM. Salary: $0.418MM. Value: +$3.82MM

Value Ranks:
1. Gardner
2. Cano
3. Swisher
4. Granderson
5. Cervelli
6. Posada
7. Teixeira
8. Jeter
9. Rodriguez

Italics means negative value.

This list should really surprise no one. The Yankees’ high priced, older talent had a bad collective 2010. Brett Gardner had what will likely be his career year while making just over the league minimum, so of course he’s going to return great value. And despite our frustrations with him, Frankie Cervelli did give the Yankees a bit of value this year. I think we’ll see the Melky Plan with Francisco: hang on to him while he’s cheap, then jettison him when he starts hitting arbitration and starts making too much money.

It also turns out that the Granderson deal was not some horrid thing that should’ve been undone. Granderson is relatively cheap for next year ($8.25) but goes up a bit in 2012 and ’13 ($10, $13 option) so granting a rebound year, he should return good value next year as well.

Nick Swisher makes only $9.75 next year so assuming he can repeat this year–or do something between 2010 and 2009–he’ll probably return value again, too.

As for the guys in the red, Teixeira is the only most likely to bounce back, considering his relatively young age compared to Jeter and Rodriguez and Posada. He also plays the least physically demanding position of the three and had a down year with the bat. I don’t think we’ll see the aforementioned trio in the black unless they have monster years.

Check back tomorrow when we look at the pitchers, starters and relievers.

Tagged with: , , , , , , , ,

Did Eiland take the fall for Burnett?

Posted by Steve S. at 7:22 am 6 Responses »
Oct 262010

Photo courtesy of the MSG.com

Brian Cashman said something interesting in an interview yesterday with WFANs Mike Francesa that may shed some light on why pitching coach Dave Eiland was let go. Here’s the audio:

MF:”How about Burnett, how do you feel about him going forward?”

BC:”All the ability is there. He has a complicated delivery, there were some things that took place this year that hopefully wont be a part of it going forward. He’s healthy, he’s certainly capable. I think there were a lot of things around AJ this year that won’t be a part of it next year. He’ll be back, he’ll be in the rotation and quite honestly I think you’ll see a much better version that what you’ve saw from June on. “

As I’m sure Yankee fans recall, Dave Eiland took an early June leave of absence for what was described at the time as ‘personal reasons’. Much was made at the time about how much AJ missed Dave Eiland, and over his next 5 starts he gave up 29 Runs in just 23.0 IP, ballooning his ERA from a respectable 3.72 to an ugly 5.25. It appears the Yanks were ready to part ways with Eiland (whose contract had expired) if, for whatever reason, he can’t meet his obligations to the team. The Yanks appear to think that his personal issues affected the ballclub by way of his absence, and therefore they need to find a replacement who can give them a 9-10 month annual commitment to be there.

In a column for NJ.com, Bob Klapisch adds more fuel to this speculative fire. He writes:

Cashman always liked Eiland but regarded the coach’s off-the-field issues as a potential liability in 2011, just as they were in 2010. It was during Eiland’s self-imposed, month long exile that A.J. Burnett lost his way; he, too, became a black hole and Cashman couldn’t take a chance on that happening again next year.

There’s so much mystery surrounding Dave Eiland’s dismissal and his mid season departure from the team that we’re forced to piece things together to find some answers. As with Burnett’s mysterious black eye in September, we are left with far more questions than answers. If this is the explanation for letting Dave go, don’t expect Eiland’s replacement to come from within. Bullpen Coach Mike Harkey filled in for Eiland while he was gone, and didn’t keep AJ from getting off track.

Tagged with: ,
© 2011 TYU Suffusion theme by Sayontan Sinha