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YES Censors Affiliated Blogs Over Rafael Soriano Criticism?

Posted by Moshe Mandel at 5:00 pm 48 Responses »
Jan 252011

When news of Rafael Soriano’s signing filtered onto Twitter on the evening of January 13th, many Yankees fans were aghast at the length of the deal and the fact that the club had sacrificed a draft pick to obtain an 8th inning man. A number of those fans used their platforms as bloggers to criticize the signing. In particular, Mike Axisa and Joe Pawlikowski expressed displeasure with the move over at River Avenue Blues (RAB), while Steve Goldman penned a critical column entitled, “What the Heck Are the Yankees Doing?” that ran at his Pinstriped Bible blog. What happened next reeks of censorship and raises questions about the degree of journalistic integrity required by a sports network that is owned by the team that it purports to cover.

Pinstriped Bible is directly affiliated with the YES Network, as the site is designed to look like the YES homepage and is frequently featured on the YES front page. A few hours after being posted, Steve Goldman’s post was suddenly pulled, only to reappear a number of hours later with a new title (Soriano Strengthens the Pen, But Do Dominoes Fall?) and a softened stance. A visit to the page shows the altered title and article, but the URL still contains the original title. I have the original article saved (available upon request), and the primary differences are a few sentences added in support of the deal, as well as the moving of a positive paragraph to the beginning of the article. When asked about the incident, Goldman declined to comment.

River Avenue Blues has a slightly weaker affiliation with YES, as they simply have a YES toolbar at the top of their page, but they too are featured on the YES website and in commercials that run on the YES network. After seeing what had happened to Goldman’s post, I kept an eye on RAB to try and see if something similar occurred. Sure enough, a few hours after their criticism of the signing, I noticed that the YES toolbar had disappeared. When I asked the guys at RAB about it, they declined to comment, and continue to do so. I am not sure when it returned, but I did notice that it was still missing at least 4 days after the signing. It is now back in place.

So what happened? Being that the guys at RAB and Steve Goldman both declined to comment, I can only take a rough stab at it, but I think the answer is obvious from the facts. Remember, Brian Cashman had nothing to do with this signing, as he has confirmed that ownership was the brains behind the deal. So one of two things took place:

1) Ownership asked YES to block the criticism from being affiliated with YES in any way, and YES complied,

OR

2) YES took preemptive action because they knew that ownership would be upset if they saw the criticism linked to from the YES website.

Regardless of which choice is true, the conclusion is equally disturbing. Because YES hosts Pinstriped Bible, they likely were able to directly censor Goldman, asking him to remove his post and edit it so as to mitigate the harshest points of criticism within it. As for RAB, because YES has limited control over the content of the site, their only choice was to pull their toolbar from the site until the displeasure over the deal settled a bit.

The question then becomes whether there is anything wrong with what YES did in this case. Some might argue that the team has no responsibility to provide a forum for criticism of the club and the moves that they choose to make. The problem with this argument is that YES has already chosen to provide that forum by affiliating with blogs in the first place. PB and RAB are critical of moves made by Brian Cashman all the time, yet no censorship of this sort has ever occurred before, to the best of my knowledge. It is unseemly to suddenly object to the content of the blogs now that they are critical of whomever in the organization was responsible for signing Soriano, particularly when similar criticism of other key members of the organization has gone uncensored in the past.

The Yankees like to tell us that the YES network provides unbiased, balanced coverage of the Yankees, pointing to the fact that they carry Mike Francesa’s show on their airwaves and allow their announcers to be critical of the club. Affiliating with blogs who do not wear Yankee-colored glasses is a laudable step in that direction, and suggests a true commitment to journalistic integrity. However, once a decision has been made to abide by journalistic standards rather than be a propaganda arm for the club, YES needs to stick to those standards rather than sacrificing their integrity so as to avoid upsetting the wrong people.

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CAIRO on the Bench

Posted by Sean P. at 3:00 pm 1 Response »
Jan 252011

CAIRO is the projection system set up by SG, the man behind the curtain over at Replacement Level Yankee Weblog. Since it’s pretty dead out there right now, I figured we could take a look at some bench candidates and how they might project in 2011.

Now to be fair, projecting players who have yet to play in the majors is extremely difficult. In the past I have tried to take a “rolling average” concept to these projections and come up with a ballpark number for each prospect. It’s just too difficult to tell exactly how someone will transition to the major leagues. So keep that in mind as we look ahead.

NAME POS PA SB HR AVG OBP SLG wOBA BRAR
Montero C 508 1 18 .261 .326 .446 .337 24
Adams 2B 386 6 6 .240 .314 .373 .306 6
Nunez SS 528 19 7 .257 .296 .350 .286 6
Romine C 502 4 10 .238 .281 .362 .283 6
Pena SS/3B 324 7 3 .244 .290 .324 .274 1
Cervelli C 292 3 2 .255 .326 .347 .303 5
Russo 2B 419 9 4 .243 .305 .328 .286 0
Curtis OF 483 4 9 .242 .303 .361 .295 -1

BRAR- Position adjusted Batting Runs Above Replacement

Much to the chagrin of Yankee fans everywhere, we know Francisco Cervelli and Ramiro Pena will probably make the team out of spring training. In lieu of the Yankees signing another utility player though, this might make the most sense.

Montero would obviously be an upgrade over Cervelli and I don’t think anyone would question that. However it would be smart for the Yankees to see how he looks in spring training and get him some more seasoning in AAA. As for Austin Romine, I don’t think there is any doubt he needs more development time. He should get regular at bats in Scranton to continue his progress.

It’s so very easy to hate on Ramiro Pena because he is so very bad at baseball. However his ability to play SS, 2B and 3B is a skill unmatched at this point by anyone aside from Eduardo Nunez. Is the difference in hitting ability from Eduardo Nunez to Ramiro Pena really big enough to make up for Nunez’s poor defense though? Probably not. And while I’d love to see David Adams in the majors this year, his broken ankle needs to be rehabbed prudently. Had he gone uninjured, he may have seen some AAA time and thus be primed for a stint in the Bronx this year. Obviously that never happened. So it would be best for him to continue to play every day and get healthy. He is a solid defender but doesn’t have the positional utility that Nunez or Pena does. Ultimately I think Adams could be a really nice piece so I hope he continues to develop and can stay healthy.

Russo looked overmatched at the plate in his brief stint in New York but I thought he held his own in the field. I don’t think he’s as bad as he played last season but WOW, is a .470 OPS scary as hell. As for Colin Curtis, I don’t really have a firm grasp on what his role would be with the Yankees. As Mike Axisa broke down, the last two spots on the roster will be filled by one positional player who can play SS (read Nunez/Pena) and the last probably with some ability in the outfield. I agree with Mike that there are probably better options for that last spot on the market.

I think in the best case scenario, Eduardo Nunez and David Adams eventually turn into players the Yankees can depend on off the bench. Nunez would be able to play SS, 2B and 3B and if Adams goes the super utility route, he’ll play 2B, 3B and some outfield. Eventually, Jesus Montero and Austin Romine will take over the catching duties full time for the Yankees, squeezing out Frankie Cervelli and Russell Martin. That’s obviously not a scenario in play for 2011 though. In the future the Yankees should have some nice assets able to compliment their starting 9. In 2010 though, we should expect to see more of Ramiro Pena and Francisco Cervelli.

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Can A NY Manager Use Unconventional Tactics?

Posted by EJ Fagan at 1:00 pm 6 Responses »
Jan 252011

Last week, I wrote that the Yankees should use Rafael Soriano as a fireman, not as an 8th inning guy. Over at River Ave Blues, Ben Kabak wrote a post agreeing with me. Now, Stephen Rhoads, our former TYUer-turned-RABer offered a different reply. He argues that using Rafael Soriano that way makes tons of sense, but the NY media won’t let it happen:

It’s no secret that the New York media is unforgiving. While Brian Cashman seems to avoid a lot of the nastiness, plenty of reporters assume a sarcastic and critical approach towards Joe Girardi. Their Twitter accounts during games are rife with jokes about Girardi’s matchup binder, and they seem to enjoy playing “gotcha” with Girardi’s information about player injuries and explanations about decisions. Very simply, an unorthodox idea like using Soriano as the fireman would likely be met with criticism in print, in the airwaves and on the internet. One can imagine the reaction if Soriano blew a lead in the sixth inning and the Yankees lost the game, or if Soriano saved a lead in the sixth but saw Joba Chamberlain surrender the lead later in the game. It’s easy to picture the back page of the New York Post with a gigantic headline like, “Bonehead: Why is Joe Girardi using his $35 million dollar man in the sixth inning?”

He also mentions that the Yankee organization itself may not let Girardi use the unconventional tactic, even if he wants to.

I think that there’s a lot of truth in what Stephen says, but I still think Girardi should go for it. There will be plenty of indigent outrage from a bunch of old beat writers (Mostly George King and Joel Sherman, plus Mike Francessa on the radio I’m sure), calling for a return to 19th century strategy. And I’m sure that old-timers like Randy Levine within the Yankee organization will probably be a little bit angry. I just think that Girardi just shouldn’t listen to them.

This isn’t 1985. George Steinbrenner isn’t around to fire his championship-winning manager at the slightest sign of trouble. The New York Media is still plenty powerful, but its also a whole lot less dumb than  it was back in the Torre era. Does anyone really think that Chad Jennings is going to criticize Girardi for using such a self-evidently smart tactic? Bryan Hoch? Marc Craig? Bob Klapisch? The Yankees have plenty of young, smart beat writers who would be happy to contrast to their old antiquated colleagues in the press box. Sure, talk radio will freak out. But the outrage won’t be as extreme as it was in past years, because there will be dissenting voices in the crowd. Furthermore, Girardi has backers in the New Media that past managers did not have. Specifically, he has the blogs. Individually, few if any blogs on the internet have the penetration of a newspaper. But collectively, we all provide a voice of regular fans, reaching many thousands of Yankee fans every day. He’ll have the support of pretty much every smart blogger out there, helping to counterbalance the idiots on talk radio.

Later, Stephen says that the organization will not want to rock the boat and take on some kind of unnecessary risk. He says,

But the Yankees don’t particularly need to reinvent the wheel. They don’t need to discover untapped markets of value like the Rays or the Athletics need to in order to succeed. In New York, where the lights are as bright and as hot as anywhere on the planet and where “what have you done for me lately?” is a way of life, there is little margin for failing and looking dumb.

Here’s the thing: they kind of have to. The Rays and Red Sox are looking really strong this season, and the Yankees have some bumps on their own team to deal with. They aren’t longshots by any means, but they also aren’t shoe-ins. Both Tampa and Boston are very smart organizations who absolutely will be looking to discover untapped markets of value at every step along the way. If the Yankees are concerned about “looking dumb” more than winning games, then they will be the third best team in the division, and frankly look pretty dumb after spending three times the Rays payroll. Winning makes you look smart. Using Rafael Soriano the right way helps you win, which makes you look smart. Media outrage doesn’t game managers fired; losing games gets managers fired. Girardi should do everything he can to win games, and politely say “screw you” when Joel Sherman writes something stupid.

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The What If 5th Starter Candidates

Posted by Matt Imbrogno at 11:00 am 3 Responses »
Jan 252011

At this point in the Hot Stove season, the Yankees are pretty much set. They could still add a starter for some rotation depth or bring some position players in in minor league deals to add depth in AAA, but for the most part, the team on paper now is probably going to be the team on Opening Day. Since the real options for the fifth starter’s spot are so grim, I thought it’d be a fun–if not slightly sadistic/masochistic–exercise to go over the options that were once a possibility, but aren’t any more. This won’t include guys like Cliff Lee or Andy Pettitte who would just push others (read: Ivan Nova) back to the fourth/fifth spots.

The first one that comes to mind is Joba Chamberlain. This path is worn, so we won’t walk down it again. By know, you know where I stand on this.

Alfredo Aceves, without back injury, would definitely be up for this spot. The jack-of-all-trades was a starter in Mexico and the minors and had a wide array of pitches at his disposal. This may’ve been a stretch after missing pretty much all of 2010 but I think hew would’ve been worth the try; he’s definitely a better option than Mitre.

If not for injuries, we could be talking about Alan Horne in a rotation spot. He was great in 2007 with the Thunder but just couldn’t stay healthy or effective after that. Horne didn’t pitch at all in 2010.

Aside from Joba Chamberlain, the most perfect candidate for this spot would’ve been Ian Kennedy. Despite an unceremonious departure from New York, Kennedy still has some upside and definitely passes the Better Than Mitre test. With a 3.80/4.33/4.28 ERA/FIP/xFIP triple slash last year in 194 innings, Kennedy proved he can be at least an average pitcher somewhere in the Majors (2.4 fWAR, 2.7 bWAR). As much as I like Kennedy and would love to have him around, I’d still do the trade that sent him to Arizona and Austin Jackson to Detroit while bringing Curtis Granderson to New York.

The combination of the very cool part of the Hot Stove season–and the desperation to see ANYONE but Sergio Mitre in the fifth spot–has brought us to this…contemplating guys who could’ve helped the team if they were still in the organization. At this point, I have to wonder (like RAB did yesterday) if Mitre really IS the best option out there. The Serg isn’t going to be making much money this season and if he sucks, he can always be relegated back to the long-man spot or he can be let go without much of a financial hit. The Yankees are ready to throw the Sergio Spaghetti to the wall and see what sticks. What’s the worst that happens? He sucks as badly as Javier Vazquez did in 2010 and the Yankees cut him loose. What’s the best that happens? He proves himself worthy as a good groundball guy and the Yankees get some value. I’m not counting on that best case scenario, but considering the costs and the alternatives, I will no longer be irate if the Yankees end up trying it out.

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