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.

Decisions, Decisions

Posted by Matt Imbrogno at 11:00 am 1 Response »
Dec 022010

The Yankees have a bunch of looming decisions. The most immediate decision has to deal with offering arbitration/tendering offers to Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes, Dustin Moseley, Sergio Mitre, and Boone Logan. There are two no brainers in here: yes, offer arbitration or tender contracts to Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain. They’re definitely deserving of it and have performed well enough to get a decent contract.

Boone Logan should also be tendered a contract since he’ll probably still be cheap, considering he made just $590,000 in 2010 and performed well enough in the second half to justify a return.

In a perfect world, Sergio Mitre and Dustin Moseley would be non tendered and allowed to be free agents. However, as Joe and Mike over at River Ave. Blues said during yesterday’s Podcast, one of them will probably be brought back just for depth. I hate Sergio Mitre and Dustin Moseley is about as worthless to the Yankees as you can get, but either one will be cheap and very easy to let go when he lays an egg. Mitre showed a bit more, though, so I assume he’s the one who will be returning while Mr. Moseley will be looking for a minor league deal somewhere.

There are other pitching related decisions to be made, too.

The Rangers are apparently ready to offer Cliff Lee a five year deal. So, the decision for the Yankees will be whether to beat the Texas offer in years or money. My philosophy is always to overpay in money, rather than years when it comes to pitchers. The Yankees should sit back, see how much the Rangers were offering for five years, and then try to beat it by a few million. They should only go to a sixth year if that is an absolute sticking point for Mr. Lee and his agent.

Next, there is the Zack Greinke trade talk that’s been floating around. I’m not going to hold my breath on this trade, but it’s something nice to dream about. If the Yankees feel they can get this hypothetical deal done without having to trade Jesus Montero to Kansas City, they should absolutely pull the trigger (again, assuming ZG waves his NTC and allows himself to be acquired by the Yankees). I wonder if this is a possible plan B to Cliff Lee or just a plan A-2. That is, if one happens, does it cancel out the other? This leads me into another decision.

Will the Yankees wait on Andy Pettitte? The Yankees have a (very very very very) small chance at landing both Cliff Lee and Zack Greinke. However, if both are accomplished, that means they’d have no room for Andy Pettitte, unless they moved A.J. Burnett to the bullpen–which they’re not about to do–or traded him, which would be damn near impossible at this point. This makes me think that Lee is Plan A and a possible-but-not-at-all-probable Zack Greinke trade is Plan B. While I’d love to jump at the chance to get ZG, I’d prefer to sign Lee and Pettitte for just money, while holding on to the prospects that it would take to acquire Greinke.

What do you readers think? Do you think the Yankees should ditch Lee and pursue a Greinke trade? Should they wait on Andy Pettitte before implementing a Plan B? Should they let both Mitre and Moseley walk?

Tagged with: , , , , , , , ,

Making the Case

Posted by Matt Imbrogno at 11:00 am 20 Responses »
Sep 232010

Right after the rain delay ended last night, Jack Curry tweeted the following:

Yanks expect 11 pitchers for DS. CC, AJ, Andy, Phil, Mo, Wood, Joba, Logan, Rbrtsn r locks. Nova, Vazquez, Gaudin, Mitre fight 4 2 spots

Let’s lay out the case for each guy, then, and we’ll see what you readers think.

Javier Vazquez has a few things going for him: he’s a veteran and managers always like that in the playoffs. He’s also proven himself to be a good, sometimes great starter. Granted, we haven’t seen that much this year, but he does still have the ability to pitch well. At his best, he’s waist, chest, shoulders, and head above the other guys on this list. When he’s at his worst, though, he’s just as bad as the others.

If we’re going on recent performance then I guess it’s got to be Ivan Nova. While he’s had trouble going deep into games, he’s still pitched pretty well of late and that should hold some weight with the coaching staff and front office. In the bullpen, he won’t need to go through the order more than once, if he has to even do that much.

Gaudin and Mitre are basically the same exact pitcher: sometimes good, most of the time not so much. Gaudin misses bats a little more than Mitre does, but Mitre gets more grounders.

Curry forgot to mention Dustin Moseley, who’s entering the game as I write this, but that’s for good reason. There’s really no case to make for him.

At the end of the day, I think it’s going to be Nova and Vazquez. They’ve got the best talent and are most useful. They can go multiple innings or make a start if there’s a disaster, and they’re not named “Chad Gaudin,” “Sergio Mitre,” or “Dustin Moseley.” And, honestly, the chances that they pitch meaningful innings in the playoffs are very small.

Tagged with: , , , ,

Pitching Updates: Hughes, Marte, Aceves

Posted by Moshe Mandel at 1:00 pm 1 Response »
Sep 082010

Joe Girardi provided the Yankee beat writers with three little nuggets of news about Yankee pitchers this morning. Mark Feinsand has the scoop:

Phil Hughes will be skipped one start in the Yankees rotation to limit his innings, Joe Girardi said before Wednesday’s series finale against Baltimore. Dustin Moseley will start Sunday in Texas, and Hughes will return to the rotation next Wednesday in Tampa.

Also, Girardi said Alfredo Aceves (back) will not return this season, and Damaso Marte (shoulder) will “probably not” be back in 2010.

The news on Hughes has been a long time coming. He has thrown more innings this season than ever before in his career, and the baseline high that the Yankees seem to be using comes from 2006. He has already thrown 50 or so more innings than he did in any of the previous three seasons. Whether due to a tired arm or something else, Phil’s stuff seems to have suffered over the last few weeks, with his fastball command lacking and his cutter having little bite. Giving him 10 days off to rest his arm is a prudent move, as the Yankees will need Phil to give their rotation some depth in the postseason. Interestingly enough, as @dturkenk noted on Twitter, this also prevents Texas from seeing any of the 3 starters they would likely face if the two clubs met in the ALDS, as Vazquez, Burnett, and Moseley are now lined up to pitch over the weekend.

As for the loss of Marte and Aceves for the season, the emergence of Boone Logan and the acquisition of Kerry Wood soften what might have seemed like a devastating blow in May or June. Even if both players were healthy, neither was likely to pass the key relievers currently on the roster in Joe Girardi’s pecking order in time for the postseason anyhow, and would have been relegated to “last man in the bullpen” status. As surprising as this is to say, their injuries turned out to be no big deal.

Tagged with: , , , , , ,

Does Javy Have His Groove Back?

Posted by Moshe Mandel at 9:19 am 5 Responses »
Aug 312010

Javier Vazquez looked incredibly sharp in last night’s relief appearance, going 4.2 innings while allowing one run on two hits and 6 strikeouts. He looked sharper than he had since August started, and credited the change to a mechanical tweak made by Dave Eiland:

There is a slight mechanical adjustment that seems to be helping Vazquez’s fastball. When he lifts his left leg in his delivery, Vazquez is bringing the leg farther back. It’s not more of a twist, he said, and the leg’s not coming up any higher, it’s just coming a little farther back toward second base.

“The arm angle also has to play a part of it, but (pitching coach Dave Eiland) feels like that’s going to give me better momentum, and it has,” Vazquez said. “The ball was true to where I wanted it to be.”

The mechanical change had tangible results, as Javy’s stuff was noticeably sharper than it had been in recent weeks. Unlike Javy’s starts in August, during which he was battling a dead arm and averaged 88 MPH on his fastball, Javy was close to 90 MPH (89.37) with his fastball. He threw 30 four seamers, including 19 for strikes with 3 swinging strikes, and 6 two seamers which netted 5 strikes. His breaking stuff was even better, as he threw 7 of his 10 changeups for strikes (2 swinging), 13 of his 17 curveballs for strikes (3 swinging), and 2 of his 3 sliders for swinging strikes. He had swing and miss stuff last night, as he got 10 swinging strikes among his 66 pitches (15.1%).

The question is, what is the next step with Javy? I have seen some people state that the team should take it slow with him and let him work in the bullpen for a bit longer to make sure he is equipped to start again. I disagree, and feel that he should take Dustin Moseley’s next turn. Javy was excellent from the middle of May through July, a stretch that constituted the bulk of his season. He lost his starting spot due to a dead arm that resulted in 4 atrocious starts, rather than due to an extended period of ineffectiveness. Now that his velocity is back up and his breaking stuff looks sharper, I see no reason to believe that Dustin Moseley will be the more effective starter going forward.

Tagged with: , , , ,

On Pettitte's Injury

Posted by Matt Imbrogno at 11:00 am 3 Responses »
Aug 182010

We learned last night–from the (awful) My9 broadcast and a bunch of beat writers on Twitter–that Andy Pettitte has a “small, persistent strain of the left groin” and that it’ll set him back from throwing on a mound again for about a week.

This got me wondering, as it has any time a Yankee starter has missed a scheduled start this season: is the Yankees’ depth as good as we think it is?

Of course, my immediate thought goes to Joba Chamberlain and the fact that he’s in the bullpen. He has, as expected, pitched pretty well there. Still, I can’t help but think if the Yankees would’ve been in better shape if he stayed a starter and was used to fill in for Pettitte instead of Sergio Mitre and Dustin Moseley. I can’t argue with the results, though, as Moseley’s been okay and Joba’s been good, too.

With the recent developments concerning Javier Vazquez and his supposedly dead arm, though, we could see someone else get a start. If the Yankees don’t want to make a roster move, it’ll be Mitre or Chad Gaudin. I’m not a huge fan of either one of those guys at this point. They could roll with Ivan Nova, which I wouldn’t mind considering that he’s done well in AAA. Unfortunately, Zach McAllister hasn’t really done well at AAA so that option is eliminated.

Maybe, though, I’m getting ahead of myself here. It’s always possible that Vazquez pitches more effectively and that A.J. Burnett and Phil Hughes remember who they are and pitch well, too. Regardless of that, I think we all want Andy back as soon as possible.

Another possibility is that the Yankees depth is better than it seems. After all, I’m not all that familiar with the pitching depth of the other teams. Could they have guys fill in as well or better than Moseley? Maybe? Maybe not?

As I mentioned above, the best remedy for the Yankees is for the non-injured pitchers to do well and pitch deep into games. The more they can do that, the better. The more games they can win, the less pressure lands on the shoulders of Dustin Moseley.

Get well soon, Andy!

Tagged with: , , ,

Thoughts From a Loss

Posted by Matt Imbrogno at 11:00 am 4 Responses »
Aug 042010

Alright so the Yankees lost REALLY ugly last night. Here’s what was going through my head while the game was going on:

–As someone who loves baseball, it was at least a little cool to watch Romero work. He pitched excellently last night and had the Yankees totally off balance. This isn’t to say that they didn’t help him by swinging early in the count, but Romero just owned them.

–Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter can start being Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter any time now. Both guys have OBPs below .340. And, as Steve said in the comments of my Jeter article yesterday, maybe it’s time to think about dropping Alex down in the lineup as well. Perhaps it’ll take a bit of pressure off of Alex’s back if he and Cano swap places until A-Rod heats back up.

–In a similar vein to what I just said, what would you guys offer Jeter in the offseason? At this point, I think I’d rather overpay in money to be able to go short on years. I’d bite a 3/50-55 bullet, but I’d prefer 2/40.

–Dustin Moseley did a better job than his line will suggest. The last homer he gave up was the only real mistake that he made and I absolutely loved all the groundballs he was getting at the beginning of the game.

–Michael Kay made a comment that I hope was sarcastic about not knowing we have muscles in our thumbs. Once a game, Kay says something along these lines that makes him look so incredibly stupid. I have to think he’s doing this on purpose.

–And, finally, in non-A-Rod Milestone news, we’re still waiting on Austin Kearns’s first Yankee hit.

Tagged with: , , ,

Dustin's Night

Posted by Matt Imbrogno at 3:00 pm 5 Responses »
Jul 302010

Yesterday, I penned (typed?) a post about how I wasn’t expecting much out of Dustin Moseley during last night’s game. Well, during the game against the Indians last night, I was very, very pleasantly surprised.

After a rocky first inning during which he threw 31 pitches, Moseley settled down and ended up throwing six solid innings, allowing one earned run on four hits and two walks while striking out four. He also had a .261 WPA, the highest of the game. Way to go, Dustin. That’s a hell of a spot start. Let’s jump into the Pitch F/X and see how Mr. Moseley got the job done last night at the Jake (yes, I know it’s called Progressive Field but I refuse to call it that; it’s forever Jacobs Field in my mind).

Moseley threw a total of 83 pitches, 55 of them for strikes (66.27%).

His four seamer, he threw 37 (25 strikes), averaged 90.45 MPH and he maxed out at 92.5 MPH. He didn’t get any swings and misses on the four seamer, but he was throwing it for strikes which allowed him to set up his non-fastball pitches.

He threw 39 non-fastballs last night–13 changeups (10 strikes), 9 sliders (6 strikes), and 17 (10 strikes) curveballs. He got two whiffs on the deuce and one on the change.

Moseley also got eight ground balls compared to three fly balls against the Indians, which is always nice to see.

So it seems we got a glimpse of Moseley’s game: use the fastball to set up the offspeed stuff and get them to hit the ball on the ground. Dustin mixed his pitches very well last night and if he can keep doing that, the Yankees will have found a reliable fill in.

Tagged with: ,

Hoping for the best

Posted by Matt Imbrogno at 1:00 pm 3 Responses »
Jul 292010

just hoping nothing happens

Later today, Dustin Moseley will make his first start in a Yankee uniform. He’s pitched in four games for the Yankees to the tune of a 4.22 ERA. He’s showed okay control with a 3.4 BB/9 but his K/9 is under 5 and his H/9 is also very low, coming in below 6, which is obviously something he can’t keep up. His FIP in this small sample is also 5.73 with an xFIP of 4.70. Of course, these numbers have come in 10.2 innings so they mean next to nothing.

All I’m asking for tonight, Dustin, is that you last at least five innings and give up no more than five runs. You’re facing the Indians, so maybe I could expect more than that. But, with the way Sergio Mitre pitched against the Royals in his spot start, I’m not holding my breath on anything great. All I can really hope for is that Moseley doesn’t embarrass himself, get hurt, or put the Yankees in an awful position in terms of the bullpen.

This Pettitte injury really makes me miss Alfredo Aceves. Maybe I was selling him short in thinking he could probably never be more than a spot-starter at best, but he’d be a better option over Mitre, Moseley, and Chad Gaudin. Hopefully he doesn’t experience yet another set back in his recovery from a back injury and can come back healthy for the playoff push.

The other thing the Pettitte injury makes me think about is what I said at the beginning of the year in relation to the fifth starter “competition” from Spring Training. If the Yankees had sent Joba Chamberlain to the minors instead of to the Major League bullpen when they announced Phil Hughes would be the fifth starter, he would be making the starts. And despite how poorly he’s pitched, we can’t say that it would be exactly the same had he started the year in AAA and he’d likely be another upgrade over the aforementioned pitchers. Of course, not everything can go the way we want it to.

The Yankees, with regards to Moseley and Mitre (and possibly Ivan Nova later), are doing what every team does when dealing with injury: they’re mixing, they’re matching, and they’re trying as best they can to plug leaks.

Tagged with: , , , ,

Thoughts Inspired by Last Night's Game

Posted by Matt Imbrogno at 3:00 pm 3 Responses »
Jul 272010

Though it wasn’t high scoring, last night’s game was quite exciting. Here’s what I was thinking during and after the game.

–I really liked the way Javy Vazquez pitched last night. I thought he mixed his pitches well and his breaking stuff had good movement. The 7th inning at bat versus Travis Hafner. Despite missing badly on the first pitch and then throwing ball two going down 2-0, Vazquez battled back and struck Hafner out swinging on a well placed fastball. He may not have gotten fantastic run support last night, but Javy pitched well nonetheless.

–I know it’s just four at bats, but Derek Jeter did not look good last night. Three groundouts and a strikeout…but, to be fair no one was really putting good swings on Westbrook last night.

–Curtis Granderson’s homer was nice to watch. He absolutely crushed that ball for his third homer in two games and hopefully, he’s turned a corner and will stay hot. Since getting home from the Oakland and Seattle trip, Granderson’s got a .314/.366/.583/.949. On a non-baseball note, I thoroughly enjoy listening to Curtis speak to a reporter after games. He’s incredibly well spoken and it’s beyond refreshing to hear an athlete have a conversation not riddled with cliches and “Uh…um…uh…um…”

–During the course of the game, MLBTR informed us that the Yankees are trying to move Chan Ho Park. If they do trade Park, don’t expect anything more than a fringy prospect in exchange.

–Pregame, we also learned that Dustin Moseley will start in place of Sergio Mitre. It may not be a huge improvement, but I’m glad Mitre won’t be starting. Still, I’m a bit surprised that they won’t give Mitre a second shot. If Moseley’s start doesn’t go well, I think we’ll see the return of Ivan Nova to the Majors. Some may ask why doesn’t that happen now, but I can see the logic in giving someone already on the 25 man the shot first. Moseley’s just young enough and has pitched just not poorly enough to get the benefit of the doubt for at least one start. If he can’t handle it, then maybe you think about losing him and bringing up Nova.

Tagged with: , , , , ,

Remaking the Yankee bullpen

Posted by Steve S. at 6:00 am 20 Responses »
Jul 192010

Can Robertson emerge from the darkness to save the bullpen?

If there’s one area of concern on the 2010 Yankees it’s been the bullpen, despite yesterday’s fine effort. More specifically, the problem has been the bridge to Mariano Rivera, who at age 40 is remarkably having one of his best seasons. I’ll go through the issues one by one and then propose some changes, all internal and none of which involve a trade. I’m not big on giving up talent for relievers due to their volatile nature and the learning curve involved with how to use them. Might as well just go with internal options that you are more familiar with and see if they can do the job.

-Joba Chamberlain has been put on notice by Joe Girardi, but unless he starts dominating (ala  Joba 07) it’s hard to imagine him being able to doing anything to regain the trust of fans and his manager. We all know his peripherals have been good, but he’s been far too combustible in his current role. You can’t bring Mo in for 6 out Saves on nights when Joba doesn’t have it, so it’s best to either bury him in the bullpen or send him to AAA. I prefer the latter. There has long been whispers about Joba needing a wake up call, riding the buses in Scranton would certainly be that.

-Damaso Marte was placed on DL with a shoulder strain on Saturday, and Boone Logan was called up. Does that injury sound familiar? Yep, he had what was described as a mild shoulder strain in his first year with the Yankees, then again last year when he spent m0st of the season on the DL. It’s anyone’s guess how serious it is this time, but all we can say for certain that it is a recurring issue for him. Yanks are saying 2-3 weeks, don’t hold your breath.

-David Robertson is being discussed taking over Joba’s role as the primary setup man. While his overall numbers don’t look great, he’s been reliable since his ERA peaked at an ugly 14.21 early in the season. Since May 5th, over his last 22 outings he’s had a 2.70 ERA and has  SO 27 batters in 24.1 IP. Walks have been high, with 15 BB over that same time frame. But he’s always walked batters, it’s part of who he is. That doesn’t preclude him from being effective.

-Sergio Mitre is due to be activated from the DL, and is expected to join the team on Tuesday for the Angels series. I have to assume he takes Pettitte’s place and slots into his spot in the rotation with Andy on the shelf for 2-3 weeks minimum.

-Andy’s injury probably saved Chad Gaudin’s spot on the roster, who was one of the most likely candidates to be released when Mitre was activated. Chad has done little in his second go round with the Yanks, posting a 6.52 ERA this year. But looking at Gaudin’s game log he’s been better of late,  giving up just 4 ER over his last 13.1 IP. Despite this, I think the Yanks will want to give Dustin Moseley more of a chance and Gaudin remains the one on thin ice. Moseley has only pitched 6.0 innings for the team this year and could be useful as a Ramiro Mendoza-type who can either get you a ground ball or give you a few innings.

Now that we’ve laid it all out, I would do the following to remake the current bullpen:

-Release Chad Gaudin when Pettitte returns

-Release Chan Ho Park, call up Jon Albaladejo to take his place.

-Demote Joba to AAA call up Ivan Nova

The beauty of this is that the guys you’re calling up can’t be much worse than Park, Gaudin, or (in all honesty) Joba have been this year. If any of them pitches to an ERA below 6.00, it’s an upgrade. Of these 3 items, I fully expect the first two to happen. Demoting Joba would take some guts, and the Yanks may be swayed by his peripherals enough to stick with him. Assuming Joba pitches well in Scranton, he would be recalled when their season ends in early September (if not sooner) and could still contribute to the MLB club this year.

The Yankee bullpen would then be as follows:

Mariano Rivera (Closer)

David Robertson (Set up)

Damaso Marte/Boone Logan (LOOGY)

Sergio Mitre

Jon Albaladejo

Ivan Nova

Dustin Moseley (long man)

What do you think? What moves would you like to see the Yanks make?

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