Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

Yesterday marked the 89th anniversary of the Yanks’ acquisition of George Herman “Babe” Ruth from the Red Sox, perhaps the single biggest player transaction in baseball history. All told, the Bombers sent Sox owner Harry Frazee $125,000 in cash, as well as three annual payments of $25,000 at 6% interest in exchange for Ruth. The Yanks also loaned Frazee $300,000, accepting the mortgage to Fenway Park as collateral.

Fresh off a recording setting 29 homerun season in his final year with the Sawx, Ruth became the Sultan of Swat as we know him immediately after the trade, clubbing 113 homers in his first two years in pinstripes. The team went from a 701-780 (.473) record in the ten years preceeding Ruth’s acquisition to a 924-670 (.580) record in the ten years following the pickup. Ruth finished his career with a .342-.474-.690 batting line, a 207 OPS+, 714 homers, 2,217 RBI, 1330-2062 K/BB ratio, a .518 wOBP, and seven World Titles. He’s easily the greatest player in baseball history based on how he performed in comparison with the rest of the players in his era.

Thanks Harry. (h/t UWS)

Here’s your open thread for the night. The Rangers take on Montreal at home, the Knicks are off, the Isles are off, and the Devils suck. Talk about whatever else is on your mind, just be nice.

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

First we’ll start with Tex. Gammons doesn’t add much to the story we’ve come to know over the past two weeks. He does say that the Red Sox were kind of blindsided, and that Boras kind of hemmed and hawed in order to get things going with the Yankees:

They didn’t know it. They were waiting on the day that he signed . . . they thought that they were going to get him. They tried to close the deal on Monday night [Dec. 21], and Scott [Boras] said, ‘Well, the Teixeiras are flying, and they haven’t quite done this, and they haven’t quite done that,” and he kept putting it off an all along it was to just finish the language with the Yankees.

Shortly after this quote, Gammons goes on to note the “testiness between Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira when they played in Texas together.” He doesn’t comment on what that could mean for the Yankees, but allow me. It won’t matter. They’ll be together in New York, with no-trade clauses, for the next eight years. They’re professionals. They can handle it.

After saying that it might have taken $220 million for the Sox to actually nab Tex, Gammons goes on a little rant about the media, specifically as it exists on the Internet:

What happened this winter is that, as the internet has expanded to become the media power, the flow of information is quickly controlled by agents. A lot of general managers and those of us in the business kid about a couple of sites referred to as ScottBoras.com, and Scott will float things out there and throw it out there and people will report it, you know, ‘The Brewers are jumping in on Derek Lowe.’ They’re not jumping in on Derek Lowe. I mean, please. ‘The Red Sox are really hot for Derek Lowe at $16 [million] . . . ‘ No, they’re not. But Scott floats this stuff out, and he’s able to get people to report it.

Not only does it get reported, but it’s then aggregated at MLB Trade Rumors and other similar sites. So the news does spread rather quickly.

Next topic: Derek Lowe. As Gammons tells it, he could have easily been a Yankee if not for the efforts of A.J. Burnett’s agents:

[Lowe] could have gotten four-times-$15 million from the Yankees, but A.J. Burnett’s agents stopped Scott Boras [who is Lowe's agent] and beat him to the Yankees. The Yankees wanted Lowe, but A.J. Burnett’s agents did a better job.

At the time, considering the market was still pretty wide-open, I have a hard time believing that Derek Lowe would have taken a four-year, $60 million deal. Then again, since he’s probably not going to get that now, maybe he would have. I don’t know.

On the subject of Jason Varitek, Gammons, like most of us, can’t believe he and Boras declined arbitration:

How Scott Boras looked him in the eye and said, ‘By the way, I turned down $10 million [in arbitration],’ is beyond me.
(snip)
I know the players’ association was strongly advising agents not to take arbitration. They felt that teams were trying to control players for one year at a lesser amount than they’d have to pay down the line. But again, if you’re Jon Garland or Ben Sheets or Orlando Cabrera or Jason Varitek, it cost you a lot of money.

Finally, on the AL East:

I picked the Red Sox second, just because we don’t know about the health of David Ortiz and Mike Lowell, and I think Josh Beckett will be fine. You never know about J.D. Drew’s health. And the Yankees, with the innings that [CC] Sabathia and [Chien-Ming] Wang can give them and all the offense they should have, they clearly have to be the favorites.

There’s plenty to discuss here, so fire away.

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

Ryan Zink | RHP

Background
Zink grew up in the baseball … ahem … hotbed of Madison, WI, where he attended LaFollette High School. A standout for the Lancers, he was named to the All-City First Team and was an honorable mention for the All-Conference team as a sophomore, when he led the school to the City Championship. As a junior Zink repeated as a first team All-City player, adding All-Conference First Team and All-District Second Team honors to his resume. He was at his best when needed most, striking out eleven batters and allowing just three hits in a ten inning outing in the Regional Finals.

If there was any doubt that he was already the best baseball player in school history, Zink cemented that status at LaFollette with a monster senior season: 6-1, 0.57 ERA on the mound, .377 batting avg, five homers, 37 RBI at the plate. He was again named to the All-City and All-Conference first teams, and added All-District and All-State honors for good measure. He was also named 2003 Wisconsin Gatorade Player of the Year, MVP of the Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association All-Star Game, as well as city, conference, district and state Player of the Year. Yeah, he’s got some hardware for the ol’ mantle.

Baseball America rated Zink the best prospect in the state for the 2003 Draft, projecting him as top ten rounds pick. With a strong commitment and full ride to the University of Illinois-Chicago in his pocket, Zink lasted until the 47th round (1,377th overall) when his hometown Brewers selected him in recognition of his great high school career. He’s the only player in school history to be drafted, but he didn’t sign and headed to UIC.

The best pitcher on the Flames’ staff the day he set foot on campus, Zink dominated as a true freshman, finishing 9-3, 2.07 ERA, 0.95 WHIP with 92 strikeouts in 95.2 IP. He led the Horizon League in innings thanks to six complete games (in eleven starts). Zink struck out thirteen batters in his first career start on March 7th, then threw the tenth no-hitter in school history on May 19th, striking out ten Youngstown State Penguins in a 7-0 rout. He was named to the All-Horizon League First Team, Horizon League All-Newcomer Team, and Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American. He pitched for the Madison Mallards of the Northwoods League over the summer.

Zink’s sophomore year wasn’t as statistically dominant as his freshman effort, but he still led the team with 76 strikeouts and set a single-season school record with 119 IP. He finished with an 8-6 record, 3.78 ERA and 1.35 WHIP, and was named to the All-Horizon League Second Team. Named to the League Championship All-Tournament Team and MVP of the League Championship, Zink led the Flames to the league crown with three innings of one hit relief to earn the save over UW-Milwaukee in the title game. UIC lost to Joba Chamberlain and Nebraska then Andrew Brackman and NC State to end their season in the Regionals. You can’t make this stuff up, click the links if you don’t believe those were the two opposing starters. Small world, huh?

Expected to be a top three rounds draft pick prior to his junior year, Zink never got a chance to pitch in a game because he underwent Tommy John surgery in March. He took a medical redshirt and went untouched in the ‘06 Draft.

Coming back strong - and early - from TJ, Zink returned to the mound in mid-February and managed to pitch just about a full season for the Flames as a redshirt junior in 2007. He went 7-3, 4.24 ERA, 1.20 WHIP with 42 strikeouts in 70 IP while battling the typical problems associated with returning from ligament replacement surgery. He saved his best for last, one hitting 16th ranked Long Beach State and Evan Longoria over eight innings in his final start for the first NCAA postseason win in school history. Zink was named to the All-Regional and Horizon League All-Tournament Teams, and finished his career second in school history in wins (24) and strikeouts (203) while placing fifth in ERA (3.32). He returned to his hometown Madison Mallards of the Northwoods League briefly over the summer.

Rated the 12th best draft prospect in the state by Baseball America, Zink lasted until the 17th round of the ‘07 draft, when the Yanks selected him 544th overall. He signed quickly for a well-above slot $123,000 bonus and was assigned to Short Season Staten Island.

Pro Career
Zink worked mostly out of Staten Island’s bullpen after signing, although he did make five spot starts for the Baby Bombers. He worked 47.1 IP to the tune of a 3.23 ERA & 1.32 WHIP, leading the team with six wins. All told, Zink threw over 110 IP on the year despite having TJ just eleven months prior.

Assigned to Low-A Charleston in 2008, Zink worked out of the bullpen before moving to the rotation late in the year when promotions and injuries thinned the staff. He finished the year 3-2, 2.42 ERA, 1.10 WHIP in 25 appearances, and was dynamite in his four starts: 19 IP, 9 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 15 K. Zink ate up righthanders, holding them to a .177 batting avg against.

Scouting Report
Zink’s bread and butter is a heavy 89-91 mph sinker that he uses to pound the bottom third of the zone. The pitch is good enough that he can throw it 75-80% of the time and still succeed. He backs the sinker up with two solid secondary pitches: a slider and changeup. All of Zink’s pitches play up because of his strong command and outstanding control (2.15 BBper9 in college, 2.43 in ‘08).

With a frame that is a scout’s dream, Zink stands 6′5″ and carries 210 lbs on his wide shoulders. He gained about 25 lbs during TJ rehab, and the extra weight hurt him mechanically when he returned, and also sapped some stamina. He worked hard in the offseason and lost the extra weight. A dogged competitor, Zink wants the ball every day and with the game on the line. Other than elbow surgery, he’s never had any injury problems.

2009 Outlook
Ready for High-A Tampa, Zink might get lost in the rotation crunch and start the year working out of the bullpen. However because he finished the year on such a high note as a starter, Zink may get a chance to hold down a rotation spot in Tampa if the Yanks send Zack McAllister to Double-A Trenton to start the year. If he has a strong second half, he should get a bump to Trenton.

My Take
I touted Zink as a very nice pick after the ‘07 draft (forgive the eighteen month old typo), and have been plugging him as a sleeper since then. I’m a big fan; guys with lively sinkers and an 80 compete tool often make it too the bigs, at least as relievers. His ceiling isn’t high (back-end starter if it all works out), and he’ll turn 23 right around Opening Day, but Zink is a guy to keep an eye on next year. He’ll be Rule 5 Draft eligible after the season, so at the very least he should force the Yanks to think long and hard about leaving him exposed. My bad, he’s not R5 eligible until after 2010.

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

Fernanda Santos has the story in The Times today:

After intense criticism, the Bloomberg administration has given up a perk it worked fervently to secure: a free luxury suite at the new Yankee Stadium.

The city will relinquish use of the 12-seat box in exchange for whatever revenue the Yankees generate by selling the seats, minus the cost of marketing them. Although neither the city nor the Yankees have publicly disclosed the market value of the suite, similar suites at the new stadium are being sold for as much as $600,000 a year…

Under the new arrangement with the city, the Yankees will be allowed to keep the parking spaces and use of the billboards, and the city will be guaranteed at least $100,000 for each baseball season, even if no one buys the suite. The deal was formalized last month in a letter from Mr. Pinsky to the Yankees president, Randy Levine, that was made public on Tuesday. A similar arrangement is being negotiated with the Mets, which also gave the city free use of a suite in its new ballpark, Citi Field.

While I think this is a fair deal, Assemblyman Richard Brodsky is a bit skeptical. “The taxpayers who are paying for the construction of Yankee Stadium cannot afford to buy tickets for the games, but the mayor was getting a luxury box, so he had to back off,” he said to The Times. “But the reason he backed off is because next week, the city is going to give the Yankees more taxpayer money.”

Next week, the city should just make the Yankees take taxed bonds. This whole thing would be over. Either way, King Mayor Bloomberg has discovered that if he doesn’t play nice, he doesn’t get his perks, and the city will give up a luxury box it probably could have gotten through more legitimate means. Such are the way of things.

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

Sherman writes:

Andy Pettitte’s chances to return to the Yankees New York Yankees have dropped precipitously because in the aftermath of the Mark Teixeira signing the organization is now strongly inclined to lower the $10 million offer that the lefty already has been resistant to all offseason, the Post has learned.

Pettitte recently rejected the Yankees’ latest $10 million overture, and now - barring a wave of sentimentality by the Yanks or significant change of strategy by either side - that dollar figure very likely will not be offered again. A reduced offer almost certainly would assure the end of the prideful Pettitte’s second tour with the Yankees.

Multiple sources refused to divulge if the offer had been lowered already. But one executive briefed on the matter described both the chances of making a deal and the $10 million bid as on life support. Another executive said he did not believe that the $10 million offer was there to be taken any longer.

So in one paragraph, Serhman speculates — “the Post has learned” — that Pettitte’s offer will be lowered. Two paragraphs later, no one on or off the record will confirm to him that this is indeed anything more than a move of his creation. One person says the deal probably won’t happen; the other says the offer is off the table. No one at talks about lowering the offer.

Now, if the Yankees want Pettitte back, they won’t lower the offer. They’ll probably just keep it on the table while continuing to promote the idea that the Phils — Coke and Hughes — will be given shots at the rotation and that Ian Kennedy and Al Aceves will get long looks as well. They’ll make Pettitte aware of the fact that he doesn’t deserve and shouldn’t be making $10 million and that the teams knows this and is prepared to move on.

Meanwhile, Yankee bloggers aren’t that heartbroken over the Pettitte saga. Alex Belth thinks it would be “a nice luxury” but doesn’t feel that the Yankees necessarily need Pettitte. Brian at In Mo We Trust takes Pettitte to task for thinking he is worth more than he really is. I still wouldn’t be too shocked to see Pettitte back in pinstripes, but I won’t be disappointed if he’s not. I don’t, however, for a second believe that the Yanks are going to insult the man by lowering their offer.

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

I admit, when I first heard this I thought about it for a second. Winn is coming off two seasons of 105 OPS+ and has generally been above average for his career. He gets on at a decent clip and can hit for average. He could always have a down year, which is a risk, but the same could be said of Nady. He’s got just one year left on his deal, so there would be no long-tem risk. His salary, $8.25 million, will be a couple million north of Nady’s arbitration figure, so a one-for-one swap is feasible.

That’s all secondary, though. The idea behind Grant’s proposal is that Winn can play center, which fills a need (or want, however you think about it) for the Yankees. That’s why I started to think about all those other things related to the proposal. Yet it is flawed at its very core. Randy Winn doesn’t play a good center field, or at least so says his UZR. He hasn’t posted a positive UZR since 2005, and has played a steadily decreasing number of games there since 2004. He’s good in right field, but all things equal I’d rather have Xavier Nady.

So, while it makes a “ton of sense” to Grant, it makes little to me. There’s no reason for the Yankees to trade Nady or Swisher at this point unless they’re blown away with an offer. Every team could use the depth. It could come in handy just a few months from now. Then, with most of the free agents off the board, that depth could be even more valuable.

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog