Dec
12
Friday evening notes: Bernie and Scott Proctor
ByA few notes to keep us busy as Friday evening turns into Saturday morning (and my studying for my contracts final gets more and more boring):
- A few hours ago, we talked about Bernie and the WBC. Now, it sounds as though Bernie is going to make a serious run for the team. For the first time since 2006, Bernie is going to don his baseball uniform and play for the Carolina Giants of the Puerto Rico Winter League. I really hope this is simply a tune-up for the WBC and not the beginning of a Major League comeback attempt for the 40-year-old Bernie.
- The injured Scott Proctor was non-tendered by the Dodgers. Somewhere, Joe Torre is crying into his green tea. What ever will he do without his favorite toy next season?




I thought Torre drank wheat grass now.
He drinks the blood of relief pitchers.
+1,258
Funny
It will really be a kick to see Bernie play again.
Hey if Luis Polonia can still do it, then why not?
Somehow Scotty managed to strike out more than 10 per 9 innings with a bum elbow.
“I’ve seen guys pitch with NO ligaments!”-Omar Minaya
FYI: looks like Daniel Cabrera and Ty Wiggington were both non-tendered by their respective teams.
one would imagine they’ll be picked up pretty quick in the open market.
Johnny Gomes was non-tendered. We should sign him and have him fight Shelley for a place on the 40 man roster.
Daniel Cabrera could make a very interesting reliever. Tall and wild enough to be intimidating, throws hard enough to strike guys out.
Also, maybe if he drops a pitch or two he has better control. I’d take a shot, his upside is huge.
Yeah, but is he willing to take a contract as a reliever? I say doubtful, as it means less money for him immediately.
Ty Wigginton may be snagged as well.
I actually would rather see the Yankees pick up Tavares than trade for Cameron. I love contact guys who can steal bases. Am I crazy?
Yes. Taveras is terrible. He’s got a career OBP of .331 and a career OPS+ of 72 which includes two years in Colorado. While I realize Cameron’s career OBP is .340, at least he has power and isn’t a complete waste of a lineup spot like Taveras.
Yes, you are crazy. Willy Taveras had an OPS of .604 or an OPS+ of 56 last year. His career OPS+ is 72. Oh yeah, his slugging was .296 last year at Coors.
He is awful, essential he is Brett Gardner, if Gardner never got on base.
He was worse than Melky.
Cameron’s OPS+ the last 4 years 114, 121, 103, 110. You might be crazy, Taveras is terrible.
yes you are crazy. hes worse than melky and costs more..
Cameron will likely be platooning with Gardner. Look at his splits vs lefties.
http://www.baseball-reference......;year=2008
.951 OPS, you can live w/that. Plus, he’s a good late inning threat off the bench.
I’m rooting for Gardner. But if Cameron comes here, he’s starting 140+ games, not 35 against lefties.
Not saying a strict lefty/righty thing, obviously match ups will decide who plays and when.
But Gardner will get 400 ABs. Start 3 days in CF, 1 day in LF when Damon needs a day off, late inning defensive replacement, stuff like that. He’ll see plenty of playing time.
Gardner will get late-innings defensive time, and when Cameron/Damon/Nady need a day off. If he shows anything during that time, then he’ll earn more ABs. But they’re not going to acquire Cameron to play him half-time.
Why not? He’s 36, and if you look at his splits he shouldn’t play everyday at this point.
Also, the manager LOVES Gardner. Always gives him some credit for the good september record they had in 08.
Because Gardner will be lucky to sniff an 80 OPS+.
Look, he walked a lot in the minors, but also struck out a lot. And it’s not because he was swinging hard and hoping to drive the ball. What that tells me is that he was taking lots of pitches and hoping to get walked. That’s going to happen a LOT less in the bigs. Pitchers have better command, and nastier stuff. He can’t hurt them swinging, so they’ll pound the zone. He’ll get walks off guys who don’t know where it’s going, but he’s not going to get on base enough to really use his speed, and he’s not going to drive the ball enough to put himself on 2nd or 3rd very often.
That’s why I don’t think Brett Gardner should be starting over Mike Cameron. Even a .700 OPS against righties is better than what I think Gardner will do. His skill set just doesn’t seem like it’ll translate.
If you’re looking at OPS, you’re looking at the wrong stat. He’s not that type of player, he’s a tablesetter. I only care about OBP, Runs Scored and to a lesser extent SB. If he’s getting on base, and catching balls he has no business getting in CF, then he can help the team win games, especially low scoring ones against tough pitchers. Which the Yanks fared poorly in 2008.
I agree the strikeouts are a concern, but if he gets on base at a .350 clip or better then I don’t care.
Gardner was a different hitter 2nd time around.Yanks did a good job getting him to stop slapping and start using his legs.Throw out the first go around and assume the last 40 at bats were real.
Heck first item around they were playing ihm like a bad hitting pitcher, 2nd time around he drove one over the CF’s head that carried over 400 feet.
Different guy when he uses his legs.
You’re talking 40 ABs. You can’t evaluate him on that.
but if he gets on base at a .350 clip or better then I don’t care
If Cash thought he could get on base at a .350 clip, he wouldn’t spend $10 mil and Melky to get Cameron.
“If you’re looking at OPS”
Didja read the rest of the comment? I said this:
“but he’s not going to get on base enough to really use his speed, and he’s not going to drive the ball enough to put himself on 2nd or 3rd very often”
Does that sound like I wasn’t thinking about his OBP? I wrote at length about why I don’t think he’ll rack up the walks in the bigs. And, I don’t think anyone serious sees him as a .300 hitter in the majors. He was a .280 hitter in AAA. If he hits .260, he’ll be lucky. He’ll need to earn 90 more points of OBP by walking to get to the .350 plateau you’ve set. And, I agree…if he could get on base that much he’d be a fine starting CFer.
But I don’t think that has a realistic chance of happening.
His career OBP in the minors is .389. So I don’t think a MLB .350 OBP is being overly optimistic. Might be a bit light, actually.
http://www.thebaseballcube.com.....dner.shtml
Were talking about the #9 hitter, people.
GArdner can be a CONTACT GUY WHO STEALS BASES.Give him A CHANCE.
GIVE your SHIFT KEY a BREAK.
If he doesn’t get on base or produce at a league average rate, he’s not making the Yankees better. Don’t be blinded by speed.
any chance the yanks pick up proctor on a minor league deal. i thought he did pretty good in the begining of some seasons before torre had his way with him..
Why bother? We have enough young arms in-house that there is no need to throw any kind of money towards Proctor. Middle relief is really not an area of huge concern right now for the Yankess, in my opinion.
Ha. We should have a top 5 relief staff in the league next year.
Our relief should have no worries even with a few injuries.
I love our relief staff. Only positive to watch last year. Besides Mussina finally gettin some love. That 20 win season will push him into the HOF.
Id take gambles on a guy like Saito though.. For a mill or so, he is worth it
Don’t ignore the UCC stuff!!
Royals are going to kick themselves for giving that contract to Farnsworth. Proctor is going to have a superior year. I wonder where he lands….
I have a law and economics guy as my prof. He’s all about the UCC.
my prof loved to talk transactions based on fridges and widgets. that’s all i remember …
forget camerone forget melky etc SIGN BERNIE!!! in reality im joking but best of luck to him
OK, Britton and Justian Christian are gone to make room for CC/AJ. The Yanks still need a 5th starter, who will likely be Sheets or Pettitte.
Who do you take off the 40 man to make room?
http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com.....p?c_id=nyy
Remember that this usually means they get non tendered, like Britton and Christian just were.
That’s an easy one. Who’s the 29-year-old no-field, hardly hit guy on that list with 148 MLB PAs and a .299 OBP? Shelley Duncan, step on down. It’s your turn to play Designated for Assignment.
He’ll be gone next.
Smelley Shelley
Steven Jackson is just screaming at me, but I’d still cut Shelly Duncan.
Well, someone’s gotta go after the Yanks sign Pettitte/Sheets. And then someone else will have to go when the Yanks sign Manny, right?
I know Hanks wants him, and as far as Hank getting what he wants . . . . . well, there’s a first time for everything, I suppose.
Idd love for this to be the 1st time
You a virgin?
At 11:52 I was, but Im not anymore
You should change you name to “Mike Cherry-Pop”
Mazel!
Mike”I HAD SEX…FINALLY” Pop
Mike”ITS ABOUT DAMN TIME” Pop
is another one
I’d say it’s got to be either Duncan or Patterson. Duncan is the more likely option, however.
Weren’t there rumors last summer about Oakland having interest in Duncan? Couldn’t we simply trade him for a low level prospect of some kind rather than simply cutting him loose for Beane to sign?
Excuse me, I meant Jackson, not Patterson.
Austin?
Stephen.
*whew!*
Austin Jackson’s not on the 40-man, so DFA’ing him was never really a threat.
I was kidding.
My b.
Considering Duncan’s OBP, or lack thereof, I cannot see the A’s having an interest.
Who needs OBP when you’re busy sliding into 2b spikes up?
Or breaking chick’s forearms
Shelley needs to go simply because his celebrations with others with inevitably end with him shattering someone’s forearm.
I didnt wanna say I told ya so, but I told all of you us signing Burnett was invevitable.. Not braggging or anything lol cause it was nothing to brag about.. But I told all ya’ll
Will you notify us if anything you predict doesn’t come to fruition? It’s gotta be a two way street.
He wins 84 games in his yankee career with an era of 3.67 and 1000 k’s
Well I too said he was gonna be yankee even though I didn’t want him to be.
Nevertheless, the rotation has the potential to look dope and might look even better if Pettitte sign or could even have more talent if they add Hughes to the rotation. Either way, I gotta admit, Burnett is gonna help this team.
Not gonna lie, I will most likely get his jersey and I def wont miss his starts…I wanna see him k 11 or 12 guys and completely dominate a game.. Def looking forward to it
We all know you love ya self some Burnett.
Now if he sucks, you gotta admit it makes ya look bad.
I hope he does well. Im so excited for the season though its ridiculous.
If it makes me look bad cause he suck, Ill start commenting under the name of CC4EVA! as long as he does well.. haha
This stinks.
Britton was one of my favorite relievers.
I just love his leg kick — always kneed himself in the belly.
wheres 65hughes with his peavy comments
why are you asking for me? you want i peavy update
yes you havent given any good peavy comment on this thread..
youre right not an awhile but well you asked for it
http://www3.signonsandiego.com.....bs/?padres
old news.. how about a rumor.. melky, igawa, gardner, s duncan for peavy.. or how great peavy is..
nah gotta complement cashman on the “great sign” of the “workhorse” that is AJ Burnett
for 3.5 seasons.
you dont think he will finish his contract? yeah me neither
I bet ya Peavy ends up on the DL before AJ does during the season
quoting “meatloaf” 3 outta 5 aint bad..
or is it 2 out of 3 aint bad.. long contract..
i just dont see burnett haging around ny to long
Any chance Torre ruins Broxton ? WOuld be a shame
i think he already did when he gave up thath bomb to stairs
I hope AJ throws a no no with about 5 or 6 walks instead of 9
i hope aj has 27 so against the redsox..