Melky out of options
ByMLBTR has started to put together it’s annual list of players who are out of options, and this year it includes the Yanks’ very own Melky Cabrera. There was some confusion on our part whether he had used an option last year (mostly because we were too lazy to look), but he did spend 21 days in the minors last year, eating up his final option. His first option was used when he was sent down following his disasterous 2005 debut, the second option was used when he was sent to Triple-A to start 2006. Melky will have to be passed through waivers to be sent to the minors from here on out.
The only other interesting name on the out of options list is the Rays’ Jeff Niemann. He’ll have a very tough time cracking Tampa’s pitching staff, and I’m sure there will be a ton of interest in the former fourth overall pick.
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There is a
GodMo. Gardner for the 5th spot!In the batting order?
Nooo. 5th OF spot.
Ahhhhh gotcha.
So Matsui plays CF?
Swish-Damon-Nady
DH-Matsui
Well…Mastui could spell one of them on a given day.
Nope,
Brett-CF
Swish-RF
Damon-LF
Nady-4th, except when a guy like Halladay is on the mound. Then either Swish or Damon plays Center. Well, that is if Brett isn’t hitting at all. But he is going to hit 280 with a 340 obp this year.
I’ll be happy with .260/.335 and 80-90 runs scored.
Toss in 30-40 SBs, stolen at a 85% clip.
I aim high.
That’s it….that lineup will get the lionshare of starts. I think you may see Swisher in CF at times. If Matsui plays LF, Nady in RF, and Damon DH’s more than a few times this year. BTW – Swisher is average at best in CF, not terrible…. with a guy like Wang on the mound, Swisher would be just fine in CF.
For the last time, Swisher is NOT a CF. He hates he. He says he cannot play it. He attributes his “bad” 08 to it. Cash says he is 4th on the depth chart there. He will only play there in an emergency
I think you answered your my question, just not the way you intended.
Nooooooo. Starting CF’er, until proven he can’t handle it.
What was good for Melky, should also apply to Brett…don’t you think? If he can’t cut it…AAA (or out right) is the place for him or anyone else that can’t help the team.
Old Ranger’s got it.
Oh, and the Yanks should add Niemann, if possible.
They have nowhere to put him. It takes him like, 40 minutes to warm up before games because of his past shoulder issues, and that won’t fly in the bullpen.
Oh right…I remember reading something like that. Maybe the Padres can use him.
The Padres could use alot of those guys on that list.
Does Melky clear waivers? Given his horrendous production last year, maybe. But a team looking for a 4th OF making little money (1.4 mil) could claim him. He’s a plus fielder with a good arm, he’s a good fit for a team looking for some bench depth.
If the Yanks lose Melky, there will be protests outside of the stadium that will rival Tienanmen Square.
I wonder if anyone would claim the Melk man.
That nickname is taken, come up with an original one.
What exactly is the rule about options? I thought you were talking philosophically about having ‘options’ until I read MLBTR
Each player gets three options once they are on the 40 man roster. Basically every time a player is sent down to the minors, it uses up an option. Only one option can be used per year, so once a player is send down and called up, he can be sent down as many times as the team wants during that year without being charged extra options.
There are some other technicalities, like if a player is down for less than 20 days total it does use up and option, but that’s the general explanation.
Wrong Mike. Very very very wrong.
They have three option YEARS.
Kevin Youkilis had to have been brought up and sent back down 15 times before running out of option YEARS.
That’s exactly what I said.
Sorry to go off topic, but Roger Federer is a giant, flaming pussy.
Yeah, that really upset me. I’m a Federer guy in the whole him v. Nadal thing, and he is just not as good as Rafa anymore. I see some annoying parellels between that matchup and Yankees-Red Sox of the last 10 years. Annoying.
Its up on Youtube. I’d link it, but the spam filter here won’t let me.
What’s it called?
Here ya go,
http://tinyurl.com/dmbrtu
You are talking about the crying, I assume. That does not bother me at all. He isn’t like TO, where he tried to pass himself off as a tough guy and then cried about his QB. He lost another very hard fought match to the same dude, winning more points and an equal amount of games, and he got emotional. He’s a human being, cut him some slack for that.
One rises to the top and falls to the bottom so fast in Tennis. I always like Nadal more but I hate how he grunts all the time. Sounds like a bitch.
I love it when the women tennis players grunt, but that’s a whole different thing for me.
Lol, that’s a whole different kind of love.
The answer for Niemann is to put him in the rotation and make Price the 8th inning guy, where he belongs!!!1!
Realistically I would think they could move him for some type of bullpen arm
Then when Balfour/Percival are off the team, Price can be the closer!
I have the answer to this. Pay Melky 10 mil per year, then nobody will ever claim him.
Claiming someone doesn’t bring their contract along. This is what happened with Sexson last year. The Yankees were only paying him league minimum – the Mariners needed to pay the rest.
Claiming someone doesn’t bring their contract along.
Oh yes it does. Sexson was designated for assignment, and then the Mariners choose to release him instead of sending him to Triple-A after he cleared waivers. The Yanks signed him as a free agent.
[...] MLBTR by way of RAB, we get the word that Melky Cabrera is out of options. For the uninitiated, Rob Neyer’s [...]
I like Chad Gaudin but I don’t think the Yanks have any room for him on the roster. Gaudin and Niemann should generate some interest. They can both be starters.
Its unfortunate they blew an option on Melky last year, but realistically the plan is probably to have him on the 25 man so it shouldnt be too much of an issue
Figure:
1 Posada
2 Tex
3 Cano
4 Jeter
5 Arod
6 Damon
7 Gardner
8 Swisher
9 Matsui
10 Pettitte
11 CC
12 Burnett
13 Wang
14 Joba
15 Mo
16 Veras
17 Edwar
18 Marte
19 Bruney
20 Long Man
21 Nady
22 Melky
23 Molina
24 Ransom
25 wildcard
That wildcard is going to be a reliever, maybe Albie or Robertson.
Robertson. Filthy curve.
I like Albie more, personally. He was dominant in the DWL.
Have you seen Robertson’s minor league statistics?
Yes, and I know he is filthy. But Albie is a few years older and it looks like he is ready to be dominant as well. I’m sure both of them get an opportunity eventually this year though.
Yeaaa I hear ya. But I like Robertson more. I like big K guys in the pen. Coming in with a man on 2nd with 1 out or something like that. Albie does look good too, they are both good options.
There are guys who have certain roles out of the bullpen. One of them is “get a ground ball” and Alby fits that perfectly, and to be honest nobody else does.
Marte is the lefty specialist. Veras and Bruney are power swing and miss guys. Edwar is a strikeout pitcher, his ground balls tend to be too weak to complete a DP.
That’s why I think Alby makes the team. He’s our latter day Ramiro Mendoza.
“That’s why I think Alby makes the team. ”
That nickname is taken, come up with an original one.
That nickname is taken, come up with an original one.
Apparently there’s an echo in here. Weird.
WILDCARD, BITCHES!
Seriously? We’re carrying 7 outfielders?
I count six, which is still a bit more than norm. However, considering Matsui is unlikely to see much, if any, time out there, I would say it is five.
You’re right, I thought Ransom played some LF last year and he didn’t.
Either way he’s not actually an outfielder
We will have 6 guys who have played 1B on the team:
Tex
Swisher
Nady
Damon
Posada
Ransom
Maybe Berroa beats out Ransom, who knows.
Maybe Obama beats Michelle! LOL!
You find spousal abuse funny?
Sure, and Tex could play 3B if he had to, but now we’re just being silly.
You’re proposing we carry 6 OFers, which doesn’t happen very often, and for good reason. I’d rather have a 12th pitcher, God forbid you use your bullpen one night and play an extra inning game the next.
Hence that 25th wildcard spot is a reliever. It works out like this:
OF:
Damon
Swisher
Nady
Gardner
Cabrera
DH:
Matsui
Bullpen:
Rivera
Marte
Bruney
Veras
Ramirez
Aceves/Giese (long man)
Robertson/Albaladejo/Melancon (wildcard spot)
Who’s our 3rd string catcher?
Posada is on shaky ground as it is. If you start Molina and then pinch hit Posada, your roster has nobody else who can catch.
Right now, it would be Kevin Cash probably, and he could always be called up as necessary. If we end up getting Valentin or someone else, I’d rethink how we make the 25 man roster. In my mind, if that happens, you’d almost have to give Melky the starting job and give him another chance to perform. He’ll definitely be claimed through waivers.
If Molina starts, Posada pinch hits and then gets hurt the next inning, you’re screwed.
You can’t call Cash up in the 8th inning, he has to be on the roster.
We’re screwed no matter what if Posada gets hurt. Worst case scenario is someone like Ransom or Berroa plays emergency catcher for the final innings of a single game before you can put Jorge on the DL and bring in Cash. As long as Jorge is good to go come April, I think there is more benefit to carrying a 5th outfielder than a 3rd catcher at this point.
“Sure, and Tex could play 3B if he had to, but now we’re just being silly.”
This from the guy who chewed someone’s head off for insinuating that Matsui be counted as an outfielder, then later made an argument predicated on counting both Matsui and Ransom as outfielders.
First, I did no such thing. I was (obviously) kidding around with Pablo, but I’m glad to see that you were offended on his behalf.
Thanks for the personal attack, though.
“Thanks for the personal attack, though.”
It wasn’t a personal attack. You made comments, which I referenced. I didn’t attack you personally in any way (i.e. call you stupid, etc.).
Oooh, you learned how to link things like that. Showing it off a bit.
You completely misread my posts with Pablo, insinuating a tone that wasn’t there and failed to note I corrected myself on Ransom. But its nothing personal. Gotcha.
“Oooh, you learned how to link things like that. Showing it off a bit.”
Hah, yeah. I’m like a kid with a new toy.
“You completely misread my posts with Pablo, insinuating a tone that wasn’t there and failed to note I corrected myself on Ransom. But its nothing personal. Gotcha.”
Actually, no, it wasn’t a personal attack. I responded to comments you made. If my interpretation of your comments or your “tone” is different from yours, that doesn’t make my response a personal attack. A personal attack would be if I called you a jerkface and said I think you’re not intelligent in some snarky way. I didn’t call you dumb, I pointed out that you contradicted yourself. Sorry.
I think you misread my post and misinterpreted my tone. I was being friendly and helpful, and I don’t appreciate you attacking me personally and accusing me of being the kind of personal to launch personal attacks.
“the kind of person
alto launch…>”(my bad)
Ah, whatever. We both obviously misunderstood each other.
Has anyone ever been to a yankee spring training game? Any tips or suggestions for making it a better day? Is it possible to get autographs or anything? I heard its not a too fan friendly place.
Bring a lifesized cutout of Madonna. AROD will be there in a heartbeat.
Genius.
There he goes again, having a good old time linking things.
Imagine if Manny signs with the St. Louis Cardinals. Has there ever been a better 3-4 punch than Pujols-Manny?
Gehrig/Ruth.
Seconded.
I like Ruth/Gehrig better…
[...] Melky Cabrera is out of options. If he can’t cut the Yankees 25-man roster, he would have to be designated for assignment. River Avenue Blue looked this up. [...]
Do players like A-rod or Jeter have options? I know even if they did, they’d never be used, but I’m just wondering.
Probably. I know Bonds finished with all three options unused. Once a player picks up five years of service time they can refuse an optional assignment though, which is how Giambi was able to say no when they asked him to go to the minors a few years back.
I am not sure but Melky may have one option left. Doing some research I found that MLB doesnt count the day you are recalled.(unless you played in your teams game that day) So Melky was optioned on the 15th of august and recalled on the 4th of Sept. If my math is correct, not counting the 4th gives us 20 days.
Actually re-reading the option clause in the labor contract it says “less than 20 days. If thats the case they recalled him a aday late.
E. Optional Assignments
If a Player is optionally assigned for a total of less than 20 days in one
championship season, such optional assignment(s) shall not count as
an optional assignment in connection with the limitation upon optional
assignments provided for in Major League Rule 11(c). (See Article
XXI(B).)
For purposes of counting days on option, the date of the optional
assignment shall be counted and the date of recall shall not be counted,
provided that the date of recall shall be counted if the recall takes
place after the start of any Minor League game in which the Player was
eligible to play.
Sounds like another opportunity for Pete Abe to get cashman on the phone
if Melky is out of options, this probably means that Gardner starts the season in AAA and Melky starts the season as the CFer.
everyone is assuming Gardner will win the job, but if Melky is out of options, they may give him every chance to lose the job before they risk losing him to a waiver claim
Not a chance of that happening. The bottom line is WIN therefore, the best man for the job, whom ever that may be…we are not dealing with Joe T. here!
If, perchance, they more or less tie in the hitting department…it has to go to Brett (more valuable on the bases). I guess the point is; Melky has to beat out Brett by a lot, to get the job back. I like the things Brett brings to the table but, whichever one wins, should have the backing of the fans…all the way!
i disagree that he has to beat out Gardner by a lot.
Gardner has options.
this has nothing to do with Girardi vs. Torre, it’s just being practical.
Melky may get the month of April to prove something. if he doesn’t, he’ll be gone and Brett will be up.
but don’t underestimate the effect of options.
[...] is the new 26 / Melky out of options / He’s Not The Biggest [...]