Archive for April, 2009
Game 14 Spillover Thread
Posted by: | CommentsIt’s starting to rain ever so slightly, hopefully they get a few more innings in.
Game 14: Lefty v lefty
Posted by: | CommentsThe Yanks and A’s will try again tonight after yesterday evening’s affair was washed out. It’s not looking so hot at the moment: the view from my Queens apartment is looking rather dreary. But the weather forecast calls only for showers this evening (at a 50% chance, which is a total meteorological cop out), which is nothing compared to last night. This is all a long way of saying “I hope they get this one in, because a double header tomorrow would be brutal.”
Tonight’s match-up features two lefties. Dana Eveland takes the hill for Oakland. He came over, along with a ton of other prospects, in the Dan Haren trade last off-season. He has started just one game against the Yankees in his career, last year, in which he tossed six innings, allowing just two runs on four hits, walking a whopping six. The Yanks won that game, with Chien-Ming Wang using just 83 pitches through 7.1 innings. It was his last before suffering the foot injury in Hoston. Oh, how we long for the days of that Chien-Ming.
Andy Pettitte has quite the sample against the A’s over his career, accumulating 123.2 innings. In that span he has pitched to a 3.27 ERA, walking just 30 to 83 strikeouts. Many of those starts came way back in the day, against lineups which contain zero current A’s. Last year Pettitte faced the A’s twice and won both games, allowing just two runs over 16 innings, striking out 15 and walking just one. Now that’s the Pettitte we want to see. He’ll face a few new faces in the A’s lineup tonight, Jason Giambi and Matt Holliday included.
The lineup:
Jeter, SS
Damon, LF
Teixeira,, 1B
Posada, C
Cano, 2B
Swisher, RF
Matsui, DH
Ransom, 3B
Gardner, CF
And on the mound, number forty-six, Andy Pettitte.
RAB Notes: Ben will be on TV to talk stadium this evening sometime between 7 and 8 p.m. Check him out on NY Non Stop, WNBC’s local cable news station.
Quick Stadium hits: RAB on NBC
Posted by: | CommentsI’ve got a few stadium stories and a self-promotion plug for you. Let’s dive in.
- After a few posts about the empty seats at Yankee Stadium, a few media outlets larger than RAB have picked up the story. As such, I’m going to be on the NBC Nightly News show in the New York area between 7-8 p.m. This is not the Channel 4 NBC news broadcast but is part of the cable news channel from WNBC. On Time Warner, it’s channel 161. Check here to find it on your cable system. I’ll be taking empty seats and the RAB reader reaction to it.
- As a follow-up to some of the ticket sales stories, Peter Abraham reported on some “whispers” out of Yankee camp that the business staff is considering lowering prices on unsold seats. Considering that the team contends 80 percent of those expensive seats are already sold, it will be interesting to see how the Yanks compensate those who have bought the early buyers.
- Finally, Jason from IISTMS has a tale of the times about ticket prices. One of the reasons so many of the field level seats remain empty may have to do with the economy and TARP. If bailed out banks own the seats and their executives are recognized at the game, the press would have a field day with it. Therefore, people who own those seats would rather have them be empty than suffer the negative publicity.
Anyway, that’s that. Check us out on TV. I know it’s competing with the game, but it’s not everyday that RAB gets to be a talking head on cable.
Wang to start in Extended Spring Training
Posted by: | CommentsVia Pete Caldera, Chien-Ming Wang will make his next start down in Tampa in Extended Spring Training. Assuming he starts on regular rest, he’ll make his EST appearance on Thursday, and that will be used to determine if he’ll make his next scheduled start for the big league team. That start would come next Tuesday in Detroit, and Phil Hughes lines up perfectly should Wang not be able to go.
Update (5:34pm): Kat O’Brien has more. Wang will throw 100 pitches in front of pitching coordinator Nardi Contreras and farm director Mark Newman on Thursday. Wang has totalled 73, 61 and 52 pitches in his three starts this year, so stretching him out to 100 is important.
Matt Murton: Depth replenisher
Posted by: | CommentsBoth Ben and Mike have discussed possible replacements for the injured Xavier Nady. Now it’s my turn to chime in.
Update: Of course, no more than 20 minutes after I wrote this and set it to post, we find out that Nady will not need surgery and will return this season. I still advocate everything in this article. Murton can provide minor league depth now and possibly slide into a starting or bench role next year.
The loss of Xavier Nady highlighted the Yanks’ depth. Rather than scrambling to find a replacement they were able to install Nick Swisher as the full-time right fielder. While some take the glass half empty path and note that the Yankees cannot sustain another injury, the rest of us recognize that the injury and seamless replacement is a testament to said depth. It’s not an ideal situation; no injury is. The depth has kept the Yanks afloat for now, though they could certainly restock in the coming weeks.
Nady’s injury is felt hardest on the bench. The presence of both Nady and Swisher meant that on any given day the Yankees would have a big bat on the bench to hit for the likes of Jose Molina, Cody Ransom, and Brett Gardner. Now, not so much. When the Yanks trot out their “A” lineup, featuring Hideki Matsui at DH, the bench consists of Melky Cabrera, Jose Molina, and Ramiro Pena. Chili Davis, Cecil Fielder, and Darryl Strawberry they are not. They could add Juan Miranda, who could give them some pop, but he’s largely unproven at the MLB level.
The answer could be sitting in the Colorado Rockies’ farm system. The A’s sent Matt Murton to the Rockies in the Matt Holliday trade for Corey Wimberly, and he is now languishing at AAA. That’s a shame, because he has a strong MLB track record and is absolutely tearing the cover off the ball at AAA this year (.409/.480/.636, though in the massively hitter-friendly PCL). Murton broke out in 2006, collecting 508 plate appearances for the Cubs and posting a .297/.365/.444 line. He followed that up in 2007 with a .281/.352/.438 line, though in only 261 plate appearances. By the time 2008 rolled around he had fallen out of favor, and collected just 42 PA with the Cubs before they sent him to the A’s, where he stepped to the plate just 31 times.
Murton and Nady are surprisingly similar players. Surprising because one has been sought-after (by the Mets, then by the Pirates, and finally by the Yankees) while the other has been cast out by three teams now. In fact, through their age-25 seasons Murton was demonstrably better — Murton’s age-26 season obviously skewed because he got no playing time. He’s only 27 this year and has just over two years of service time, so he’ll be under team control for the next three years, maybe more depending on how much time he spends in the minors this year.
(On the physical attribute side, Nady is listed as 6’0, 180, which I’m pretty sure is undershooting his weight, while Murton is 6’1 215. So they’re not far off there, either.)
Dave Cameron has some thoughts on Murton, wherein he cites Matt’s .345 career wOBA, an above-average mark (though we could have inferred that from the slash stats above). His best line, though, comes towards the end: “There’s no way that there are 750 better baseball players on the planet that Murton.” Count Melky Cabrera on that list. Cameron also notes that we should “[b]et on a smart organization reaping the rewards when they bring Murton back to the majors.” Let’s hope the Yanks are that smart organization. He brings to the table what Nady did, except he’s younger and under team control for longer. If the Yanks are looking for an outfielder to replace Nady, which they very well may not be, they could do a whole ton worse than Matt Murton.
2009 Draft Preview: Junior College Prospects
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When it comes to the amateur draft, most fans focus their attention on top high school and college prospects, but don’t really pay too much attention to junior colleges. It’s understandable because most of the best players in the country are recruited by four-year schools and end up there, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t talented players attending two-year institutions.
No team has worked the JuCo angle better than the Braves in recent years, which is no surprise since they dominated the draft-and-follow landscape for what seems like an eternity. They’ve landed premium prospects like Tyler Flowers, Tommy Hanson, Kris Medlen, and Cole Rohrbough out of junior colleges within the last four years alone. Beyond the Braves, players like Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada, Rich Harden, and one Mr. Jose Alberto Pujols have been drafted out of junior college, so you can bet there’s some gems to be found.
The most attractive aspect of JuCo players is that they offer the projectability and upside of a high school kid with some of the experience and fine tuning of a college player. The top pitchers haven’t been run into the ground for three years and the top hitters haven’t had enough time to develop bad habits with metal bats. I never really looked at JuCo prospects before, and I was surprised at how many quality players are out there. Here’s three of them; the good stuff is after the jump.
RAB Reader Demographic Survey
Posted by: | CommentsWe take a short break from the baseball action to conduct some housekeeping for RAB. As you might know, we don’t make a ton of money with this venture. We can cover our increasingly expensive server costs with the meager revenue display ads bring and have enough to re-invest in the business (like our trip to the Winter Meetings). That’s fine and good, and if that never changes you won’t hear us complain (too much, anyway). Still, we’d like to see how far we can take this.
We’ll be right up front about this, so you guys know exactly what you’re getting into. The more money we generate from this site, the more time we can justify spending on it. That means, among other things, more in-depth commentary, more features, and fewer filler posts. Essentially, we’d like to turn this into a full-time gig, complete with clubhouse access. While we’re slowly moving in that direction, it’s not quite a reality yet.
One thing we can do to increase revenues is to sell advertising directly rather than using low-paying ad networks. To do so we need some information about our readers, which we can share in the aggregate with potential advertisers. No, your specific personal information will not be shared, as per our privacy policy. We just want to add up all the survey information and use that to entice advertisers. At that point perhaps we can boost our revenue and justify spending most of our time on the site. I think that’s an equation which benefits everyone.
So please, take a few minutes out of your day to fill out the survey. It’s only 13 questions, most of which are multiple choice. That minute or so of your life can prove invaluable to the future of RAB.
Another easy way to contribute to RAB: Support RAB through PayPal. We truly appreciate any time/money you guys can provide. It helps keep the site moving and growing. Just click the button below.
Freddy Sez Yanks have no tickets for him
Posted by: | CommentsFred Schuman, the 83-year-old Yankee fan better know as Freddy Sez, has long been an icon of Yankee Stadium. For as long as I can remember, Freddy has traipsed through Yankee Stadium with his handmade signs and worn pot and spoon, stirring up the crowd to cheer on the Yanks. Through the thick and thin, Freddy, the recent subject of a short documentary, has been there.
So as I found myself next to Mike on Sunday in the Grandstand at New Yankee Stadium, I wondered aloud where Freddy was at the new stadium. The new home isn’t nearly as conducive to walking around as the old one. Freddy can simply walk up the steps to each section and walk back down. No longer can he walk around a concourse in the seating bowl because those concourses aren’t there.
Around the fourth inning or so, I heard the familiar clang of Freddy’s pan and knew that all was right in Yankee fandom if Freddy was there. It appears, though, that Freddy has had to beg and cajole his way into the stadium. According to The Post’s Jeremy Olshan, Freddy hasn’t had an easy go of it getting into the stadium.
According to Olshan, Freddy had long received free tickets from Modell’s, his sponsor, but hasn’t been able to secure similar tickets for the new digs. With the higher ticket prices, he generally can’t afford it. Plus, he says, he doesn’t need a seat. After finding himself out of the stadium on Friday, Freddy spoke to the press. “The Yankees say I am a part of the stadium. What part am I, the toilet bowl?” Schuman said. “But the fans have come through. They gave me $40, and even $100 tickets.”
The Yankees told Olshan that Freddy’s denial into the new stadium was a result of “miscommunication,” and the lifelong Yankee fan seemed to be back in the stadium by Sunday. I’ve never really grasped the relationship between the Yanks and Freddy. That he had a separate sponsor than the Yanks always struck me as odd, but hopefully, all’s well that ends well. Here’s to hoping Freddy’s back in the stadium for good.
The online magazine No Mas recently profiled Freddy on video. You can check it out here, and I’ve embedded the video after the jump. It’s a first-person narrative video of Freddy making the trek up to the stadium. Good stuff.
Wanted: Outfield depth
Posted by: | CommentsWhen the Yankees and A’s finally get around to playing what is now a two-game set in the Bronx, the series will constitute something of an audition. Whether we like it or not, the Yankee brass will be watching Matt Holliday as he takes his first trip through the Junior Circuit.
Holliday, a career. .318/.385/.549, will be a free agent at the end of the year. He came to Oakland in a trade in November and is attempting to prove that he can hit outside the cozy confines of Coors Field. Yankee Stadium, wind and all, seems like the perfect place for it.
Outside of being an off-season catch for whichever team wants to pony up Boras Bucks for an outfielder turning 30 next January, Holliday may be a trade-deadline acquisition. If the A’s are out of the AL West race by then — and right now, there’s every indication they’ll be among the leaders in that division — Billy Beane could look to get some return for his Holliday investment.
Now this is all well and good, but what does it have to do with the Yankees? Well, two weeks into the season, and the Yanks’ once-vaunted outfield depth has all but disappeared. After we played will-they-or-won’t-they all winter with a trade of Xavier Nady or Nick Swisher, the Yanks lost Nady to some freak accident barely a week into the season.
On Monday evening, the Yanks revealed, well, not much of anything about Nady. The right fielder has gone for numerous tests and second, third and fourth opinions on his elbow. The team is holding out hope that he can rehab it and be back on the field this season. If he has to go under the knife, he won’t play again in 2009, and even if he doesn’t need surgery, his return could be months off.
“We’re ultimately trying to determine if there is an opportunity for a non-surgical rehab because it’s really one of two ways: that way or if you get him cut,” Brian Cashman said to reporters. “If you get him cut, it’s a scary proposition.”
The loss of Nady wouldn’t be unbearable if Hideki Matsui will up to speed, but Matsui isn’t. In fact, there’s no guarantee Matsui will ever be up to speed again. After getting his second knee surgery in as many years, Matsui is off to a slow start. While he’s getting on base at a great clip, he’s just 6 for 31 this season and looks positively anemic on the basepaths. He’s definitely done in the outfield, and last week, he had fluid drained from his surgically repaired knee.
The Yankees, rightfully so, are concerned about Matsui’s health. “The bottom line is that he’s had surgery on either knee the last two years, and you see how at times he’s struggling out there, so yeah it’s a concern,” Cashman said. “He came up with a big hit for us yesterday late in the game which was much needed for him and for us. But yeah, we’re going to have to keep our eye on him, there’s no doubt about that.”
Three weeks ago, the Yankees had too many outfield/DH types for their nine lineup spots. Now, they’re in a situation where Melky Cabrera is their fourth outfielder, and they are a Hideki Matsui injury away from needing a DH. You can never have too much depth.
A-Rod Update
How about some good news before we end this downer injury round-up? According to the AP — who apparently has one reporter assigned to simply watch A-Rod’s rehab workouts — Alex Rodriguez is progressing apace. He hit homers on 10 of his 75 swings today and fielded around 30 groundballs. He is doing some outfield running but hasn’t yet run the bases. When he can slide, he’ll be close to a return.
In a way, tonight’s rain-out was good for the Yankees. It’s just one fewer game they need to play with Cody Ransom at third, and when the game is made up later in the year, A-Rod should be in the lineup.
Brackman strong before Mother Nature interferes
Posted by: | CommentsWe’ve got a short DotF tonight because of the weather, so let’s get some reminders out of the way:
- First, make sure you vote in this week’s Fan Confidence Poll if you haven’t already.
- Second, but far more importantly, please consider pledging for the 2009 RAB Pledge Drive benefiting Joe Torre’s Safe At Home Foundation if you haven’t already. We’ve received twenty pledges so far, totaling $1.19 for every run the Yanks score. Just thirteen games into the season we’ve already raised $83.30 and are on pace for over $1,000 in donations. It’s for a great cause, so please consider pledging.
The Yanks brought back old pal Justin Pope and placed him on the 7-day DL so he can go down and get some innings in Extended spring Spring. I can only assume he’ll go back to closing for Double-A Trenton like he has so many times before. Now back to your regularly scheduled DotFing.
Triple-A Scranton was washed out; the game will be made up as part of a doubleheader on June 29th. The good news is that Austin Jackson was in the lineup according to Chad Jennings. Jackson was hit by a pitch on the elbow and missed the last four days with a bone bruise.Kevin Russo wasn’t so lucky though, a bum hammy landed him on the DL.
Double-A Trenton was also rained out. Mike Ashmore says they’ll make this one up as part of May 16th double dip.
High-A Tampa had a scheduled off day.
Low-A Charleston (3-1 loss to Savannah)
Carmen Angelini: 1 for 5, 1 K – wow, two consecutive errorless games … impressive
Ray Kruml: 0 for 4, 1 K
David Adams: 0 for 3, 1 K, 1 HBP
Brian Baisley: 3 for 4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 K – he was thrown out at the plate by the RF
Abe Almonte, Melky Mesa & Garrison Lassiter: all 1 for 4 – Almonte drove in a run … Mesa K’ed & threw a runner out at third from RF … LAssiter K’ed twice
Taylor Grote: 2 for 4
Mitch Abeita: 1 for 3, 1 BB, 1 E (throwing)
Andrew Brackman: 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 8 K, 1 HB, 4-5 GB/FB – came out of the game following a 60 or so minute rain delay … biggest number of the night is by far the zero walks, hopefully he keeps it up
Casey Erickson: 2 Ip, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 1 WP, 2-1 GB/FB
Just 21 days 'til pitchers and catchers report.
