Archive for April, 2009
Assessing the Sheffield deal three years later
Posted by: | CommentsOver the weekend, the Yankees unceremoniously released Humberto Sanchez to clear some 40-man space on their roster. For Sanchez, just 25, it was quite the fall from grace. Just a few years ago, he was one of the Tigers’ top three prospects, and now he is unemployed and oft-injured, full of talent but unable to realize it.
For many Yankee writers and analysts, this move was a white flag from the Yankees. That the Yankees would just flat-out release Sanchez, acquired after the 2006 season from the Tigers in a package for Gary Sheffield, showed a bad return in that trade.
As Bryan Hoch wrote, “As a whole, the Gary Sheffield deal hasn’t worked out very well for the Yankees. Anthony Claggett got torched in his big league debut and Kevin Whelan hasn’t made it up to the big leagues yet.” I find myself disagreeing with Hoch.
The prospects the Yankees got back from the Tigers haven’t been as good as anyone hoped. Sanchez had Tommy John surgery and hasn’t really recovered. He could sign a Minor League deal with the Yanks and earn his way back into consideration. But when the Yanks brought him up for a cup of coffee last September, they expected him to be in contention for a bullpen spot this spring. Whispers of future closer potential swirled around him.
Meanwhile, Anthony Claggett and Kevin Whelan are what they are. They will both turn 25 this summer, and Claggett did indeed get shelled in his lone big league appearance. Whelan is still toiling down at AA. If the two of them ever reach the big leagues and stick around, it will be as replaceable middle reliever types. It would seem then that the Yanks didn’t get much in return for Sheffield.
At the same time though, they didn’t give up much either. Since leaving New York, Sheffield has been largely forgettable. After missing most of 2006 with a wrist injury, he had a good bounce-back year in 2007 but fell off the table in 2008. In 247 games for the Tigers — an average of 123 a season — he hit .247/.354/.433 with an OPS+ of 106. As New Yorkers now, Sheffield was released by the Tigers in Spring Training and hitched his wagon to the Mets’ ship. In 28 PAs prior to last night, he was hitting .136/.321/.318 with a 66 OPS+.
Now, with those numbers, it seems as though the Yankees gave up not much to get back nothing, but there’s a missing piece to this puzzle. The Tigers took on all of the $13 million owed to Sheffield in 2007. For the Yanks, it became a win as soon as the deal was completed. The team exercised Sheffield’s option with the idea of trading him and actually got back three pieces in return. They could have let him walk, paying him the buyout on the option but tried to turn him into something useful.
In the end, the trade didn’t really work out well, but Hoch has it wrong. It didn’t work out well for either side. Gary Sheffield didn’t really become the bat the Tigers needed, and the pitchers the Yankees received didn’t really become, well, anything. But the Yanks took a player who could have become a free agent and turned him into three Minor League pitchers. That is a successful trade.
The Stadium Beer: What’s on tap?
Posted by: | CommentsIt’s 9:30 a.m. on the East Coast. Most Yankee fans are only now just getting into work. They’re sliding into their desks, turning on their computers and finding — you guessed it — an article about beer at Yankee Stadium. Is it ever too early for that?
The story comes to us via The Times’ Dining In/Dining Out section, a Wednesday specialty. Eric Asimov, a Times reporter paid to drink wine, beer and liquor as his job, journeyed to the city’s new stadium to sample the brewskis available at each. He is not too impressed with what he found at Yankee Stadium, and as a beer connoisseur myself, I don’t blame him.
Here’s how Asimov puts his look at the latest and greatest American Pilsners:
The new Yankee Stadium has a problem. No, it’s not all those home runs, it’s the beer.
The stadium pushes the usual mass-market brews, which is to be expected of any big venue. It also has a beers-of-the-world stand that sells brews like Heineken, from the Netherlands; Beck’s, from Germany; and Stella Artois, from Belgium — all from nowheresville, if you ask me.
It has a retro-beer stand that sells — give me strength — Pabst Blue Ribbon and Schaefer. If you look really hard, you can find Guinness, which is an acceptable fallback. But with all the great craft beers available nowadays, why aren’t any of them at Yankee Stadium?
Citi Field, the new home of the Mets, sells a selection of beers from Brooklyn Brewery. That’s encouraging — and frustrating to a Yankees fan.
Look, I don’t even know if I can afford to go to these two fancy new ballparks, much less pay for the beer. I have children about to go to college, and paying $9 for a can of Pabst, even the 16-ounce can at Yankee Stadium, is one of the least enjoyable ways I can think of to blow their college fund.
But if I do go to Yankee Stadium, I want some beers worthy of the team. I offer you now my solution to the big beer wasteland in the South Bronx: American pilsners.
Asimov’s column goes on to review a mostly innocuous bunch of beer. That is, after all, what makes a pilsner the perfect ballpark beer. Served cold, it’s refreshing on a hot summer day, and unlike other craft-brewed higher alcohol beers, it doesn’t demand too much of the beer-drinker’s attention.
Living in Brooklyn, I’m spoiled. I live a few blocks from The Gate, around the corner from Bierkraft and a short subway ride away from Bar Great Harry. It’s not a stretch for me to say that the beer offerings at Yankee Stadium just don’t cut it.
So what’s the solution? Like Asimov, I’d urge the Yanks to take a look at Victory’s Prima Pils or the Brooklyn Brewer’s pilsner offerings. Tröegs and Lagunitas have pilsners that American baseball fans should be able to stomach as well.
I know Budweiser pays a lot to market itself as the King of Beers, but in a stadium with a steak house, a Hard Rock cafe and sushi, can’t we get a decent beer too?
Scranton wins, but loses Kennedy to injury
Posted by: | CommentsUpdate (11:03pm): Unconfirmed, but apparently Kennedy left the game with a blister. No biggie.
Triple-A Scranton (7-3 win over Rochester) beat an old friend for the second time in two weeks
Doug Bernier, Eric Duncan & Chris Stewart: all 0 for 4 – Bernier drew a walk & K’ed … E-Dunc drew a walk & K’ed four times (there’s the Eric Duncan we all know and love) … Stewart drove in a run
John Rodriguez & Shelley Duncan: both 3 for 4, 1 HR, 1 K – J-Rod’s was a solo shot … Shelley drove in 2, scored a pair of runs & committed a throwing error … he leads the International League with 6 homers
Todd Linden: 1 for 4, 1 R, 1 BB
Juan Miranda: 1 for 5, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 K
Austin Jackson: 1 for 5, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 SB – hitting .340 in 53 at-bats … but with 15 K
Luis Nunez: 3 for 4, 1 BB
Ian Kennedy: 4.2 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 6-3 GB/FB – 50 of 82 pitches were strikes (61.0%) … picked a runner off first … left the game with an unknown injury after walking a batter in the fifth … I’ll update this post if I find out what’s up, but it could just be a precautionary thing
Zach Kroenke: 2.1 IP, zeroes, 3 K, 3-1 GB/FB – 20 of 25 pitches were strikes (80.0%) … now that is some damn fine relief work
Anthony Claggett: 2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 2-2 GB/FB – 19 of 30 pitches were strikes (63.3%)
Game 19: Winning is the best recovery
Posted by: | CommentsHow sweet would a win be right now? Seriously. At the very least it might back a few fans off the ledge. At best it sparks a little winning streak that carries the team through next week (and ergo the Sox when they come into town).
This is a pretty big start for CC Sabathia. Not only are the Yanks coming off a horrible sweep, but he’s coming off a couple of poor outings. It was at this time last year, in his fifth start, that he righted himself. Let’s hope for a repeat performance.
Being a former AL Central mainstay, Sabathia has racked up a considerable track record against the Tigers. In 161 career innings he’s pitched to a 4.70 ERA, striking out 128 to 47 walks. However, those numbers include his early career when he simply wasn’t the pitcher he is today. Unfortunately, his only start against them last year came in his fourth game, so we know he threw a stinker. He didn’t fare well against them in 2007 either, tossing to a 5.29 ERA over 32.1 innings. The five homers he surrendered certainly pushed up that number, as his K/BB was solid at 26:5. Clearly, though, he’s going to have to reverse his history against the Tigers tonight.
The Tigers send Justin Verlander to the mound tonight. He’s done little to alleviate the concerns he raised last year. In one-third inning less than 2007, Verlander struck out 20 fewer and walked 20 more. That’s definitely not a good sign for a guy who made a 56-inning jump between 2005 and 2006. In 21 innings over four starts this year he’s pitched to a 9.00 ERA, striking out 25 to 9 walks. Dave Cameron says not to worry, that Verlander’s fastball is back and so should his performance. Of course, the start after he wrote that, Verlander got bombed for 7 runs in 5 innings against the Angels.
Despite having been in the league for the past three+ years, Verlander has started just four times against the Yankees for a total of 19 innings. Yes, that’s a horribly low number of innings, resulting from the spanking the Yanks have administered. Verlander has allowed 14 earned runs in those appearances for an ERA of 6.63. However, there are also three unearned runs in there, making the damage even worse. He’s struck out 14 to 9 walks, another good sign for the Yanks. In his one start last year the Yanks absolutely thrashed him, scoring eight runs, five earned, in 1.2 innings. Boy, could we use that tonight or what?
Oh, and is if Girardi were tempting us, Jose Molina starts behind the dish tonight. Will that be what brings CC around?
Lineup:
1. Derek Jeter, SS
2. Johnny Damon, LF
3. Mark Teixeira, 1B
4. Hideki Matsui, DH
5. Robinson Cano, 2B
6. Nick Swisher, RF
7. Melky Cabrera, CF
8. Jose Molina, C
9. Ramiro Pena, 3B
And on the mound, number fifty-two, CC Sabathia.
Doctor’s Note: Bruney, A-Rod, Wang
Posted by: | CommentsLots of injuries; lots of recovery. Let’s jump in.
- Brian Bruney is currently on the 15-day DL with what the Yankees are calling a strained flexor muscle in or near his elbow. Marc Craig at The Star-Ledger spoke to the Yanks’ set-up man, and Bruney blamed his intense workload between games. Apparently, Bruney really dials it up during his pen sessions and may be putting too much pressure on his arm. He will probably be activated when the 15 days are up.
- Alex Rodriguez‘s return is growing closer. The Yanks’ third baseman ran the bases again today and will soon take live batting practice. He could be in games by the end of this week and back with the Yanks sometime next week. I still think he’ll be back well before the May 15th day the Yanks continue to push. Marc Carig — a busy man apparently — wonders what happened to all the people who thought the Yanks were better off without A-Rod.
- Meanwhile, the Yanks’ Billy Connors says that Chien-Ming Wang is “doing great.” The Yankees say they’re trying to get Wang’s velocity and stamina back up to where it needs to be. I hope they’re focusing on his release point and mechanics as well.
The Hammer of God in Pitch f/x form
Posted by: | CommentsWhen I started posting these Pitch f/x breakdowns three weeks ago, I received lots and lots of requests for a Mariano Rivera post. I wanted to have enough of a data sample from this year to look at, so I held off for a few weeks until Mo threw his 100th pitch of the season, which he did Friday night. Now, finally, we can take a look at The Sandman.
We all know that the cutter is Mo’s bread and butter, and that’s not an understatement at all. Of the 127 pitches he’s thrown this year, 117 were cutters, or 92.1%. Nine other pitches were four-seam fastballs, and there was one two-seamer mixed in for good measure. Mo has no need for an offspeed pitch. Let’s take a look at how the pitches actually move. Remember to click for a larger view.
Fun with Small Sample Sizes: Catchers’ ERA
Posted by: | CommentsLast night, while Twittering about the game, Ross from New Stadium Insider posed the following question:
Can someone get the following stat for me: Yankee pitcher’s ERA with Posada behind the plate (and # of innings) vs. when Molina catches?
Always up for a run through Baseball Reference, I obliged. The findings were not pretty. Counting last night’s game, Jorge Posada has caught 105 innings, and Yankee pitchers have a 7.97 ERA in those innings.
There is one caveat though. Posada has caught all six of Chien-Ming Wang‘s innings. Since Wang has been epically bad, it’s not fair to Jorge to saddle him with those runs. So Jorge has caught 99 non-Wang innings and has seen his pitchers surrendered 70 runs. That’s an ERA of 6.36.
On the other side of the ball is Jose Molina. The Yanks’ defensive specialist has caught 58.1 innings this year, and pitchers are throwing to the tune of a 3.09 ERA. That’s a rather stark difference.
Now, these numbers suffer from an obvious sample size problem. Jorge’s 100 innings are far to small a sample to judge his catching, and Jose’s numbers in fewer innings are equally as suspect.
Right now, though, with the Yanks’ pitchers going as they’ve been going, it’s hard not to notice the difference. Pitching to Jorge Posada, the Yanks’ staff has been absolutely horrible; pitching to Jose Molina, the Yanks have among the best ERA in baseball.
What this means right now for the Yankees is nothing. The Yanks need Jorge’s bat in the line up, but they also need him to draw some semblance of success out of his pitchers. For now, is too early to draw any conclusions, but this is certainly a trend worth watching.
AL East Roundup: 4/20/09 through 4/26/09
Posted by: | CommentsToronto Blue Jays
Note: Still no Jays blogger. Anyone know someone? Anyone want to just write the recap weekly? Better from a Jays fan than a Yanks one. Hit me: josephp at riveraveblues dot com.
The Jays continued to roll through the season’s third week, taking two out of three from each of their opponents. Their week started and ended with Roy Halladay, who had an uncharacteristic performance on Tuesday, surrendering five runs over eight innings. This is why we need a Jays blogger to take this. Halladay had allows three through six innings, and then another two in the seventh. He tossed just 104 pitches in those eight innings, and struck out nine with no walks. The start didn’t seem all that bad, but it’s still five runs and a loss in the box score. He came back to win on Sunday, but his line, other than the earned runs, doesn’t look as impressive: 7 IP, 3 ER, 6 K, 1 BB, 118 pitches. So he used more pitches in fewer innings, struck out fewer, walked more, and allowed fewer runs. This baseball is an odd game.
Following the Halladay loss, the Jays took an 11-inning affair 8-7 on a Kevin Millar walk-off single. The Jays were actually up 7-4 heading into the top of the ninth, but B.J. Ryan hit a guy and issued a walk to lead off the frame, and it all came unraveled from there. An error and a Michael Young home run later and the game was headed to extras. Thursday was another good start for Kevin Millwood, though he did allow three home runs. The overall damage was limited to four runs over seven innings, and the Jays finished taking two of three from the Rangers.
In Chicago the Jays opened by simply massacring the Sox 14-0 on 21 hits. Lyle Overbay was the only starter to go hitless in the affair. The Sox turned the tables the next day, defeating Brian Burres and the Jays 10-2. Then finally, in the aforementioned Halladay start on Sunday, the Jays took the game 4-3 on a go-ahead single by Scott Rolen in the eighth. Few expected the Jays to play like this, but their offense has been clicking and the pitching staff has been doing the job, despite the flurry of injuries (McGowan, Marcum, Litsch, now Romero and Ryan).
Week’s record: 4-2
Season record: 14-6
Injuries: LHP B.J. Ryan (15-day DL, soreness between shoulder and back), LHP Ricky Romero (15-day DL, strained muscle on right side).
This week: Mon – Thu @Kansas City; Fri – Sun BALTIMORE
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Just 21 days 'til pitchers and catchers report.
