Archive for February, 2010
Gene Monahan ill, will miss Spring Training
Posted by: | CommentsVia George A. King III, longtime Yankees’ trainer Gene Monahan is going to miss his first Spring Training in 48 years due to a “significant illness that possibly could sideline him for the beginning of the regular season.” Monahan is getting treatment now, which could last for several weeks. Assistant trainer Steve Donohue is going to fill in for the time being.
Get well soon, Gene. You’ll be missed.
Yanks looking at Cuban SS Adeiny Hechevarria
Posted by: | CommentsFor some Cuban defectors, becoming cleared for MLB free agency can happen quickly. We saw that with Aroldis Chapman, who defected in early July, established residency in Andorra in September, and was granted free agency less than a week later. For other players it takes a bit longer. As George King of the Post reports, Cuban prospect Adeiny Hechevarria is about a week away from clearing the OFAC, which is still verifying his age, identity, and residency. Once that happens, word is the Yankees will be involved heavily.
The Cuban Ball Players blog has a bit more information about Hechevarria — including the spelling of his name, which I trust from that site, since it’s dedicated to Cuban players. Then again, the blog has him listed as 19 years old, while King’s article has him listed as 21. So we can take any information on the kid lightly at this point. In any case, the blog says that while Hechevarria posted a lower batting average than fellow Cuban Jose Iglesias, who signed with the Red Sox for $8.2 million last year, he hit for more power, especially the opposite way. Check out this video:
Will he stick at shortstop, though? Here’s an interesting quote from King’s article:
“He is a very good athlete and runs real well,” the scout said. “I don’t see him as a shortstop, I think he has a chance to be a center fielder in the mold of B.J. Upton. His throwing actions at short are kind of long.”
That doesn’t. This prospect won’t come cheap — probably somewhere around Iglesias’s deal — but it sounds like he might be worth the gamble, given his power and all-around athleticism.
Oh, and I don’t think we need to worry about his range to his left. The web-gem comes at the 4:58 mark.
On the volatility of relief pitchers
Posted by: | CommentsAs part of ESPN’s sometimes entertaining, something head-scratching (runs? I mean really, runs???) Hot Stove U. series, Jayson Stark wrote about the volatility of relief pitchers with proof to back it up. But as Yankee fans, we’ve been watching the proof for years. We’ve witnessed high-priced imports like Steve Karsay and Kyle Farnsworth fall on their faces as the Yanks tried to build a good bullpen behind Mariano Rivera, and it wasn’t until they scrapped that approach and went into small market mode that their bullpen became a certifiable strength.
For the last few years, GM Brian Cashman has stockpiled cheap, live-armed relievers with minor league options remaining. The idea was that if you have enough bodies, some of them will stick at certain points and give you quality relief, even if it’s just for a few months. If someone stinks, just swap him out with someone else. Believe it or not, there was a time guys like Edwar Ramirez, Jose Veras, Brian Bruney, and Ross Ohlendorf were contributing quality innings out of the Yanks’ bullpen.
Last year we started to see some long-term relief pieces like David Robertson and Al Aceves emerge, but even if they can’t repeat their 2009 success going forward, the team has plenty of arms waiting to replace them in Triple-A. The Yanks recently brought Kevin Towers aboard, who for years worked magic with the Padres bullpen on the cheap, and that’s only going to help the bullpen corps going forward.
There’s no right way to build a bullpen; sometimes the big money thing works, sometimes the scrap heap approach works. As the Yankees have discovered, the best thing to do is have enough depth in case Plan A, Plan B, or even Plan C fails. And just to wrap this up, here’s the money quote from Stark’s article:
“The first thing you’ve got to remember,” said another GM, “is they’re relievers for a reason. The reason they become relievers in the first place is because they have some flaws. They don’t have a third pitch. They can’t repeat their delivery. They’ve got an unorthodox arm angle. So we made them relievers — because if we had a choice, we’d make them starters. Just the fact that we made them relievers means you’re looking at an imperfect crop to begin with.”
Hmmm … sounds applicable to a certain debate in Yankeeland, no?
Open Thread: Rethinking the box score (part II)
Posted by: | CommentsA week ago today, Dave Allen at Baseball Analysts presented a new box score of his own, which Joe passed along as that night’s open thread. The new linear layout basically told the story of the game, starting at the first inning and continuing through to the ninth. It showed what batters each reliever faced, how they did against them, who came to the plate with who on base, all things the traditional box score lack.
Allen revised his creation a bit today, which you can see below. Click for a larger view.
This one does a better job of showing how the runners advanced around the bases and stuff, or at least I think it does. Some of baseball’s traditions are so firmly in place that we’ll have to wait for generations to pass before some fans and media are open to changing something as sacred as the almighty box score. For shame.
Anyway, here’s the open thread. The Olympics start tonight, while both the Devils and Rangers play their last games before the two week break for the games in Vancouver. The Knicks and Nets are off for the All Star Break. Talk about whatever you want, just be nice to each other.
100 Names You Need To Know
Posted by: | CommentsUSA Today released their list of 100 names you need to know for 2010 today, which is essentially a list of minor leaguers with the chance the contribute the most to their big league team this year. It’s also the only list where you’ll see Jamie Hoffmann ranked ahead of Desmond Jennings. Anyway, Mark Melancon comes in at #52, Zach McAllister at #56, Hoffmann at #58, and Jesus Montero at #66. Austin Jackson ranked #19, and there’s even a Tobi Stoner sighting. I have no idea how Marc Rzepczynski can rank so high (#13), that one’s a head scratcher.
Long working with Nick Johnson
Posted by: | CommentsPosition players still have some time before they report, but most of them have been getting their work in over the past few weeks. That includes new Yankees DH Nick Johnson, who recently worked on his swing with hitting instructor Kevin Long. The focus was on Johnson’s footwork, specifically, according to Long, “trying to keep [Johnson's back foot] from flying back.” Long says that when it moves “he collapses the inside right away.” This isn’t to make Johnson into a dead pull hitter, but rather to give him more balance at the plate. Plus, the ability to pull the ball at Yankee Stadium can be a valuable skill.
Talking ’bout my generational talent
Posted by: | CommentsWhile pondering our recent discussion on Derek Jeter’s future yesterday, I posed a question to the legions of River Ave. Blues’ Twitter followers. Who’s easier to replace, I asked, Derek Jeter or Mariano Rivera?
This question was not, by any means, posed idly. It had its origins in a questionable statement by The Post’s Joel Sherman — a shocking concept, I know. In discussing the four members of the Yanks’ old guard, Sherman wondered how to replace them. “The falloff,” he wrote, “from Jeter to Ramiro Pena, Rivera to either Joba Chamberlain or Phil Hughes, Pettitte to Chad Gaudin or Alfredo Aceves, and Posada to Francisco Cervelli remains pretty steep.” There’s no denying that the falloff from either Posada to Cervell or from Jeter to Pena is incredibly steep, but for the other two players, Sherman’s statement rang dubious.
Meanwhile, Brian Cashman seemed to echo Sherman to a point. In explaining why the Yankees won’t negotiate with their free agents before they hit free agency, Cashman had this to say to the Daily News: What’s the difference between him and Mariano? Is Derek any more important than Mariano? Is that a message we want to send? We have legacy-type people and we have a policy in place. Everyone understands it and it’s not an issue.” I understand overall point, but the difference between Derek and Mariano is not a small one. And thus a Twitter poll was born.
The responses I received were widely divergent. Apparently, Yankee fans love, adore and admire Mariano Rivera across the board, and many of them said that Rivera would be tougher to replace than Jeter. When the Twitter reply dust settled, the final tally stood with 20 people saying Rivera is easier to replace and 16 saying that Jeter is easier to replace. Three people said that Rivera was easier to replace during the regular season but that Jeter was easier to replace than Rivera is during the playoffs because Rivera’s postseason value is through the roof.
So we’ll start this analysis by examining Rivera’s and Jeter’s contributions since 1996. Derek has played in 2138 games for the Yanks, third most in franchise history, while Rivera has appeared in 917, tops among Yankee pitchers all-time. Innings-wise, Jeter has the edge. Not counting the 14 times, he’s DH’d, Derek has spent 18440.1 innings the field for the Yanks while Rivera has 1090 innings pitched under his belt. Astute readers will know where this is going.
With the help of WAR, we can better see how Rivera and Jeter impact the Yankees. Since 2002 — the earliest date Fangraphs presents for WAR — Rivera has put together a 19.4 WAR while Jeter has contributed a 40.3 mark. Jeter’s lowest WAR mark is a 3.7; Rivera’s highest a 3.1. Mo might be the greatest, but he’s still just a reliever.
In terms of replacing one or the other, there’s little doubt in my mind that Jeter is harder to replace. Last year, in fact, Jeter’s WAR led all short stops, and the drop-off is steep. Ryan Theriot and Miguel Tejada, 11th and 12th on the list, put up marks of 2.8 and 2.6 respectively. Rivera’s relief translated into a 2.0 WAR, sixth best among relievers, but the drop-off is less steep. Alfredo Aceves, for instance, put together a 1.2 WAR. The Yankees, meanwhile, have someone who was more valuable as a reliever than Rivera during the regular season last year. Phil Hughes’ relief WAR was 2.1. All of a sudden that drop-off isn’t so steep.
In the end, this analysis is clouded by the post-season. Mariano Rivera stands head and shoulders above every other postseason reliever, but then again, in 637 October plate appearances, Jeter has hit .313/.383/.479. It’s tough to find that from anyone, let alone a starting short stop.
As both players near free agency for possibly the last time in their respective careers, the Yankees are going to have to mull replacing them at some point. While the two are a long way from retiring, it’s still a scary and depressing thought for fans used to seeing Rivera and Jeter there everyday. Make no mistake about it though: When push comes to shove, it will be much harder to replace Derek Jeter than it will be Mariano Rivera. And that’s coming from someone who worships at the Temple of Mo.
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Report: Montero working out at first base
Posted by: | CommentsSurely you’ve heard the news by now, so I’m not going to bother linking to one of the many reports indicating that Yanks’ top prospect Jesus Montero has been working out at first base in Tampa. This isn’t anything out of the ordinary. The Yanks have all of their minor league catchers dabble at first as they get close to the majors, and really they have everyone work out at another position to increase their versatility as they get within shouting distance of the show.
Brett Gardner and Austin Jackson were playing the outfield corners for a while, Ramiro Pena was bouncing around the infield when it seemed like he had a shot to make the team, starters pitch in relief, there’s plenty of other examples. It doesn’t mean they’ve given up on him as a catcher, they’re just getting him some reps at another position since there probably aren’t too many pitchers down there throwing right now. If anything, this is great news. It means the Yanks are confident that Montero’s bat is close to big league ready, and he might see some action in the Bronx this year.
Chien-Ming Wang’s non-sinking sinker, and other issues
Posted by: | CommentsIf you haven’t yet read Jay’s article about Chien-Ming Wang’s failing sinker, I suggest you do that now. It’s a thoughtful article that examines Wang’s 2009 season, in particular his flat sinker. It was so flat, in fact, that pitch f/x frequently miscategorized it as a two-seamer. There were times when he did get decent movement on his sinker, though it still didn’t sink as much in 2009, or even 2008, as it did in 2007. When he did execute the sinker in 2009, it was about a half mile an hour slower, on average, than 2007.
After reading Jay’s post, I was reminded of something Mike wrote last year about the same topic. He took a graphical look at Wang’s release point and where the ball crossed the plate. It’s clear, even to those unfamiliar with pitch f/x, that Wang’s release point was more over the top in 2009 than it was during his glory years. The movement began, it seems, in May of 2008, when Wang started pitching poorly after a good start to the season.
In response to Jay’s post, Will Carroll added a bit about biometric analysis. He adds another level to the discussion, as he brings in the mechanics of Wang’s shoulder. Apparently, according to research conducted by Dr. James Andrews, a pitcher’s bone structure “changes to accommodate the demands of pitching.” He also notes that the Yankees do not perform biomechanical analyses on their pitchers, which seems a bit odd. With such large investments at stake, I would think they want all the information possible on their most volatile players.
We heard earlier this week that Wang will sign with the Nationals, and while those rumors have been debunked for the time being, it would not surprise me at all to see him land there. They’re the type of team that can take this kind of gamble, as their pitching staff can use all the help it can get. Not that Wang provides even the slightest semblance of a guarantee. He’s a two-pitch pitcher who has seen one of those pitches lose its effectiveness. Maybe he could find success by throwing fewer fastballs, but that would require more than one secondary pitch.
While this post is mainly to point out some interesting information on a not-quite-former Yankee, it’s also to say that the Yankees certainly have their reasons for not pursuing Wang. The odds, it appears, are stacked against him.
Just 21 days 'til pitchers and catchers report.
