Albaladejo optioned for Mitre

by 55 Comments

The Joba conundrum from someone who's been there
Game 96: You know Sergio?

To make room on the active roster for Sergio Mitre, the Yankees have optioned Jonathan Albaladejo back to AAA Scranton. In two appearances for the Bombers this week, the right-hander had given up a run on two hits and a walk in 2.2 innings. He struck out three and appeared to be throwing better than he had in his other Major League stints. Right now, the Yanks’ 25-man roster now features Chad Gaudin, Dustin Moseley, Sergio Mitre and Chan Ho Park. Even if the team feels they need a long man today to caddy for Mitre, who will throw between 75 and 90 pitches today, that’s a lot of dead weight in the bullpen. I have to believe another move could come as early as tomorrow.

The Joba conundrum from someone who's been there
Game 96: You know Sergio?
  • Accent Shallow

    Why is Park still on the roster? Ridiculous.

    • http://www.secondavenuesagas.com Benjamin Kabak

      Why are any two of those four pitchers still on the team?

      • steve (different one)

        CHoP has an xFIP of 4.09. not great, but servicable. why do we get to pick and choose where we use the “lucky/unlucky” argument?

        Albaladejo will be back up, or he’ll be dealt for something useful.

        No need to overreact.

        • http://soxandpinstripes.net Angelo

          He wasn’t overreacting

        • Ross in Jersey

          Because he’s given up nine home runs this year already after giving up none the entire year last year?

          Also, Chan Ho’s OPS+ against by leverage situation:

          Low : 87
          Medium: 299 (!!)
          High: 146

          He’s not unlucky, he’s just plain not good anymore.

          • steve (different one)

            soo…he’s better in high leverage situations than medium? what does that mean? you’re splitting up 31 innings and pretending the splits mean something.

            i’m not saying he’s great. just saying he may be a little better than his raw numbers say he is and as long as he’s not being used in big spots (which he isn’t), he could be somewhat useful until they make more moves. which they will.

            and he’s given up 7 HRs. which is a lot, obviously, but not 9.

            CHoP to me looks decent when he is throwing 92-93. when he comes out throwing 89-90, which he was early in the season, he stinks. if the Yankees feel like his velocity is coming back, then maybe they let him pitch himself out of it.

            again, as long as they are letting him do that in lower leverage spots, there isn’t that much harm.

            • http://soxandpinstripes.net Angelo

              146 or 299 OPS+ are both terrible.

              That’s like saying a player struckout in a low leverage situation, but he grounds out in a high leverage one.

              Niether is a good result. One might be slightly better than the other, but they’re both bad.

              I’m not saying to get rid of CHoP by the way (at least not yet.) I think some other guys have to go though.

              • steve (different one)

                yes, i know this.

                but…..the high leverage number: 21 ABs
                the medium leverage number: 14 ABs!!

                you are taking a microscopic sample and saying it means something.

                BTW, 92 ABs in low leverage situations. so at the least, Girardi is using him properly.

                and i would imaging that most of those high leverage ABs came in 1) the first few days of the season when roles were still undefine and 2) that game in Toronto when he pitched 2 innings in extras

                • http://soxandpinstripes.net Angelo

                  Ah, okay. I didn’t know this. I guess the fact that he’s a reliever doesn’t help.

                  You want your relievers to succeed in those situations, but I see what you’re saying. SSS, I know.

            • Ross in Jersey

              It’s OPS against. The higher the number, the worse he is. He’s been fine when the game doesn’t matter. When it does… look out.

              • Bernard

                New concept for you to look up: sample size

      • Rob

        Because while Cashman is a good GM, he’s not a great one. He does get the big pieces mostly right. It’s the the last 15% that has always been his bugaboo.

        • http://soxandpinstripes.net Angelo

          Explain this to me.

          Maybe I’m missing something, but the Yankees won the World Series last year.

          Oh yeah, and the bullpen was fine. So was the bench. Weird.

          • dalelama

            Let’s see he let Matsui go and replaced him with Nick Johnson..He let Damon go and replaced him with Granderson…he signed AJ to a horrible contract…I am not saying Cash stinks but he isn’t fantastic…I think a lot of GMs could do what Cashman has done if they had the dinero.

            • Zack

              “he signed AJ to a horrible contract”

              To bad we didn’t go into last season with CC, Wang, Andy, Joba and Hughes. That would have worked out well.

            • http://www.secondavenuesagas.com Benjamin Kabak

              Why are you still harping on Matsui? He’s hitting .249/.329/.410. That’s awful.

        • Zack

          No GM consistantly conquers the bullpen; you stock pile as many guys who throw the ball hard as possible and see who steps up.

          • Zack

            Same with the bench, bench players are bench players for a reason, because they usually have 1 skill, and that keeps them in the majors.

  • viasistina

    Albaladejo is the last guy I’d send down in that distinguished group of four pitchers you named. Go figure.

  • http://cid-e3a022289d65b5c0.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/Assorted/foul.jpg Andy in NYC aka the Other Oofys

    Ugh. Why’d they keep Moseley? I know, caddy for Mitre, but still.

    Hopefully the “new-look Albie” gets another chance; he’s looked good so far.

  • Ross in Jersey

    Beyond stupid. The Chad Ho Moseley hydra has outlived it’s usefulness. Time to chop off one of the heads. Albie had done fine, they should have let him stick around and try to work him into a few higher leverage situations. Ugh.

  • YankeeJosh

    And Boone Logan. That’s 4 pretty ineffective bullpen guys. Keeping Logan makes sense as he’s the only lefty for now. Albaladejo was optioned for roster flexibility only. In this case, losing one of Park, Gaudin or Moseley would have been wiser than optioning an effective Alby.

  • zs190

    The reason for this move is really simple. Albie has options, Chad Ho Moseley doesn’t, and they are taking the easy and lazy route here. Not the right move but probably the move that 90% of the league would take here.

    Let’s all hope for Daren Haren and Chad Qualls tomorrow. I’m bracing for the inevitable “What! we just traded Ivan Nova and Joba for 2 guys with ERA of 4.6 and 7.86? Fire Cash!”

    • http://youcantpredictbaseball.wordpress.com/ bexarama

      I’d like Dan Haren more if his name was Daren Haren. That’s awesome.

      • zs190

        Daren it, Bexy! I was just about to fix it =(

        • zs190

          Sigh, I can’t type today…I just typed darn it as daren it too, I’m naming my first born Daren.

    • zs190

      Errr Dan Haren

    • http://twitter.com/dpatrickg Dirty Pena

      This would be true if people didn’t hate Joba so much. I suspect the irrationalites you speak of will be glad to be rid of Joba.

      • http://soxandpinstripes.net Angelo

        There were people complaining in the another thread saying “ZOMG we can’t trade Joba!”

    • Kyle Litke

      I agree, but it’s just shy of August. At some point, they have to stop taking the easy and lazy route, because it’s too late in the year for that. Not like this is a team destroying move or anything, in all likelihood it doesn’t change anything, but it’s annoying.

  • Doug

    “I have to believe another move could come as early as tomorrow.”

    like bringing alby back. other than getting tired at the end of his first outing, he’s looked great. better than anyone else in the pen right now.

    • CNight_UP

      Unless someone goes on the DL, Albie can’t be brought back for 10 days…

    • http://www.secondavenuesagas.com Benjamin Kabak

      They can’t bring back Albie for 10 days, but they can bring up Romulo Sanchez or someone else actually useful in the interim.

      • Doug

        that’s right, ben. thanks. you too, CNight

      • Doug

        oh, and because of this, his demotion is downright ridiculous.

    • Cecala

      I think you have to wait like 7 days before you can option someone back up. This is unless a player gets put on the DL.

      • Cecala

        10*
        /refresh fail’d

  • Cecala

    I thought I was going to wake up happy seeing that Moseley was DFA’d. Albie was pitching well, I don’t understand how Cashman saw Chad Ho Moseley as a better option.

    • Doug

      as zs190 said earlier, alby has options, CHM don’t

      • Kyle Litke

        Yes, but so what? Even if the Yankees don’t get another reliever, what’s the worst that could happen by DFA one of those three? Someone comes down with an injury and instead of recalling Alby, you already have him up and you replace them with Melancon or Sanchez or something? Even if they stink, they can do better than those three have been doing, and the upside is much higher.

  • M-Three

    What the hell is wrong with Brian Cashman? For some reason he seems dead set keeping Chan Ho park around for the entire season. It is unfair that Park get to stay yet Albaladejo get sent down when Alby is a better pitcher than Park. Park has done nothing but waste a roster spot all year and is an embarassment to the franchise everytime he pitches. Why are the Yankees just gonna give him a free ride on our journey to another World Series? If we win the World Series again and Park is still here then he should not get a ring because he doesn’t deserve to be part of a championship team.

    • steve (different one)

      give me a break.

    • http://youcantpredictbaseball.wordpress.com/ bexarama

      (awaits the “yes, I agree” post from Accent Shallow)

  • Nick

    Keep one. Someone get rid of Chad Ho Moseley. Albadejo is better than Mosley and Gaudin combined

  • steve (different one)

    oh my God, the Yankees made a completely minor move in the bullpen which will probably have changes sometime in the next 3-4 days! everyone overreact!!!

    • Kyle Litke

      oh my God, the Yankees did something that people are confused about, overreact and act like everyone complaining is calling it the end of the season!!!

  • phughesisgod

    LOL. So, we choose to option down a pitcher who has been good since being called up over Park, who’s been nothing short of horrendous this year? Great move, guys! I’d rather have Gaudin and Mosley over Park, to be honest. I just cannot stand the sight of Park anymore. Whats even worse though about this move is that Albaladejo cannot be called back up now for 10 days, unless someone gets hurt. A bullpen that has been in need of a complete overhaul since about May was on the verge of getting one until today when the one pitcher who deserves to stick over everyone in the current bullpen besides 2 people gets sent back down. This is just getting rediculous, the faith this front office has in Chad Ho Mosley is just getting out of control.

    • http://soxandpinstripes.net Angelo

      To be somewhat fair, Moseley has only pitched in 6 games (he’s been terrible, but I wouldn’t call 6 games “having faith.”)

      They can’t option him down to Scranton either, so they would lose an option if they got rid of him instead of Albie. And the Yankees clearly need options to find out who can be valuable down the stretch.

      Also, Park has only allowed 2 runs in his past 8.1 innings pitched. In that span he’s also struckout 7 batters, while only walking 1 batter. So overall he’s been pitching better of late. I wouldn’t let him go just yet.

      I wish Albie got more of a chance though.

  • Kyle Litke

    This is stupid. The Yankees may as well trade Albaladejo…it’s becoming increasingly clear that there is absolutely nothing he can do, no matter what, to get a chance with the Yankees. There is NO good reason to be carrying two long men (even with Mitre in the rotation, you still only need one) plus Park. I’m actually fine with Park still being here (rather have Albaladejo than him but he’s not the guy I’d cut), but why Moseley AND Gaudin? Stupid, stupid, stupid.

    • steve (different one)

      well, maybe they WILL trade him. and get something better?

      why not WAIT until the deadline actually passes before making this statement?

      also, for TODAY, they DO need 2 longmen because one of them is unavailable b/c of the rain yesterday.

      it’s not rocket science: the yankees are going to keep Gaudin when the dust settles. Moseley will be gone. but today, they need Moseley.

  • forensicnucchem
    • steve (different one)

      what does this mean? would you rather that D-Rob, Joba, and Mo pitched instead of Moseley today? i wouldn’t.

      • forensicnucchem

        I didn’t say that. Ben thought they’d DFA Moseley and knowing the way Girardi operates I figured they’d just send down Albaladejo instead because he likes the long man available. That’s all.

  • Bernard

    I think it’s time for all the Moseley haters to give him some credit, he threw 4.2 innings of shutout ball on 53 (1 hit, 1 walk, 1 K). Great effort and he gave them a chance to win today.

    • Bernard

      53 pitches I mean…