Archive for July, 2010
A look at the Yankees’ trade deadline history, 2005-2007
Posted by: | CommentsThe 2010 non-waiver trade deadline is just six days away now, and the Yankees are sure to make a move or two (or more) before then to shore up the bench and bullpen, among other things. Because of who they are, the Yanks are always connected to the big names before the deadline, as we’ve already seen with Cliff Lee and Dan Haren this year. Their interest in Lee was sincere, but the vibe I got from the Haren situation was that they were willing to take him if he fell into their laps, but they weren’t married to the idea of acquiring him.
The Yanks have made several moves of varying significance at the deadline during the last five years, so let’s look back and see what moves they actually made. This post covers 2005, 2006, and 2007 while 2008 and 2009 will be a long a little later this afternoon.
2005
Eduardo Sierra & Ramon Ramirez for Shawn Chacon
Cash considerations for Joe Thurston
(AP Photo/John Dunn)
It’s hard to believe how little pitching depth the Yankees had in 2005, especially since they were two-and-a-half games up in the AL East a week before the deadline. Having already acquired Al Leiter (4.53 FIP in 62.1 IP after the trade) from the Marlins for cash considerations plus Darrell May (10.88 FIP in 7 IP) and Tim Redding (11.02 FIP in 1 IP) from the Padres for Paul Quantrill earlier in July, the Yanks grabbed Shawn Chacon from the Rockies for two relief prospects.
“Saturday we have a starter now. It’s as simple as that,” said GM Brian Cashman at the time of the deal, a terrifying reminder of how bad things got in the mid-aughts. Chacon pitched as well as you could have expected after the trade, posting a 4.53 FIP in 79 IP across 12 starts and two relief appearances. He also pitched well in his lone postseason appearance, limiting the Angels to two runs in 6.1 IP in Game Four of the ALDS. The good times ended there though, but we’ll cover that in a bit.
The prospects dealt for Chacon went different ways. Sierra has never appeared in the big leagues, and has posted a 4.84 ERA in 148.2 IP for three teams since the trade. He currently pitches for Reynosa in the Mexican League. Ramirez, on the other hand, contributed a 3.65 FIP in 85 IP to Rockies across the 2006 and 2007 seasons. They then dealt him to the Royals for Jorge DeLaRosa, and a year later Kansas City traded him to the Red Sox for Coco Crisp. Ramirez currently resides in Boston’s bullpen of doom, with a 4.77 FIP in 40.1 IP this season.
The Thurston move was simply a matter of minor league depth and needing a warm body in Triple-A. The utility infielder never played for the Yankees after being acquired from the Dodgers, instead hitting .238/.287/.374 a in 118 plate appearances for Triple-A Columbus. The Yanks also made a waiver trade in late August, grabbing Matt Lawton from the Indians for A-ball pitching prospect Justin Berg. Lawton was terrible in pinstripes (.249 wOBA in 57 plate appearances), and although Berg is nothing special, he gets credit for reaching the majors with the Cubs both this year and last (4.31 career FIP in 32.2 IP).
2006
Hector Made for Sal Fasano
C.J. Henry, Carlos Monasterios, Jesus Sanchez & Matt Smith for Bobby Abreu & Cory Lidle
Shawn Chacon for Craig Wilson
Unlike 2005, the Yankees’ pitching staff was relatively sound in 2006. Not great, but good enough. The lineup was the real weakness, with both Hideki Matsui and Gary Sheffield missing considerable time because of wrist injuries and Andy Phillips’ .289 wOBA masquerading as an everyday first baseman. Cashman made three moves in the days leading up to the deadline, the first of which brought the world’s greatest mustache to New York.
As likable as Sal Fasano was, he simply wasn’t very good. He put up a .228 wOBA in 57 plate appearances after the trade, which is somehow worse than what Kelly Stinnett (.258 wOBA in 87 PA) did as Jorge Posada‘s backup in the first half of the season. Made, the prospect sent to the Phillies for Fasano, was a toolsy middle infielder still in A-ball. He’s been out of baseball since the 2007 season, with just ten plate appearances above A-ball to his credit. That, of course, was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to Yanks-Phils trades that year.
(AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
With both Matsui and Sheffield out, the Yanks regularly employed a Melky Cabrera-Johnny Damon-Bernie Williams outfield alignment during the summer of 2006. Yes, it was almost as bad as it sounds. After weeks of rumors, Cashman finally went ahead and acquired Bobby Abreu and Cory Lidle from Philadelphia once the price dropped sufficiently. The Phillies were also responsible for getting Abreu to waive his no-trade clause, eventually paying him $1.5M to both waive the NTC and agreeing to the condition that his $16M option for 2008 did not have to be picked up.
Slotted right into the three-spot of the lineup upon his arrival, Abreu was pretty damn awesome after the trade. He put up a .405 wOBA in 248 plate appearances after the deal, though his defense was suspect as usual. Lidle solidified the back of the rotation, posting a 6.35 FIP in 45.1 IP, though he had some awful homerun luck (21.6% HR/FB compared to 12.8% career). Neither player did anything noteworthy in the ALDS, just like the rest of the team.
(AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
Sadly, Lidle was killed that October when a single-engine aircraft he was piloting crashed into an Upper East Side high-rise. Even though he was a free agent and unlikely to re-sign with the Yanks, the team wore black armbands in his honor during the 2007 season, and his wife Melanie and young son Christopher were invited to throw out the first pitch on Opening Day 2007 (left).
Abreu spent two more years in pinstripes, posting a .364 wOBA during the 2007 and 2008 seasons, though his atrocious defense limited his overall value. The Yanks did end up exercising that 2008 option before letting him walk as a free agent after the season. As expected, the prospects surrendered in the deal have on to achieve different things. The centerpiece, 2005 first rounder C.J. Henry, never got on track in A-ball for Philadelphia before asking for release during the 2007-2008 offseason. He then re-signed with the Yanks, spent another year giving the baseball thing a try before giving the sport up and joining his brother Xavier on the University of Kansas basketball team.
Smith posted a 4.70 FIP in 12.2 IP for Philadelphia, but his career has been derailed by a series of injuries, including Tommy John surgery. The Cubs released him after Spring Training last season, and he’s been out of baseball since. Sanchez, a catcher at the time of the trade, has since converted to pitching and developed into a decent pitching prospect. He’s still in A-ball, though the Phillies added him to the 40-man roster this past offseason to avoid losing him in the Rule 5 Draft, which is what happened with Monasterios. Monasterios is currently with the Dodgers, and has pitched to a 5.41 FIP in 57.1 IP this season.
The last trade the Yanks made at the 2006 deadline involved their 2005 deadline pickup: Shawn Chacon. After a strong second half in 2005, Chacon bombed (6.26 FIP in 63 IP) during the first half of the 2006 season, and was then flipped to the Pirates for Craig Wilson. Wilson wasn’t any good in New York (.264 wOBA in 109 plate appearances), but he was more productive than Phillips at first. Both he and Chacon bounced around after the 2006 season and are now out of baseball.
2007
Jeff Kennard for Jose Molina
Scott Proctor for Wilson Betemit
(AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)
The Yanks marched into the 2007 deadline seven games back in the division, but instead went with a few tweaks rather than a major upgrade. Molina was acquired from the Angels to replace the completely overmatched Wil Nieves (.187 wOBA in 66 PA), and almost instantly became the best backup catcher of the Jorge Posada era. He posted a .334 wOBA in 71 plate appearances after the trade, then re-signed with the Yanks after the season and spent the 2008 and 2009 seasons as their rock solid, defensive specialist backup backstop. Kennard was in Double-A at the time of the trade and has never pitched in the big leagues, bouncing between affiliated ball and independent leagues over the last season or two.
Cashman’s other deadline move sent the burnt out Proctor to the Dodgers for Betemit, who provided some pop off the bench (.301 wOBA in 92 PA, but a .190 ISO) while playing all over the infield. He returned the next year and posted a .308 wOBA in 198 plate appearances before being dealt in a five player trade that brought Nick Swisher and Kanekoa Texeira to the Yanks. Proctor pitched to a 4.90 FIP with the Dodgers in 70.2 IP during the second half of 2007 and the first half of 2008 before injuries, including Tommy John surgery. He’s bounced around since then, and is currently pitching with the Braves Triple-A affiliate.
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Check back later today for the second half of this review, when we relive the 2008 and 2009 deadlines and offer up some thoughts about what could happen this year.
A little missing from Phil’s fastball
Posted by: | CommentsThere is no doubt that Phil Hughes‘s fastball has been his most effective weapon this season. FanGraphs’ pitch type values rates it as 12.7 runs above average, and he has gotten the majority of his swings and misses this season with the four-seamer. It has been the main difference between Hughes the starter in 2008/2009 and Hughes the starter in 2010.
Photo credit: Elaine Thompson/AP
After gaining a reputation in the minors for throwing 92-94 and touching the upper 90s, Hughes had trouble cracking 91 on the radar gun during his early years. This was less noticeable in 2007, when PitchFX data wasn’t widely analyzed. But in 2008 his velocity was front and center. After suffering a hamstring injury in 2007 Hughes might have been tentative with his fastball in 2008, but even in 2009 he wasn’t hitting 92 with any consistency as a starter. It took a move to the bullpen for him to rediscover his fastball.
Given the opportunity to empty the tank in short spurts, Hughes took advantage. His fastball averaged around 95 mph while pitching out of the pen, and he took those lessons with him to camp this year. His fastball now averages 92.5 mph, made all the better by his newfound cut fastball. That one comes across a bit slower, but it substitutes speed for movement, giving Hughes two different looks with the fastball. He has played them off each other well, and has generally been effective with both.
Lately we’ve seen a big of change in Phil. He has gotten hit a bit harder, resulting in an ERA that has gone from 2.54 at the beginning of June to 4.04 following yesterday’s game. Not all of his starts have been bad in that span, but he hasn’t been particularly effective or efficient in general. For instance, he pitched seven innings only three times in the past two months, while he reached that mark four times in May alone. He’s still throwing strikes, but it seems like they’re not of as high a quality as earlier in the year. Part of that rests on his fastball.
That’s not to say that there are problems with his fastball. He’s actually been pretty consistent with the speed, as you can see in his velocity chart:
Click for larger
Yesterday his velocity was a bit down from normal, averaging just under 92 mph and maxing out at just 93, while he had consistently broken 94 in nearly every previous start. That’s not a huge dip, though. What caught my eye, though, was the loss of vertical break. For the season Hughes’s fastball has averaged 9.9 inches of vertical break, which is right in line with where it’s been for most of his career. Just last Tuesday, when Hughes faced Anaheim, the vertical break on his fastball was above 10 inches. That resulted in five swinging strikes, a good rate for him this season. Yesterday, however, that break fell all the way to 8.91 inches, which is fairly pedestrian for Hughes.
A high vertical break number usually leads to what commentators will call a sneaky fastball. It doesn’t necessarily travel at breakneck speeds, but it kind of sneaks up on the batter. This was said of David Robertson last season, and to no surprise he averaged 11.2 inches of vertical break on his fastball. Hughes just didn’t have that sneaky aspect of his fastball going yesterday, and unsurprisingly he saw a lower than normal swinging strike rate, just 3 of 56 fastballs. Against the Angels last Tuesday he induced swinging strikes in five of 61 pitches. In his July 4 start he got seven swings and misses on 61 fastballs.
Normally we could just see this as a blip and move on — possibly being a bit thankful that it came against the Royals and not a team that could really capitalize. But with Hughes we’re moving into rough waters. He’s now past his innings total from last year, which wouldn’t be a big deal if he’d thrown more than 75 innings in 2008 and 105 innings in 2007. Instead he hasn’t hit the 111.1 inning mark since 2006. It makes projecting the remainder of his season a difficult proposal.
One thing we for which we can be thankful: Phil Hughes is not Joba Chamberlain. They’ve taken different paths to the bigs and have developed in distinctly different manners. There is no guarantee that Phil experiences the same issues that Chamberlain did last year when he hit his previous innings high. But underscores the big point: we don’t know how Hughes will react from here on out. That’s a bit scary for a team that need to continue its strong play for another two-plus months.
The good news is that Hughes has used his curveball a bit more. It’s gotten hit a bit, but it should become a more effective weapon as he uses it more. Yesterday he throw it 20 times, a healthy number considering his overall pitch total (95). If he does lose a little bit off the fastball due to fatigue, it’s the curveball he’ll need to get him out of jams. That seems like a positive for his development. The Yankees can only hope that it’s also a positive in terms of 2010 results.
Fan Confidence Poll: July 26th, 2010
Posted by: | CommentsRecord Last Week: 4-2 (45 RS, 34 RA)
Season Record: 62-35 (533 RS, 405 RA, 61-36 Pythag. record), 3.0 games up
Schedule This Week: @ Indians (four games, Mon. to Thurs.), @ Rays (three games, Fri. to Sun.)
Top stories from last week:
- The week started off with a much needed day off, but the Angels quickly turned thing sour by blowing the Yankees out on Tuesday. The Yanks did salvage a split of the two game set the next day thanks to Colin Curtis‘ first career homer.
- The Royals came in for a four game series once the Halos left town, and the Yanks did exactly what they were supposed to do. Alex Rodriguez hit his 599th career homer and helped the Yanks take the opener, who also blew KC out on Friday. Sergio Mitre got smacked around in his return to the mound the next day, but another blow out win yesterday gave the Yanks three wins in the series.
- Injury Zone: Nick Swisher missed two games with a sore Achilles, while Andy Pettitte is hopeful for a quick return from his groin strain. Al Aceves will join the team on their road trip this week, and is scheduled to throw some bullpen sessions. Alex Rodriguez is day-to-day after being hit by a pitch in the forearm, ditto top prospect Jesus Montero.
- With a little more than a week before the trade deadline, the Yankees were rumored to be the front-runners to land Diamondbacks’ ace Dan Haren. They were never really close to a deal, and Haren ultimately ended up with the Angels. The Yanks did however make a play for Joakim Soria, and are interested in Jhonny Peralta.
- Jon Albaladejo was recalled following Pettitte’s injury, then soon demoted to make room for Mitre.
- Former Yankee manager Ralph Houk passed away at age-90.
Please take a second to answer the poll below and give us an idea of how confident you are in the team. You can view the Fan Confidence Graph anytime via the nav bar above, or by clicking here. Thanks in advance for voting.
Yanks finish off pesky Royals with a 12-run assault
Posted by: | CommentsThis was a high scoring game that didn’t bring much drama. Sure, Joba made things interesting in the eighth, letting the Royals get to within two before he recorded an out, but even then the game was rarely in doubt. The Yanks’ hitters were out in force yesterday, and after Joba’s slip-up they came back and made the lead Chad Ho Moseley proof. It was a nice four-game series win, though against the Royals that’s to be expected.
Biggest Hit: Derek ties it
None of Jeter today. | Photo credit: Kathy Willens/AP
After going 0 for 4 in the first game of the Anaheim series, Derek Jeter was making some noise — though not the good kind. His season line fell to .268/.332/.380, which naturally led to more talk about his winter contract negotiations. Five games does not a turnaround make, but any sign of life is welcome from Jeter. After his 3 for 4 day, which included a walk, Jeter is now 10 for his last 24 with two doubles, a homer, and two walks.
His big hit yesterday came during the team’s rally in the third. The Royals had just taken a 2-0 lead on what might have been the shortest home run in Yankee Stadium history, and wanted to get their guy back some runs. Granderson delivered the first with a homer to lead off the inning. Two batters later Ramiro Pena singled. And when Ramiro Pena gets on base, well, you’ve got to bring him around. You don’t want to waste such a rare opportunity.
Sean O’Sullivan, who had held Jeter hitless on Tuesday, started with a fastball up and in that Jeter fouled away. Then he came back with a curveball that caught a bit of the plate, though it was still in the favorable low-outside portion. WIth many hitters that will work. With Derek Jeter it can spell trouble. He delivered with a liner to center, bringing Pena all the way around to score. With the throw Jeter himself moved to third.
That position became important just two batters later, when Mark Teixeira grounded a single that scored Jeter. And then Alex Rodriguez brought Tex all the way around to score in a double. That made the score 4-2. Total WPA added in the bottom of the third: .375.
Biggest Pitch: Pods’s first shot, Aviles’s double play
Photo credit: Kathy Willens/AP
Sometimes the biggest pitch comes on a negative, when the Yanks’ pitcher gives up a particularly important hit. Other times it comes when he gets out of a jam. It’s pretty clear that Podsednik’s homer was a bigger negative than Aviles’s double play was a positive, but because Phil pitched fairly well I thought we’d include both.
First off, the base runner for Podsednik’s homer, Chris Getz, got on by lining one off Phil Hughes. He almost recovered to make the play, but instead Getz made it to first safely. After getting checked out by Gene Monahan and company, Hughes went to work on Podsednik. He went exclusively with the fastball, mostly high in the zone. He worked the count 0-2 and then missed high with a third fastball. Then on the fourth he still missed high, it appeared, but Podsednik went with it and looped it out to left. It dinked off the foul pole and that was that.
The only times the Royals got to Hughes were on home runs. In the fourth he put a 3-2 fastball right down the middle for Rick Ankiel, and Ankiel did that thing where he provides value to his team, a rarity for sure. Otherwise Hughes was okay, not great, but certainly not as bad as he looked in previous games. After the Ankiel homer he allowed just one more hit, a dinky single to Alex Gordon. He also walked none in the game.
As for his biggest positive, that came in the second. He had allowed Ankiel to single leading off the inning, but then got Mike Aviles to ground into a 4-3 double play. It wasn’t anything fancy; just your basic twin killing. But it took the pressure off, at least.
Where he’s going, he doesn’t need home runs
Not the most flattering photo. | Photo credit: Kathy Willens/AP
On Thursday, in his final at-bat, Alex Rodriguez hit home run No. 599. Since then the Stadium has waited in anticipation of No. 600. It was his third hit of the night, and he has delivered with hits in each of the next three games, though none of them left the yard. With his 2 for 4 day he is now 5 for 12 with a double, walk, and HBP since No. 599. So even while he’s not smacking his historic homer, he’s still been productive as ever.
That HBP did cause a scare, as the ball deflected off his hand. It just left a mark, though, and everyone seems to agree that he’s fine. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him take a seat tomorrow, but with A-Rod you never know.
Miscelanny
Photo credit: Kathy Willens/AP
From the Oakland series through the Anaheim series Brett Gardner was 6 for 37 (.162) with no extra base hits (though he did walk nine times). In the Royals series he was 3 for 11 with two doubles and two walks.
Before yesterday Curtis Granderson hadn’t homered since the extra-innings affair in Arizona. With his 2 for 4 day he is now 16 for 49 (.327) with two doubles, two homers (.490 SLG) and four walks (.370 OBP) since the Seattle series.
Happy 1,000th career hit, Robinson Cano. He did that in his 3,454th career PA. It took Jeter until career PA No. 3,542 to hit his thousandth.
Mark Teixeira watch: .264/.375/.488. It will take 18 total bases in his next 25 AB to reach a .500 SLG.
Graph, box, and video
Domination, homes.
More at FanGraphs. Also, the traditional box and highlights.
Next Up
Yanks head out to Cleveland to face old friend Jake Westbrook. Javy Vazquez will hopefully be effective for more than four innings.
Heathcott’s hot hitting continues
Posted by: | CommentsOne more day of bullet points…
- Triple-A Scranton won. Jesus Montero didn’t play because of his bruised forearm, but Chad Moeller went 3-for-4 with a double in his place. Kevin Russo, Reid Gorecki, Chad Tracy, and Chad Huffman all had multiple hits as well. Ivan Nova was very strong, allowing one earned run in 6.1 IP of work. Mark Melancon managed to throw two complete innings without allowing a run.
- Double-A Trenton lost. Brandon Laird went deep for the third time in his last four games. Rene Rivera singled twice in the place of Austin Romine, who was resting the day game after a night game. Hector Noesi had his worst start of the year, allowing six runs 4.2 IP. Wilkin DeLaRosa and Kevin Whelan combined for three rock solid innings of relief.
- High-A Tampa lost. Corban Joseph, Bradley Suttle, and Melky Mesa all went 2-for-4 with some kind of extra base hit. Zoilo Almonte hit his first homer at the High-A level. Craig Heyer walked three guys in five innings, raises his season walk total to four. His BB/9 rose from 0.18 to 0.67.
- Low-A Charleston won. Slade Heathcott knocked another two hits, and is now 13-for-31 (.419) since his little biceps issue. Kelvin Castro, Jimmy Paredes, Rob Lyerly, and Emerson Landoni all picked up two hits and at least one double. Hector Rabago went 3-for-4 with two doubles and a homer in what had to be the best game of his career. Jose Ramirez allowed two runs in five innings, but walked four and struck out just three.
- Short Season Staten Island won. Eduardo Sosa singled and walked while Kevin Mahoney doubled. Kyle Roller picked up three hits in three at-bats, including his third homer of the season. Nothing exciting on the pitching side of things, just another two inning save for Chase Whitley.
- Rookie GCL Yanks were off.
A-Rod OK after leaving game with hand injury
Posted by: | Comments
Update (7:30 p.m.) In the bottom of the 8th with the bases loaded, Blake Wood hit Alex Rodriguez on the left forearm with a pitch, and the Yankees’ third baseman and cleanup hitter went down in pain. While A-Rod walked gingerly down to first base, the Yankees had to remove him from the game for a pinch runner. After the game, Yankees manager Joe Girardi downplayed the injury. The skipper said he could have left A-Rod in to run but had planned to take him out anyway. “He’s fine,” Girardi said. “He could squeeze fine…It kind of grazed his hand. We got lucky.”
As A-Rod could squeeze with no problems, the Yankees have no plans to send A-Rod for X-rays. A-Rod said he has a slight purple bruise in the padding of his hand but is otherwise doing just fine. “I have pretty much full strength so I should be ok,” he said. The slugger said he would be able to play tomorrow in Cleveland, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him sit out a game or two early this week. The Yanks dodged a bullet this evening, and the quest for 600 will continue soon enough.
Photo Credit: AP Photo/Kathy Willens
Open Thread: Busy afternoon
Posted by: | Comments
"Wait ... for Joe Saunders?!?" (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
There’s been some breaking news within the last hour or so, so let’s round it up here:
- The Angels acquired Dan Haren.
- Alex Rodriguez left today’s game after hit by a pitch in the forearm/wrist.
- The Yankees made a “big proposal” for Joakim Soria.
- Al Aceves will join the team for the upcoming road trip.
So there you go. Talk about that stuff, or whatever else you want in this open thread. The ESPN Sunday Night Game features the Cardinals and Cubs (Carpenter vs. Dempster), about the 13th consecutive week the 45-53 Cubs have appeared in the Sunday night game (or is it just me?). Have fun.
Angels acquire Dan Haren
Posted by: | CommentsWell, so much for that idea. The Angels have acquired Dan Haren from Arizona for Joe Saunders, prospects Patrick Corbin (ranked 12th in the Halos’ system by Baseball America), Rafael Rodriguez (22nd), and a player to be named later. The PTBNL is not Mike Trout, arguably the best prospect in the game, but instead a list of players the D-Backs can choose from. I have to say, I find it very hard to believe that Joe freakin’ Saunders headlined a package for Haren, but so be it.
GM Brian Cashman can now focus on his stated goals of improving the bullpen and bench, though another starting pitcher never hurts.
Heyman: Yanks made ‘big proposal’ on Soria
Posted by: | CommentsIn a piece that incorrectly labels the July trade market as one for the buyers, Jon Heyman leads with some Yankee dirt. He says the team is looking to be in on some big names this week and writes that the team has made “a big proposal” to the Royals for Joakim Soria. The Yanks want to upgrade their bullpen this week, but Soria won’t come cheap. He’s emerged as one of the game’s best relievers, non-Mariano division, and is under contract through 2011 with three club options with innings pitched escalators that total $22.75 million. Heyman also notes that the Bombers “have been in touch” with Washington over Adam Dunn but have so far found the price to be “prohibitive.”
Aceves to join team on upcoming road trip
Posted by: | CommentsAccording to Joe Girardi’s pregame press conference, the sorely missed Al Aceves will join the Yankees on their upcoming seven game road trip. His back is getting better, and he’s expected to throw several bullpen sessions during the trip. This doesn’t mean Aceves is close to returning, however. He’d still need to throw full mound sessions with no pain before going on a minor league rehab assignment, so Ace is still several weeks away from rejoining the team. Still, this is better news than what we’ve been getting.
Just 21 days 'til pitchers and catchers report.
