Yanks want to add another lefty reliever
ByWe missed one little detail in yesterday’s conference call notes, but Pete Caldera saves the day: Brian Cashman said he would like to add another lefthanded reliever this winter. Boone Logan will again be the primary LOOGY next year with Damaso Marte out until after the All Star break, and Royce Ring didn’t exactly impress in his late season cameo.
Looking at the list of free agents, I’d cross guys like Brian Fuentes, Pedro Feliciano, Arthur Rhodes, and Scott Downs off the list. They’ll want too much money (and some are Type-A free agents) for a role designed to throw about about three percent of the team’s total innings next year . More than likely they’ll look at someone from the Joe Beimel/Randy Choate/Dennys Reyes/Will Ohman group. Cheap, short-term commitment, just as likely to be effective (or suck).
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The Tyler Austin Watch
Will Ohman FTW!!!
I always liked him even though he can’t keep batters off the basepaths, which is like very important.
Will Ohman is fantastic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZWjdDTjtXw (SFW, must-watch)
Excellent.
Holy. Shit. That was priceless.
“He’s a native of South America… Gregor Blanco.” Aaahahahaha!
Batting 3rd, got a great glove.. Mark Te.. Tex.. Mark is batting 3rd.
Relievers shouldn’t get type anything status. With that said, could you see the Yanks pursuing Downs if they’ve already signed Lee? They’ll only have to give up a 2nd rounder then.
Didn’t a lot of people want to do that with Juan Cruz two years ago?
*IF* they were able to collect a sandwich pick or two from their bevy of Type B’s (I don’t think it’s all that likely), I would be in favor of signing Downs (if they already signed Lee).
With that said, could you see the Yanks pursuing Downs if they’ve already signed Lee? They’ll only have to give up a 2nd rounder then.
I think I’d rather have the second rounder than gamble multiple years and multiple million per on Downs. He’s good, but he’s not good enough to forgo a 110ish pick AND give one of our divisional foes two more picks before we get on the clock.
Not for just a lefty reliever.
I want every early pick possible in this epic draft, within reason.
Agreed. Let’s not waste it on a LOOGY. They are a dime a dozen. Good LOOGY’s could very well be throw ins in deals like Logan or Dunn. Let’s not grossly overpay especially seeing how quickly relievers change with ineffectiveness or injury. Like Marte.
Point taken on the draft picks, but Downs is not a LOOGY.
Girardi will make him one.
Pour one out for Big Game Dames.
I would at least want to weight the expected return from signing Downs vs. the late 2nd rounder…
If Downs were 28 or even 30, 32 and coming off the last 4 years he’s had I guess I would be a lot more likely to give up the 2nd rounder. Since he’ll be 35 to start next season…
Takahashi?
He held lefties to a .217/.274/.270 this year, and the league doesn’t really have a book on him yet since he’s only been stateside for a year. NPB hurlers usually have two or three years of effectiveness before the rigors of the MLB catch up with them, maybe we can catch lightning in a bottle. He wasn’t bad for the Mets, and we’d only ask him to do what he does best.
He said that he would be interested in the Yankees if a deal couldn’t be had with the Mets, and I’m pretty sure the Mets want him re-signed. I would love him here though.
Doesn’t he have some weird contract status/loophole where the Mets must re-sign him very soon, like by next week, or risk not being able to offer him another contract until May?
His versatility would be nice, he’s almost a left-handed Aceves in that he can go longer than just LOOGY if needed and has started before. Would be an interesting possibility if available and the price is right.
Apparently Alderson is expecting that deadline to be extended by a week, which seems like a good sign that they’ll sign him.
Choate would be good.
When he’s winning the Yankees games where their bullpen is struggling and he steps up, we can say… FLOAT ON CHOATE!
The three percent of pitching time given a LOOGY are often quite
critical times where outcomes of games are sometimes determined.
True but it’s still not worth giving up a high pick when other options could be just as good.
Sometimes yes, Sometimes no. In the case of 2004 an alternative to Felix Heredia (who Torre lost confidence in), may have been the difference.
That’s kind of assuming that everything else up to the point in the game where it “turned” on this LOOGY went the same, though. Add another quality righty to that pen…now the yanks give up fewer runs overall, lessening the impact to the season of the ABs where a loogy might appear. You don’t have the two guys on base at LOOGY time, or you’re up by two runs instead of one, etc, etc.
who is in AAA or AA??? If we are just in need of a #2 LOOGY why spend too much??
No one really. Yankees gave up one of their near LOOGY’s in the Viz trade.
If something really bad happens ManBan could be a LOOGY in a couple years.
It’s truly a shame, for both the Yanks and him, that Scott Downs is a Type A free agent. He’d be great in the Yanks’ pen, but because of that Type A label, he’s going to get no offers.
agreed. Type A status for a reliever is the kiss of death. he may still get an offer from a team with a protected first round pick though. or he’ll just stay in Toronto, which seems the most likely.
It seems like both sides might like that ranking system to be revisited in the next CBA. Relievers are getting hosed by the system, and I’m sure GMs would always prefer not to have to deal with losing picks.
I think a team like Boston might- they could possibly get 4 draft picks if Beltre and VMart leave.
So while giving up a 2nd (if they sign someone else) for Downs wouldn’t be great, it wouldn’t be as big of a loss relative to the Yankees giving it up.
Signing Downs and losing Beltre AND VMart would be horrible asset management. I assume they could just replace Beltre by putting Youk at 3rd and Anderson at 1st, but they don’t have anyone who could fill that catcher spot. They could sign Buck, but I’d rather have VMart
You can also say giving VMart 4 years at catcher money is also horrible asset management.
I’m not saying that’s what they should do, but if they (or another team) stacks up on compensation picks then it’s possible.
One too many “also’s” in that first sentence
Too bad WDLR regressed pretty badly this year. I was expecting him in the bullpen by 2011. Oh well.
Kei Igawa!
ok maybe not
out of the four listed im liking Randy Choate the best
If Logan remains effective, it is not necessary to get some superstar LOOGY. We don’t need two LOOGY’s who absolutely destroy (though it would be nice), just one and another to give him rest.
Considering that Loogan had easily a career year last season, I’d say regression is pretty likely. I might even say to trade him now while he’s valuable.
It would have been really nice to have a better lefty reliever than Loogan against the Rangers. Being the Yankees, I wouldn’t mind having one guy that kills and then Loogan as the guy who “gives him a rest.”
Interesting article here http://nybaseballdigest.com/?p=30189
Except that it isn’t.
Other pieces that could have been added:
Gloveless Texas OFers,
CC’s knee.