Jun
11
Fan Confidence Poll: June 11th, 2012
ByRecord Last Week: 5-1 (32 RS, 15 RA)
Season Record: 34-25 (281 RS, 241 RA, 34-25 pythag. record), 0.5 games back in AL East
Opponents This Week: @ Braves (Mon. to Weds.), Thurs. OFF, @ Nationals (three games, Fri. to Sun.)
Top stories from last week:
- The week started with a day off on Monday, then the Rays came to town for a three-game set. Andy Pettitte dominated as the Yankees blew out Tampa in the opener, then Ivan Nova ground balled the Rays to death in Tuesday’s win. The Yankees were unable to complete the sweep in the finale.
- The 2012 Subway Series started on Friday, when Hiroki Kuroda flirted with a no-hitter and the Yankees pounded Johan Santana. Mark Teixeira hit a big late homerun in Saturday’s win, then Russell Martin walked off with the sweep yesterday.
- Injury News: Brett Gardner (elbow) suffered another setback and will visit Dr. James Andrews today. Mariano Rivera (knee) will have surgery to repair his torn ACL tomorrow. David Robertson (oblique) appeared in his first rehab game yesterday. Joba Chamberlain (elbow, ankle) threw off a full mound for the first time since his ankle dislocation. David Aardsma (elbow) is close to returning to game action. Kuroda (foot) suffered a contusion when hit by a line drive, but he’s expected to make his next start. Pettitte (hand) barehanded a comebacker and suffered a bruise, but he’s not expected to miss any starts. Teixeira (throat) has vocal cord damage but won’t miss any games. Robinson Cano (forearm) didn’t miss any games after getting hit by a pitch. Manny Banuelos (elbow) is expected to be out another month. Tyler Austin (leg) has a bruise and should return soon.
- The Yankees are one of four teams most aggressively pursuing Jorge Soler, who could agree to a contract very soon.
- The Diamondbacks called the Yankees about Austin Romine‘s availability at some point before signing Miguel Montero to an extension. Brian Cashman said they have not begun exploring the outfield trade market in the wake of Gardner’s setback.
- The Yankees selected high school right-hander Ty Hensley with their first round pick, and he’s already in Tampa for a physical. A deal could be announced relatively soon. They already have an agreement with high school outfielder and second rounder Austin Aune, plus they have agreements with several other draft picks as well.
- The Yankees agreed to sign 22-year-old Dominican right-hander Manolo Reyes for $600k, though the contract is pending a visa. They also inked reliever Ricky Orta to a minor league pact.
- Derek Jeter and Curtis Granderson are currently among the All-Star Game leading vote-getters, and Robinson Cano will captain the AL Homerun Derby team.
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 interactive Fan Confidence Graph anytime via the nav bar above, or by clicking here. Thanks in advance for voting.
Given the team's current roster construction, farm system, management, etc., how confident are you in the Yankees' overall future?
81 Comments»
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The Tyler Austin Watch
8. I could bump to 9 (or maybe 8.5). I was 8 pre-Pineda, 9 post-Pineda, back to 8 post-Pineda injury. With Pettitte unretired and looking good and other rotation parts falling into place, I feel good. Probably will just stay at 8 as a nod to the now good, not great bullpen.
Hope they get Soler, especially now as if it looks like they’ve lost out on that 16 year old Tawainese SS they were pursuing. He has agreed to a deal with the Red Sox
http://taiwanbaseball.blogspot.com/
Darn. I was really looking forward to Linsanity.
Jeez, I can see how they let themselves get outbid by the Red Sox.
This money wouldn’t count against the cap or impact the 2014 $189 budget so that’s pretty disappointing.
can’t see
I’m at an 8, but if Selig accepts my petition to move the Yanks to the NL I’ll go up to a 13. AAAA indeed.
So true, look at what AJ Burnett is doing over there…
Back to an 8. This past week was the perfect indication of what this team can do when everything is in sync–hopefully the trend will continue as we roll on through the summer.
Been at an 8 for a long time now, I see no reason to change. In my mind, an 8 means that this team is capable of winning the World Series, but a few concerns about the future keep me from a 9 or 10. Mostly it’s just a lack of position player prospects at the upper levels, and Betances (control/terrible pitching) and Banuelos (injury concerns) have made the pitching depth a little less shiny. That being said, Andy Pettitte’s successful return has mitigated that, and such concerns are relatively minor given the rate at which prospects flame out.
These threads are so much more enjoyable when the Yankees are playing well
Although for us who usually just lurk, they are a lot less entertaining
Ha fair enough.
You mean you… don’t… like trolls?
Nah, just “The Troll”.
I always prefered “A Troll.”
8. SWEEP!
8
Totally impossible to know what to expect from the starting pitching staff. Are they awesome? Are they terrible? Who could have figured CC would be outpitched by almost everyone else in the Yanks rotation this week.
*looks at screen name*
…as long as you (all three of you) stay far away from the Yankee rotation!!
Sorry, I had to, I got a chuckle out of your name.
I count four weak SPers in that line.
mad props for the handle, although when I deciphered it I cried a little.
It’s been a while, but I’m going to go up to a 9 this week. The team in front of me looks fantastic. The question marks in the rotation have been at thir best for a few turns now, and you have to hope that bodes well for the rest of the season. D-Rob is coming back and, yesterday notwithstanding, Soriano has held down the fort remarkably well. While the development of the two B’s concerns me, I become less concerned when I see both our younger rotation members doing well AND the franchise bringing a kid like Helmsley into the fold. I’m always in the 7-9 range, with constant variance wihin that, but it’s hard not to feel like the upper end of that range right now.
Leona Helmsley’s grandson?
TIME TO PLAAAY THE GAAAAAME!
Hensley.
Upvote anything HHH!
I think I got sick of him somewhere in the middle of last decade, but he’s always good for a solid promo.
Sorry, its an NH thing.
He lived about 15 miles from me, pre-Stephanie. I used to see him at the Golds Gym 2x a week regularly… you know, when I used to work out.
Look up a mid 90′s “Terra Rizyn” match from WCW for shits and giggles.
I thought that his match against Undertaker at the most recent Wrestlemania was tremendous though.
It was, but put another guy in there already. Dolph Ziggler is standing right over there ——->
Staying with my 8. Kuroda is proving his worth, Pettitte is pitching better than we’d all hoped, Nova and Hughes are pitching well and keeping us in games, and our offense is homerific. Damn RISP. LOL!!!
We’re within 0.5 of 1st place, having survived Mariano’s injury, Robertson’s injury, Pineda’s injury, Garcia’s ineffectiveness as a starter, Gardner’s injury, Swisher’s early injury, Texieira’s sickness, Nunez’ fielding suckiness. How can anyone complain?
Would be a 8.5 to 9 if we sign Soler. We really need upper level OF prospects to absorb the possible loss of Swisher in the very near future. Granderson will be an interesting case. He’s our CF and most consistent power hitter right now. Can’t count on Tex or A-Rod at the plate.
Suppose they don’t sign Soler, but get two of the high-upside position guys in the draft considered hard signs. How does that change things for you?
I didn’t even consider the recent draft in my rating. Soler projects to be a top 10-20 MLB prospect, according to at least a couple of sources with more knowledge of him that me. We didn’t draft anyone like that, to my knowledge.
He’d be three years away from the bigs (again, reading the same things you are, I’m sure), and the monetary commitment is bigger. The question is what’s preferable: one lottery ticket at a relatively premium price, or more at a lesser price, even if they’re one rung (or more) further down the ladder.
Then again, you should know that I now hit “reload” on MLBTR just to see if there’s a Soler update because this is what we do as Yankee fans. It doesn’t matter what the prize even is. We just want to win it.
It doesn’t matter what the prize even is. We just want to win it.
———————
Exactly it could be a back-up infielder and Yankees would want to win it lol. I guess it’s that Boss mentality.
Hiroyuki Nakajima takes offense
No no no. WE’D want them to win it. My assumption is that they evaluate things a hell of a lot differently than we do.
Considering that where the Yankees pick in the draft doesn’t afford them the opportunity to select someone like Soler, since this is the last opportunity to get such a talent and for only money, I choose Soler.
For each of the last 5-10 years of amateur drafts, have any produced a potential stud corner OF for the Yankees??? Yeah we got Austin Jackson, Gardner, Heathcott, and Williams, but none of them have every been described as corner a OF with power and plus defenders.
There were some who said that Chapman would need significant time in the minors (less than a year). There were some who said the same about Cespedes (none).
I would say, let’s get Soler, put him in High A and see how he handles that with an eye on elevating him with proven success. Somehow, I don’t think he’d be worse than our current AA or AAA level OF. The first thing would be to get him in the system, for the most reasonable price, considering the market of his talent.
That’s a fair assessment. Some I agree with. Some I don’t, but I certainly think the argument is a good one.
While I would be happy with Soler… if you don’t know much of anything about the guy, it’s hard to assign him that kind of value. You can point to two guys who worked out… and I can point to guys who didn’t work out.
I especially don’t think need is a good motivator for signing an amateur. I would ignore Swisher as far as Soler is concerned. Value him based on his skills. Don’t overpay because you could use a RF next year.
I would say a large part of it is that the Yankees have spent limited resources on RF prospects. They haven’t produced many in large part because they haven’t really focused on them. Probably because they’re pretty abundant at the MLB level and pretty volatile as prospects. They’ve spent a lot of resources on C, CF, and SS/2B (as well as P) and gotten some results there.
That said… they’ve got Austin and Santana and possibly Bichette who could all play RF in a few years.
People said Chapman would need several years in the minors to start… and they very well may have been right. Cespedes is 26… Other than saying the consensus isn’t always right, I’m not sure how much they have to do with Soler. The consensus is often wrong in the other direction as well.
I hear your points and understand them well. Swisher SHOULDN’T be a part of this conversation, but he’s not signing a 1 yr or 2 yr contract. Like it or not, we will need a RF in 2013, and I don’t think the Jones/Dickerson/Ibanez combo will suffice. I don’t think Soler would be ready in 2013, but I’d sure like to take that shot and see.
I haven’t seen much on Soler, but many others have, which is why his market is skyrocketing. Soler doesn’t appear to be a Wily Mo Pena type. They’re talking legit top 10-20 MLB prospect right now. We don’t have anything like that in our system right now. While the name Mason Williams rings bells all over MLB, he was only the #85th BA prospect. While Austin, Heachcott and Santana do not yet even rate much outside of Yankeedom.
While it’s true that the Yankees haven’t focused on RF prospects, isn’t that a cop-out that they haven’t produced one in many years while drafting each year??? I mean, not even one? By the way, we still have major questions for SS and 2B minor league development.
I brought up Chapman and Cespedes for specific reasons. Both were somewhat Cuban unknowns, in the “prospect” world. Both had specific unique talents (Chapman a 100+ mph arm with control, Cespedes an athletic power-hitting CF) and at much less significant cost than proven talents like a Randy Wolf or Ted Lilly, or a Jason Werth or Carl Crawford.
My point is, with a talent like Soler available, and at a fraction of the cost of a free agent, and it’s only money, why not use your resources on this kid???
It’s hard for me to put into words my concern aregarding the future of the Yankees farm system, but you did exactly that. It’s going to be a while before the Yankees have access to this type of high upside talnt, and if they can get him for just money they should absolutely be all over that.
Soler or DJ Williams and Vincent Jackson? I think I go with Williams and Jackson
I assume you meant DJ Stewart, who has already indicated he is going to play college ball. They also lost out on another two sport OF guy in David Thompson. Best OF lottery tickets left are Vincent Jackson and Ty Moore.
By speculation is that their priority is Jackson (and maybe others), but if he rebuffs them I can see Stewart coming back into play despite his statements. My guess is they sort of low-balled him after he was at their complex twice already to save the money towards other guys… but if those other guys don’t sign they’ll probably have a lot of money to up their offer to Stewart.
*My speculation…
No, that’s a good point about his working out with them. It is possible that they could free up money elsewhere to sign him. Hope they can get one or two of those tough signs OFs(Jackson, Stewart, Moore, Thompson).
Haha. Totally meany Stewart. Too many football names.
I’m up to an 8 this week based on the good pitching and a walk off win which I had not seen in a while. Also liked the fact that Martin is beginning to hit some. Pettitte has been remarkable. The team as a whole appears to be ready to make a move to the top and leave the others behind.
I could go 8.5 with the recent play of the team and the better performance from the rotation. The bullpen is solid in general. The reasons for not going higher in the near future are lack replacement of Gardner’s assets to the team. Still finding it difficult to hit productively with the many opportunities available. But Gardner is the real fly in the ointment. His defense is sorely missed and his speed on the bases which makes us into a better team even with a poor RISP %. Its difficult to score easy runs. Its difficult to force a pitcher to throw fastballs when no speed is on the bases. Granderson is not running as much with no rest in CF. Jeter no rest at SS except for yesterday in a long time. This all leads to a tired club at some important positions.
#5
Mo Rivera’s surgery today is the best news of the day.
The team is not that abysmal. A 5?? Really?
Five isn’t really abysmal…five’s average or so. This isn’t high school.
What does high school have to do with this?
I think he’s saying that a 50 would be a terrible grade in high school, but that 5 out of 10 puts you smack in the middle of the road.
That, or he has a thing for HS freshmen.
Heh. What about 10-point quizzes? My 7th grade pre-algebra teacher had a thing for 10-point tests, which were even more brutal. Or abysmal.
Listen, each team has its weaknesses – but we’ve seen these guys really turn it around. Save for Rafael’s blown save last night (which, c’mon – Mo hasn’t blown saves before?!), he’s been doing an excellent job.
Tex is hitting, Russ is hitting… we just need another outfielder and we should be good to go.
I always loved teachers and professors who graded on a curve, where my 45 out of 100 would sometimes be an A-.
That being said, it’d be very hard to imagine me being right down the middle with this team.
Can’t it be both?
There’s no uniform grading system. If your frame of reference is the Yankees… sure. My frame of reference is the league, though, and in that case the Yankees are not average at all.
But… 5 is below average on a 1-10 scale. Closer to “no confidence” than “very confident.” That sort of smack of pessimism to me, too.
oh Noez! Russell Martin. Automatic out!!!
Its an 8. show me a healthy Banuelos and a Dellin that doesnt pitch like AJ before I can move up.
Stewart is a better hitter!
UBALDO!!!
Oh wait, last year…
For the record: I always liked Russell Martin, anytime a major league regular under 30 is batting below .200 it’s safe to assume he’s due to get a lot better.
Add Tyler Austin to the DISABLED LIST per Josh Norris.
I’d like to see some more signings from the draft. Some teams have signed a ton of players already, though it is obvious they had agreements in place.
SEIS.
A sweep of the cross town rivals means little to me. I’d enjoy a break from playing the Mets for a couple years so that at least a few new faces could be in the mix and re-spark this myth of “rivalry.”
Pineda out. Banuelos rendered irrelevant due to ongoing inflammation. Betances…garbage. DJ Mitchell appears to be regressing start to start. So, aside from the BP help that will arrive shortly, the Yankees are plagued with real concerns on the SP front.
I’ve said it for a few weeks now on these confidence poll threads, but i’ll re-iterate: Pineda’s lost season makes it difficult for me to hold a positive outlook on the team.
Still a point of view I just don’t get. A guy who never pitched an inning for your team can’t have that much of an impact, not when all five of the current starters have been pitching very well for at least two turns in the rotation now.
I’m inclined to agree. I voted an 8, and I knocked a point off because of a combination of Pineda, Banuelos, and Betances. Not for 2012, but as a going forward thing. An injury to only one of them wouldn’t warrant a change in my score, but for future projections it is a cause of slight concern to me. I think taking that any further doesn’t make a whole lot of sense though, especially if Hughes and Nova can be serviceable (or better) rotation pieces.
Still a point of view I just don’t get. A guy who never pitched an inning for your team can’t have that much of an impact
Yes, yes he can. If they sign Cole Hamels to a 6/130 contract and he needs TJ in the offseason that’s a huge hit to team confidence. However, unlike Pineda, Hamels is a known quantity and has a track record of staying healthy and being a superb starter. With Pineda my thinking is the team didn’t quite know what they were getting, but they were pretty sure they were getting something awesome. It was still a pretty risky proposition acquiring a young firethrower. They traded their best prospect in a while for him, and now it’s unclear whether or not he’ll be able to stay healthy. Given this team’s luck with pitchers in the past decade and a half or so, it’s hard to have a positive outlook on this situation.
when all five of the current starters have been pitching very well for at least two turns in the rotation now.
See this I don’t get. There’s one starter with an ERA over five and is close to the league lead in XBHs and another that has an ERA close to five and another who is third in the majors in HRs allowed. Two good turns through the rotation doesn’t change that.
Though I agree with Reggie, with Pineda down (perhaps for the count) and Rivera gone for the season it’s hard to keep as positive of an outlook.
But Pineda isn’t the whole team, nor is he even the whole pitching staff. Can you expand on this?
I mean, I can try and follow the line of thinking. A lot was given up for him, with the expectation that he would really be an anchor on this staff for years to come. People on here were talking about slotting him behind CC, etc. He’s gone from that to “cross your fingers in 2013,” with some high hopes due to the shape of his shoulder, Curt Schilling having the same surgery, etc. We hope for an effective career and hypocritical taxpayer-draining software company, in other words.
That being said, though, shit happens, and this team has weathered this shit very well. I also always thought we were overstating Pineda following the trade in order to justify it.
“That being said, though, shit happens, and this team has weathered this shit very well.”
If we can survive the Marte/Feliciano combo, then anything is possible.
First and foremost:
We hope for an effective career and hypocritical taxpayer-draining software company
Awesome
Second: a lot was given up for him and a lot of hopes are riding on him. Cashman himself said that if Pineda doesn’t develop into an ace he’ll consider the trade a failure. I was uneasy on him like I’m uneasy on all young pitchers with <500IP but this injury now makes me especially worrisome about him.
Our rotation has been pitching very well and the pieces we gave up have done very little in a much weaker division (though that will obviously change at some point in Montero’s case). Its a fairly big deal, but its hardly back breaking.
12 if they sign Soler and 1 if they don’t sign him, especially since we got outbid by the Red Sox for that Taiwanese SS.
best response
I’ve also instructed my son to hire Scott Boras. Going to have work hard to get him, Cashman. He’s already gripping a toy car equally well with both arms.
If your son can even hold a baseball with his left hand, Boras can find him a multi-year deal, I’m sure.
Trust me. This is beign monitored closely.
Don’t get Boras in the picture too early.
His allowance demands could bankrupt you along the way.
I’m at a 7 only because I have to go to the dentist today. That’s not the Yankees’ fault but I’m in a bad mood. Sorry boys.
Stale bagel crack the teeth?
Went to a 9 from being an 8 since the Grit/Mo/Pineda/Campos/etc and RISPfail that arrived a monthe or so ago.
Second best record in the AL, solid draft with great upside and the SP is rounding into what they are capable of doing.
A LFer, a Soler, return of the young guns (Manny/Campos/Pineda) to continue their development, and a corrected Nunez fielding and I’ll make the leap back to a 10.