The Giants are on bye this week, but the Chargers are visiting the Jets at 1pm ET (on CBS). Chat about all the day’s football action here.
Oppenheimer has “most buzz” for Angels’ GM job
Via Frankie Piliere, Yankees scouting director Damon Oppenheimer currently has the “most buzz” among candidates for the Angels’ vacant GM job. The Yankees gave both of their scouting directors, Oppenheimer (amateur) and Billy Epplier (pro), permission to interview for the position last week. I assume “most buzz” means he’s seen as the most likely candidate at the moment.
Halos’ owner Arte Moreno and president John Carpino were seen dining with Rays VP of Baseball Ops Andrew Friedman recently, and Tampa’s acting GM is reportedly the top name on their list. Friedman apparently has some kind of ownership stake in the Rays’ franchise, so leaving for the Angels might not be so simple. Anyway, I have no idea who would replace Oppenheimer should he get the job, but I suspect the Yankees would promote from within. I hope he sticks around though, for selfish reasons.
Open Thread: World Series Game Thread
It’s a best-of-five World Series now, and the next three games are in Texas. Elias says that of the 53 World Series that have been tied at a game apiece, the winner of Game Three has won the title 37 times (69.8%). The Rangers are running Matt Harrison out there for the first time in ten days while the Cardinals counter with Kyle Lohse. His last start was nine days ago. I expect there to be more offense with the ballpark switch (and suckier pitchers), but I hope it’s another tight game like the first two.
Here’s your open thread for the night, which you can use to talk about the World Series or anything else on your mind. All three hockey locals are in action as well. You folks know what to do by now, so have at it.
Mailbag: Joe Saunders
Shaun asks: I see on MLBTR that Arizona might non-tender Joe Saunders. Do you guys like him? Would you trade anything to get him before they let him go to keep him off the market? This is all hypothetical of course! Thanks!
To answer the second question first, no I would not trade something for Saunders to keep him from hitting the market. MLBTR projects his 2012 salary at close to $9M his third time through arbitration, and that’s just not happening. Saunders isn’t good enough to give up something of value for the right to pay him that much. I’d wait until Arizona non-tenders him before even considering him for a spot on the Yankees.
Saunders had a nice year in 2008, but he’s been consistently below-average ever since. He did manage a 4.57 FIP in 203.1 IP in 2010, but that stands out compared to a 5.17 FIP in 2009 and a 4.78 FIP this season. Like Jon Garland, Saunders has managed to get the reputation of being a ground ball guy even though he doesn’t actually get a ton of ground balls (44.5% in 2011, 45.5% career). He does have the “doesn’t miss bats” part down pat though (4.58 K/9 and 6.2% swings and misses in 2011, 5.02 and 6.7% career, respectively). His walk rate is probably his best attribute (2.84 BB/9 in 2011, 2.87 career).
I think we have enough info here to say Saunders is back-end starter at best, we’re talking more than 600 IP in the generally weak AL West and NL West since he was last league average (in terms of FIP) in 2008. I worry about the inability to miss bats and the general lack of ground balls, especially moving into the AL East. I’m sure the Yankees would love to add a southpaw to the rotation to help counteract Yankee Stadium’s short right field porch, but I don’t think Saunders is a guy they can count on to consistently do that.
There is another angle worth considering here, and that’s a relief role. Saunders completely shut down lefties this season, holding them to a .212/.240/.341 batting line with 40 strikeouts and six walks in 181 plate appearances this season. His career split isn’t nearly as good, so I could just be a one-year fluke. It is worth noting that Saunders did throw his curveball less frequently in 2011 while beefing up the usage of his slider, which could certainly explain the improvement against lefties. It’s something to keep in mind, but I’d prefer to wait until he’s actually on the market before digging deeper into his validity as a reliever.
I wouldn’t have any interest in Saunders as a starting pitcher, unless he was willing to come absolutely dirt cheap (like, a million bucks or so), but he’s somewhat interesting as a lefty reliever. If there’s one thing we know about the Yankees, it’s that they place a high value on left-handed bullpen arms. I suspect that Saunders won’t have any trouble finding work as a starter this winter, maybe not at $8-9M, but I’m sure some team like the Pirates, Marlins, or Padres would be willing to guarantee him a rotation spot. I’m just not sure I see a fit for him in New York at a reasonable price.
Nova makes Baseball America’s All-Rookie Team
Baseball America announced their rookie awards yesterday, giving their Rookie of the Year honors to Jeremy Hellickson. Ivan Nova earned one of the five starting pitcher spots on their All-Rookie Team (no subs. req’d), joining Brandon Beachy, Michael Pineda, Vance Worley, and Hellickson. “Viewed as rotation insurance at the outset of the season, Nova ascended to No. 2 starter status behind C.C. Sabathia by the time the playoffs rolled around,” said BA. “He led all rookies with 16 wins during the regular season—New York supported him with 6.7 runs per nine innings—then added one more against the Tigers in the AL Division Series.”
The BBWAA will announce the AL and NL Rookie of their Year awards on November 14th, so still another three weeks away. Nova will undoubtedly get some first place votes, though I’m not sure if he’ll win. He’s definitely a candidate though, the Yankees best since Robinson Cano finished second behind Huston Street in 2005.
Open Thread: Travelin’
I can’t imagine Arlington to St. Louis is that far of a trip, but the Rangers and Cardinals have the night off anyway. Google Maps says it’s only 650 miles, so that’s what … a two-hour flight at most? Whatever, there’s no World Series game tonight whether you like it or not. The Devils are the only local hockey team in action, so there’s really not much going on when it comes to New York sports. Supposedly it’s against the unwritten laws of blogging to push traffic away from your site, but I highly recommending going out tonight. It’s Friday, the weather’s nice enough, no baseball to miss, go out and live a little. That’s what I plan to do. Use this thread however you see fit.
Unpublished photos from 1961
You might have seen this already, but I’m a little behind the times here. LIFE Magazine published a never before seen collection of photos from the 1961 Yankees yesterday, Mickey Mantle’s 80th birthday. Here’s more from the mag…
In 1961, during spring training, LIFE gave 25-year-old Yankee shortstop Tony Kubek a camera and asked him to photograph his teammates: Mantle, Berra, Maris, Ford, and the rest of the players on what would, in time, be seen as one of the greatest teams in baseball history. The resulting photos were never published…
You can click through the gallery above, or see it at LIFE’s site. That’s some pretty awesome stuff.