Archive for Asides
Girardi named March of Dimes Sportsman of the Year
Posted by: | CommentsWhile CC Sabathia is up for SI’s Sportsman of the Year award, his manager took home some honors of his own. The March of Dimes named Joe Girardi their Sportsman of the Year (Venus Williams was Sportwoman) because of his achievements with the Yankees in 2009, and will honor him 26th annual March of Dimes luncheon on December 2nd. The luncheon is at the Waldorf Astoria (walking distance from Grand Central), and if you want to attend, give the MoD a call at 212-353-1143, or email jcarlo (at) marchofdimes (dot) com.
The MoD is the leading nonprofit organization for pregnancy and baby health, and works to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. Congrats to Girardi.
Yanks say Swish not being shopped, obviously
Posted by: | CommentsYesterday afternoon, a low-level rumor by Bob Nightengale concerning the Yanks’ reportedly making Nick Swisher available took the Internet by storm, and we debunked and contextualized it. Late last night, one of George A. King III’s Yankee sources denied the rumor and said that Swisher isn’t being “shopped.” Of course, he’s not being shopped, but as I said yesterday, if the right offer comes around, he’s available. Nick Swisher is definitely not untradeable.
This afternoon’s chat has as many wins this season as the Nets
Posted by: | Comments‘Tis a fine day for a chat, don’t you think? It’s Opening Day for the Hot Stove League, Thanksgiving’s in a week, the Yanks are World Champs … yep, not much to complain about if you’re a Yankee fan. Chat starts at 2pm today; see you there.
Rumor de l’après-midi: Rosenthal on the bullpen
Posted by: | CommentsApropos of our early discussion on Nick Swisher’s availability comes one of the more tenuous and sketchier bits of Hot Stove reporting we’ll see all year. In what may or may not qualify as something worth publishing on FoxSports.com, Ken Rosenthal tells us that the Yankees’ pitching plans are still unclear. According to Rosenthal, the Yankees have not yet decided if the bullpen or rotation will undergo an off-season boost. Furthermore, the team may or may not be interested in some free agents. First, “one rival executive” says the Yanks are interested in both Rafael Soriano (RHP) and Mike Gonzalez (LHP), but “another source with knowledge of the Yankees’ thinking” believes the team will fill bullpen holes from within. The two strategies are, by the way, not mutually exclusive.
Anyway, the big problem with this type of reporting is that it does not engender trust in any of the people involved. Rosenthal seemingly puts his own theory — that Soriano or Gonzalez or both would do the Yankees some good — into the mouths of two unnamed baseball sources. Since the free agency frenzy does not commence until midnight tonight, nothing has happened, and it’s starting to show.
Lincecum takes home his second Cy
Posted by: | CommentsTim Lincecum was named the NL Cy Young Award winner today, becoming the first pitcher to win back-to-back Cys since Randy Johnson won four in a row from ‘99-’02. He narrowly beat out a pair of Cardinals for the award, as just ten points separated Lincecum, Adam Wainwright, and Chris Carpenter. Wainwright, who finished third in the voting, actually received the most first place votes (12).
Lincecum is arbitration eligible as a Super Two this offseason, and he’s won the Cy in each of his two full seasons. Get ready for the greatest arbitration case in the history of the universe.
So maybe the Phillies will get something out of that trade after all
Posted by: | CommentsThree seasons ago, the Phillies wanted to get rid of Bobby Abreu so badly that they were willing to a) pay him $1M to wave his no-trade clause, b) include the late Cory Lidle in a trade, and c) accept four okay prospects for him. The Yanks were the benefactor of that trade, and the two main pieces the Phillies received in return (C.J. Henry and Matt Smith) are both out of baseball while the third piece (Carlos Monasterios) is a fringe relief prospect still in A-ball.
The fourth player Philadelphia received in the trade was a minor league catcher by the name of Jesus Sanchez, an 18-year old that was hitting .252-.323-.311 in the Rookie level Gulf Coast League at the time of the deal. The Phillies added Sanchez to their 40-man roster yesterday to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft, except he’s no longer a catcher; Sanchez now does his work from the pitcher’s mound.
With his career line sitting at .220-.295-.274, the Phightin’s moved Sanchez to mound in 2009, and he proceeded to put up a 3.44 ERA (3.25 FIP) with a 120-42 K/BB ratio in 136 IP as a starter for the Low-A Lakewood Blue Claws. In his final 13 starts, the righty posted a 2.59 ERA (2.39 FIP) with a 59-18 K/BB ratio 73 IP. The Phillies are still deep in the red when it comes to this trade, but it looks like there’s a chance Sanchez will contribute to their big league club, which is better than nothing.
Girardi finishes third in Manager of the Year voting
Posted by: | CommentsYankees manager Joe Girardi received 4 first place votes, 3 second place votes, and 5 third place votes in the Manager of the Year voting, finishing third behind winner Mike Scioscia and runner up Ron Gardenhire. Ironically enough, Girardi’s team beat both Gardenhire’s team and Scioscia’s team on its march to the World Championship.
Jim Tracy took home NL honors in a landslide.
Rumor du jour: An extension window for Halladay
Posted by: | CommentsAs a follow-up to yesterday’s discussion on Roy Halladay, Jordian Bastian of MLB.com throws a wrench into the plans. According to Bastian’s sources, the Blue Jays are willing to allow a negotiating window for any team interested in acquiring Halladay. The Blue Jays’ ace has just one year left on his contract, and a negotiating window would allow Toronto to extract more value for Halladay. As iYankees notes, this move is a similar to the one the Twins employed in the Santana trade talks, and I’m not surprised to hear it. After all, as I said yesterday, the Blue Jays need to land a big impact player if the team trades Halladay, and a negotiating window gives them more leverage.
In other rumor news, Tyler Kepner runs down the potential organizational wishlist for the Hot Stove league. He doesn’t cover much new ground, but the summary is a succinct one of the Yanks’ desires for an outfielder, a starting pitcher and a few younger players. A team of mid-to-late 30s players can only carry a franchise so far.
Coaching staff remains unsettled for 2010
Posted by: | CommentsJohnny Damon, Andy Pettitte, and Hideki Matsui have dominated headlines over the past two weeks, but they’re not the only Yankee free agents. The Yankees face decisions on most of their 2009 coaching staff, and according to Brian Cashman, the team is “nowhere” in those talks. Manager Joe Girardi and hitting coach Kevin Long are under contract for 2010, but the contracts of all other coaches have expired.
Cashman did add that the team “would love to have all of them back under the proper circumstances,” which likely mean one-year contracts with a salaries similar their 2009 figures. The coaches include pitching coach Dave Eiland, bench coach Tony Pena, third base coach Rob Thomson, first base coach Mick Kelleher, and bullpen coach Mike Harkey.
Yanks decline option on Mitre
Posted by: | CommentsVia Marc Carig on Twitter, the Yankees have declined the $1.25 million option the team held on Sergio Mitre. This move, however, does not portend the end of Mitre’s pinstriped career. Since he is arbitration-eligible, he remains, as Carig notes, under team control. The Yanks could still opt to non-tender him, but for the amount it will cost to resign him, Brian Cashman will look to retain him on an incentive-laden deal. Just a few days ago, I predicted that the Yanks would pick up his option. So much for that.
