River Avenue Blues

River Ave. Blues » Asides » Page 6

Update: Yankees strongly considering Omar Minaya for front office job

by 114 Comments

10:23pm: Andy Martino reports that if the Yankees do hire Minaya, it would be in a scouting or advisory role. He would not replace Newman as the head of the farm system.

9:44pm: Via Erik Boland: The Yankees are strongly considering former Mets GM and current Padres executive Omar Minaya for a high-ranking front office position. The two sides have had “serious dialogue” recently, though it’s unclear what role he would fill. Boland speculates Minaya could replace the retiring VP of Baseball Ops Mark Newman or senior advisor Gordon Blakeley, who recently took a position with the Braves.

Minaya, 55, is a really old school guy who is very highly regarded around baseball for his scouting ability. He didn’t exactly shine as GM of the Mets or Expos, but he helped build powerhouse farm systems while working with the Rangers, Mets, Expos, and Padres during his career. The Yankees will reportedly make some player development staff changes this offseason in addition to replaceing Newman, and Minaya can be a major asset in the right role (i.e. not GM).

Capuano among players going to Japan for All-Star Series 2014

by 27 Comments

MLB is sending a team of players to Japan to play a five-game series against the Japanese national team in November, an event they’re calling the All-Star Series 2014. Derek Jeter declined to participate in the event but Chris Capuano will be part of the team, according to a Japan-Baseball report passed along by Kazuto Yamazaki. Capuano will technically not be a Yankee when the series takes place (Nov. 11-20), but I’m guessing they’ll slap the pinstripes on him for marketing purposes.

The Japan-Baseball page has all 17 players currently confirmed for the event, but you either have to read Japanese or recognize their faces. Former Yankees Robinson Cano and Randy Choate are on the roster, ditto other notables like Yasiel Puig, Albert Pujols, Adam Jones, Bryce Harper, Evan Longoria, Ben Zobrist, and Jose Altuve. There are already 13 position players on the roster, so I’m guessing most of the remaining spots will go to pitchers. (They’ll probably take 30 or so players, right?) I’m sure MLB would love to squeeze another Yankee onto the roster for marketability and stuff, but I’m not sure who it could be at this point. David Huff?

Tanaka, Betances make Baseball America’s All-Rookie Team

by 85 Comments

Baseball America announced their All-Rookie Team on Friday, and both Masahiro Tanaka and Dellin Betances made the cut. Tanaka claimed one of five starting pitcher spots while Betances grabbed the only reliever spot. Former Yankee Yangervis Solarte was mentioned in the write-up for his strong season but was not named to the team.

“The Yankees’ $155 million import pitched like a Cy Young Award winner in the first half, going 11-3, 2.10 and leading the AL in wins and ERA, but an elbow injury scuttled his second half and leaves his 2015 season in doubt after a pair of lackluster September starts … he proved he can pitch like an ace, health permitting, in both Japan and the U.S,” said the write-up of Tanaka.

The write-up noted Betances’ season was better Craig Kimbrel’s, Neftali Feliz’s, and Andrew Bailey’s when they won the Rookie of the Year awards. Betances won’t beat out Jose Abreu though. “(One) must go back to Mark Eichhorn’s 1986 season to find a rookie reliever who notched more strikeouts than Betances, who had 135 in 90 innings. The catch: Eichhorn needed 157 innings to strike out 166 batters.”

Cafardo: Kenta Maeda prefers to play for Yankees or Red Sox

by 386 Comments

Via Nick Cafardo: Hiroshima Carp right-hander Kenta Maeda told the media in Japan he would prefer to play for either the Yankees or the Red Sox next season. He is expected to be posted this offseason and early speculation has him in line for a five or six-year contract in the $100-120M neighborhood. The 26-year-old had a 2.56 ERA with a 154 strikeouts in 179 innings this season. Here are his career stats.

Ben Badler (subs. req’d) recently gave a scouting report on Maeda, saying he “doesn’t have overpowering stuff of a frontline starter like we’ve seen from fellow Japanese righthanders Masahiro Tanaka or Yu Darvish, (but his) ability to command his fastball and mix his pitches allows him to keep hitters off-balance.” Badler said Maeda sits anywhere from 87-94 with his fastball and his go-to pitch in a low-80s slider. He also throws a mid-80s changeup, an upper-80s cutter, and a slow low-70s curveball. Here’s video. The Yankees need pitching and I’ll sure they’ll kick the tires on Maeda, but I think they’d go after a known commodity like Jon Lester or James Shields if the price is $20M+ per year.

Feinsand: Yankees fire hitting coach Kevin Long

by 240 Comments

Via Mark Feinsand: The Yankees have fired hitting coach Kevin Long. GM Brian Cashman signed a new three-year extension today and it seems they waited until that was complete to announce any coaching changes. First base coach Mick Kelleher was also let go. Joe Girardi said Long and the rest of the staff were going to be evaluated soon after the end of the season, though that’s no different than every other season.

Long, 47, is essentially being scapegoated for the team’s underperforming offense. He took over as hitting coach in 2007 and the Yankees led baseball with a 113 wRC+ from 2007-12 before falling apart these last two years, when, not coincidentally, the quality of the players on the roster went down. Brian McCann was the only regular this year to perform well below reasonable expectations. No word on who will replace Long, but I’m sure that’s something the Yankees want to address sooner rather than later. Double-A Trenton hitting coach Marcus Thames is someone to keep in mind.

It’s official: Yankees sign Brian Cashman to new three-year contract

by 88 Comments

The Yankees have re-signed GM Brian Cashman to a new three-year contract, the team officially announced. The two sides had reportedly been talking about a new deal for a few weeks now. This is Cashman’s fifth straight three-year contract. No word on the value, but his last deal was worth $9M total and I’m sure he got some sort of raise.

Cashman, 47, has been the team’s GM since 1998 and the Yankees are literally the only employer he’s had in his adult life. He started with the team as an intern way back in the mid-1980s. I don’t really mind that Cashman is coming back, he seems to consistently come out ahead in trades, but the strategy of throwing money at free agents to plug every hole has to change. Free agency isn’t what it once was and that approach just isn’t as effective as it used to be.