Top stories from last week:

• The Royals came to town to the start the week, and they handed the Yankees their third straight loss in the series opener. Joe Girardi and Brian Cashman held a team meeting after the loss. Derek Jeter and Phil Hughes helped the Yankees to a much needed win on Tuesday, then Alex Rodriguez homered twice in the series-ending win.
• Following Thursday’s day off, the Yankees opened a West Coast swing with a win over the Athletics. Mark Teixeira homered twice in Saturday’s win and Hiroki Kuroda dominated to complete the sweep yesterday.
• Injury News: A surgery date is still not set for Mariano Rivera‘s torn ACL. David Robertson (oblique) will start a throwing program this week. Brett Gardner (elbow) will try to hit today. Austin Romine (back) is out until July. Eduardo Nunez (thumb) is on the minor league DL. Ivan Nova is fine after a minor hamstring issue. Top prospects Manny Banuelos and Jose Campos do not have any structural damage in their elbows but will miss time.
• Reports surfaced that the Steinbrenners were exploring the idea of selling the Yankees but the organization has vehemently denied everything. Of course, the team is not for sale until it actually is.
• The Yankees signed John Maine to a minor league contract. Tim Norton has officially retired as a player and now works as a coach in the minor league system.
• Mason Williams ranked 24th on Keith Law’s midseason top 25 prospects list.

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.

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

Fan Confidence Poll: May 28th, 2012

(Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

I can’t imagine many Yankees fans look back fondly on the Cody Ransom era. He was a late-season call-up in 2008, hit two homers and two doubles in his first four at-bats in pinstripes, then failed spectacularly in 2009 after getting a chance to replace the injured Alex Rodriguez on an everyday basis. Overall, Ransom posted a 97 wRC+ in 137 plate appearances for New York despite being declared a better fit for the team than A-Rod. It was a crazy time.

The now 36-year-old Ransom is back on the market after being designated for assignment by the Diamondbacks earlier this week. He hit four homers and put together a 148 wRC+ in 58 plate appearances for Arizona before getting the axe in favor of the younger Josh Bell. The Yankees are stuck with Jayson Nix as their utility infielder at the moment because Eduardo Nunez had to be sent to Triple-A for defensive incompetence, but Nix isn’t anything to write home about himself. There’s actually some merit to bringing Ransom back for an encore.

Since both guys are classic Quad-A types, we’re talking about a marginal upgrade at the 24th or 25th roster spot. Ransom has performed better in limited big league time (90 vs. 71 wRC+) and the two guys have nearly identical Triple-A track records, though Cody offers a little more power (.183 vs. 164 ISO) and on-base ability (8.8 vs. 7.6 BB%). The biggest difference between the two probably comes on defense, as Ransom is a true shortstop capable of playing the position for weeks at a time if need be. You can’t say the same about Nix, though he has the advantage of being able to play the corner outfield spots.

Anyway, I don’t want to waste too much time talking about a move that would be largely inconsequential. Ransom is not a guy you want in the lineup on an everyday basis but like Nix, he has a skillset suited for a big league bench. It’s just that Ransom’s skillset might be a better fit for the Yankees even though he’s seven years old than Nix and has already had one forgettable stint in pinstripes. Claiming him off waivers and dumping Nix would be a justifiable move but hardly a season-saver. If they pass, well that’s no big deal either.

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

Is Cody Ransom an upgrade over Jayson Nix?

Top stories from last week:

• The week opened with a quick two games against the Orioles. Mark Teixeira‘s late homer allowed the Yankees to squeeze out a win on Monday, but the bats had no answer for Wei-Yin Chen the next day.
• After two in Baltimore it was time to head up to Toronto for two games against the Blue Jays. Hiroki Kuroda got bombed in the series opening loss and the Yankees couldn’t hit yet again in the next day’s loss.
• The first interleague series of the series brought the Reds to the Bronx, and Andy Pettitte was absolutely dominant in Friday’s win. A ninth inning rally fell short the next day, and CC Sabathia couldn’t hold a two-run lead in yesterday’s loss.
• Injury News: David Robertson was placed on the DL with a left oblique strain. Brett Gardner‘s elbow strain will be checked again this week and could resume baseball activities soon thereafter. Eduardo Nunez is going to miss a few days with a sore thumb. David Aardsma threw breaking balls for the first time since Tommy John surgery. Ivan Nova left Tuesday’s game with a right foot contusion and a sprained right ankle but did not miss a start.
• Two teams have interest in Frankie Cervelli but the club isn’t looking to move him. The Yankees are not in the mix for Roy Oswalt, but they did claim infielder Matt Antonelli off waivers from the Orioles.

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.

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

Fan Confidence Poll: May 21st, 2012

Top stories from last week:

• The Yankees had Monday off, then welcomed the Rays to the Bronx for a relatively important three-game set. Ivan Nova and Raul Ibanez guided the team to a series-opening win but David Robertson blew the save and took the loss the next night. CC Sabathia was dominant in Thursday’s win.
• The Mariners were next up, and Ibanez’s late blast led to a win over Felix Hernandez in the opener. He teamed with Phil Hughes for another win on Saturday, but the Yankees were unable to finish off the sweep in Andy Pettitte‘s return to the rotation yesterday.
• Injury News: Brett Gardner re-aggravated his elbow strain and will miss anywhere from two weeks to a month. Mariano Rivera has a blot clot in his right calf but it will not impact his return from the torn ACL. Joba Chamberlain (ankle, elbow) is walking around with a brace but no boot. Mark Teixeira has inflamed airways but won’t miss any games. Slade Heathcott (shoulder) will play in his first game of the season on June 5th.
• Eric Chavez (whiplash, possible concussion) was activated off the DL while Eduardo Nunez was sent to Triple-A to play everyday and work on his defense. Cody Eppley went down to Triple-A to clear a roster spot for Pettitte.
• The Yankees claimed lefty Justin Thomas off waivers from the Red Sox to add depth. Brian Cashman says he isn’t talking to any players about contract extensions or actively pursuing trades for bullpen help.
• You’re now welcome to bring tablets and eReaders into Yankee Stadium.

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.

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

Fan Confidence Poll: May 14th, 2012

Top stories from last week:

• Thanks to a freak accident on Thursday, Mariano Rivera will miss the rest of the season with a torn right ACL. He will return to pitch next season and the Yankees will not look to add a reliever via trade. At least not right now. David Robertson is expected to assume closer duties.
• The week on the field started with three games against the Orioles. The Yankees took the opener behind Hiroki Kuroda but couldn’t muster anything off Brian Matusz the next day. Jake Arrieta shut them right down in Wednesday’s finale.
• The Yankees headed to Kansas City for a four-game weekend set, but David Phelps didn’t get any support in his first career start. CC Sabathia and Derek Jeter led the team to a win on Friday, but the Yankees couldn’t put anything together the next day. The offense came back to life in yesterday’s win.
• Non-Mo Injury News: Eric Chavez was placed on the 7-day DL with whiplash and a possible concussion. Brett Gardner is starting a rehab assignment today. Nick Swisher returned to the lineup yesterday after missing time with a low-grade hamstring strain. Michael Pineda‘s labrum surgery went well. Minor leaguer Jose Campos will miss time with elbow inflammation.
• Following Rivera’s injury, the Yankees recalled right-hander Cody Eppley and outfielder Dewayne Wise. Infielder Jayson Nix took Chavez’s spot on the roster. Long man D.J. Mitchell was optioned to Triple-A in the process.
• Andy Pettitte threw a pair of minor league tune-up starts: 5.2 innings on Monday and and five innings on Sunday. He threw 95+ pitches in each start and could return to the big league team next weekend, though nothing has been officially announced yet.
• The Yankees signed 26-year-old Cuban outfielder Adonis Garcia to a minor league contract.

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.

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

Fan Confidence Poll: May 7th, 2012

(Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

I can’t believe this post actually exists, at least at this point in time, but it does. The Yankees lost Mariano Rivera for the season last night, when he tore his ACL shagging fly balls for the umpteenth time in his career. It’s a brutal and devastating injury both on and off the field, but baseball is an unforgiving game. The other 29 teams aren’t going to feel bad for the Yankees and guess what? They still have to play tonight, tomorrow, and the next day. That’s baseball.

There is no replacing Rivera. No one can match his brutal effectiveness or that security blanket feeling, but the Yankees will have to run someone out there in the ninth inning. Fortunately, they have two ready-made replacement closers already on the roster and won’t have to go outside the organization for bullpen help (at least not yet). David Robertson has established himself as one of, if not the best setup reliever in the game over the last year while Rafael Soriano was brought aboard because of his All-Star season as the Rays’ closer in 2010.

Following last night’s game, Joe Girardi said he has yet to decide on a permanent replacement for Rivera but would have used Robertson in a save situation had one arose. While Roberson deserves the job on merit, there are valid reasons to let Soriano assume closing duties. For one, the toughest outs aren’t always recorded in the ninth inning. In fact, they often aren’t. There’s a case to be made that Robertson’s dominance would be best used squashing potential rallies in the seventh and eighth innings while Soriano gets the clean slate to start the ninth inning. There are arguments to made for each side of the coin.

Whoever takes over for Rivera is going to have the toughest job in baseball. The scrutiny will be intense and the standards will be impossible to meet given what we’ve enjoyed for the last 17 years. Someone has to do it however, and although the Yankees have been struggling of late, the team is certainly strong enough to have World Series aspirations. Having a strong closer to shut things down in the ninth is part of that championship formula.

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

Poll: Replacing Mariano Rivera

Top stories from last week:

• The Yankees opened the week in Texas for a three-game set with the Rangers. CC Sabathia and some the offense contributed to a win in the opener, but Yu Darvish shut them right down in Tuesday’s loss. The Yankees were unable to climb out of the hole dug by Phil Hughes in the finale.
• Following Thursday’s off day, the Yankees came home and took the opener from the Tigers thanks to a walk-off passed ball. Freddy Garcia got rocked again on Saturday, but Sabathia dominated in yesterday’s rubber game win.
• Injury News: Michael Pineda has an anterior labral tear and will be out for a full year. He will have surgery tomorrow. Brett Gardner swung a bat for the first time on Saturday since going on the DL and could take batting practice as soon as today. Nick Swisher will miss some time with a low-grade hamstring strain but is not expected to go on the DL. Joba Chamberlain will shed his walking boot this week and has continued to play catch.
• Andy Pettitte went 5+ innings in his latest minor league tune-up start and is scheduled to approach 100 pitches in today’s outing. Freddy was pulled from the rotation following Saturday’s game and will be replaced by David Phelps. D.J. Mitchell was called up while Cody Eppley was optioned down.
• The sale of the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees franchise has finally been approved. Extensive renovations to PNC Field have begun and the park is expected to be ready in time for Opening Day 2013.
• The future of Yankees’ radio broadcasts could be shifting very soon.

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.

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

Fan Confidence Poll: March 30th, 2012

Top stories from last week:

• A four-game series with the Twins opened the week, but they pounded Freddy Garcia and the offense couldn’t mount a comeback on Monday. CC Sabathia and Chris Stewart carried the Yankees to a win the next day, but Hiroki Kuroda got hit around in Wednesday’s loss. Curtis Granderson clubbed three homers in the series-ending win.
• The Yankees headed up to Fenway Park on Friday, and they spoiled the park’s 100th anniversary party with a 6-2 win while wearing 1912 throwback uniforms. Saturday’s game featured a huge nine-run comeback and 15 unanswered runs in a 15-9 win. Yesterday’s series finale was rained out.
• Injury News: Brett Gardner was placed on the DL with a bone bruise and a strain in his right elbow. Michael Pineda suffered a setback during his rehab and will have a dye-contrast MRI on his right shoulder today. Joba Chamberlain has resumed light workouts.
• Alex Rodriguez‘s homerun milestones apparently do not count towards the luxury tax. The Yankees do not plan to discuss a contract extension with Russell Martin during the season.
• Andy Pettitte went five innings in his latest minor league game and will start a Double-A game on Wednesday.

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.

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

Fan Confidence Poll: April 23rd, 2012

(AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

Over the last three days I spend way too much time looking at Mark Teixeira‘s declining offensive production — part one, part two, and part three. To save you the headache of readhing, here’s a quick recap of the findings…

1. Teixeira is still a monster as a right-handed hitter. Nothing’s changed from that side of the plate in recent years.
2. Teixeira’s walk, strikeout, and homerun power rates as a left-handed batter have not declined at all. His batting average and BABIP have steadily dropped, however.
3. The shift is a problem given Teixeira’s new pull-happy ways, but he’s also added an uppercut to his swing that has resulted in more fly balls. Fly balls turn into outs more than any other type of batted ball, hence the BABIP and average decline.

That uppercut swing was on full display last night, as Tex flew out to relatively deep right field to end the game. He’s a notoriously slow starter, we knew this before he ever played a game in pinstripes, but this was probably the one year he could have used a strong start to help silence all the critics. He has come around a bit of late, with three straight two-hit games and nine hits in his last 25 at-bats. Strangely enough, Tex has yet to hit a homer in 2012, and that includes Spring Training. I know people are going to freak out about that, but I have a hard time taking it seriously after a dozen regular season games.

Teixeira acknowledged the problems with his swing late last year and has reportedly worked to correct them with hitting coach Kevin Long, but it’s still far too early to know if the adjustments are working. He’s only had 35 plate appearances as a left-handed batter so far, and in only 25 of the 35 did he actually put the ball in play (five walks, four strikeouts, one hit-by-pitch). Here’s his spray chart as a lefty…

He’s hit two balls pretty deep to left field — one came in last night’s game — but we’re still weeks away from being able to say anything definitive about an adjustment to his left-handed swing. This is all just window dressing at the moment.

I think the most important we have to realize is that the old Teixeira, the MVP-caliber hitter from 2005-2009, is probably never coming back even if Long’s fixes manage to stick. Tex just turned 32 a week ago and is leaving his prime years, so some semblance of decline is inevitable. Similarity scores hardly qualify as analysis, but Baseball-Reference says the most similar player to Tex through age 31 is Carlos Delgado. Delgado was one of the best hitters of his generation, but his production started to drop off at age 32. It’s the baseball circle of life.

The best case scenario probably calls for the adjustments to halt any further decline, at least temporarily. You can’t control age, but Teixeira can control his swing and perhaps break some of the bad habits he’s developed over the last two seasons or so. Remember, he wasn’t a bad hitter last season by any means, but his performance has fallen below his expected level of production. I think I know how this is going to turn out, but I’m going to ask the question anyway…

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

The Teixeira Analysis: Closing Thoughts

Top stories from last week:

• The week started with three games in Baltimore, and the Yankees took the opener behind Ivan Nova. Raul Ibanez came up with a big hit in extra innings on Tuesday, then Nick Swisher did the same to complete the sweep on Wednesday.
• After Thursday’s off day, the Yankees came to the Bronx for their first home series of the season. Hiroki Kuroda dominated the Angels on Friday, but the Halos roughed up Phil Hughes in Saturday’s loss. Derek Jeter led the charge in Sunday’s rubber game win.
• Injury News: Rafael Soriano tore a finger nail warming up on Tuesday but has since returned to action. Michael Pineda will throw a bullpen session tomorrow. Manny Banuelos was placed on the minor league DL with a lat problem.
• Andy Pettitte made a pair of minor league appearances: three innings on Monday and four innings on Sunday. He’s still three or four (or more) outings away from returning to the big league team.
• Jim Leyritz is back with the Yankees on a personal services contract.

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.

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

Fan Confidence Poll: April 16th, 2012