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Fan Confidence Poll: March 5th, 2018

March 5, 2018 by Mike Axisa Leave a Comment

Spring Training Record: 8-2 (51 RS, 45 RA)
Spring Training Schedule This Week: Mon. OFF; Tues. @ Tigers; Weds. @ Mets (SNY, MLB.tv); Thurs. vs. Phillies (YES, MLB.tv); Fri. @ Braves; Sat. vs. Mets (YES, MLBN, MLB.tv); Sun. @ Marlins

Top stories from last week:

The Yankees swooped in to sign free agent slugger Adam Lind to a minor league contract. That is probably bad news for Tyler Austin. Lind could land on the bench as the backup first baseman.
Injury Updates: Jacoby Ellsbury (oblique) has a mild strain and there is no timetable for his return. Clint Frazier (concussion) remains shut down. David Robertson (illness) will return to the mound in the coming days. Albert Abreu (appendix) has started throwing.
Ellsbury is going to play some left field this spring, or at least he was before he got hurt. Domingo Acevedo is healthy, though he has yet to appear in a game because the Yankees are trying to build his arm strength.
The Yankees could use a spot sixth starter early in the season as a way to give their regular starters extra rest. They’ll play 18 games in 18 days starting April 19th.

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 Features tab in nav bar above, or by clicking here. Thanks in advance for voting.

Fan Confidence Poll: February 26th, 2018

February 26, 2018 by Mike Axisa Leave a Comment

Spring Training Record: 3-0 (15 RS, 5 RA)
Spring Training Schedule This Week: Mon. vs. Phillies; Tues. @ Blue Jays; Weds. vs. Tigers (YES, MLB.tv); Thurs. @ Phillies (MLBN, MLB.tv); Fri. vs. Braves (YES, MLB.tv); Sat. @ Red Sox (MLBN, MLB.tv); Sun. vs. Rays (YES, MLB.tv)

Top stories from last week:

The Yankees acquired Brandon Drury from the Diamondbacks in a three-team trade that sent prospects Nick Solak to the Rays and Taylor Widener to Arizona. Drury will compete for the third base job, though it sure sounds like he’s the favorite at the moment.
Injury Updates: Aaron Judge (shoulder) is progressing well and is expected to play in games sometime this week. Drury (hand) is fine after being hit by a pitch. Thairo Estrada (hip) is using an elliptical machine and could be ready for the start of the minor league season. Clarke Schmidt (elbow) has resumed throwing off a mound as he rehabs from Tommy John surgery.
The Yankees are still looking for pitching, but Alex Cobb and Lance Lynn “aren’t really in play” for them. To clear a 40-man spot for Drury, Jabari Blash was traded to the Angels for cash or a player to be named later.
Alex Rodriguez has rejoined the Yankees as a special advisor. Nick Swisher was hired in the same capacity. Dan Giese was promoted to pro scouting director while Matt Daley is the new assistant pro scouting director.
MLB announced new pace-of-play rules. Teams are now limited to six non-pitching change mound visits per game, and commercial breaks are shorter.

Poll: The Opening Day Starter

February 20, 2018 by Mike Axisa Leave a Comment

In five weeks and two days the Yankees will open the 2018 season in Toronto against the Blue Jays. It’ll be their second straight season opener on the road and their sixth season opener on the road in the last ten years. Who will be on the mound that day? I’m not sure. New manager Aaron Boone has declined to say thus far.

“The one good thing with our guys — with other teams it’s more obvious sometimes who’s going to start Opening Day — we have guys like Tanaka and CC that have been aces of the staff,” said Boone to David Schoenfield over the weekend. “We have Sevy who became what he became a year ago. Sonny Gray has been a guy … so to me, the order in which they pitch isn’t necessarily as big a deal.”

Boone said matchups and health will be a factor in the Opening Day starter decision, but generally speaking, the Opening Day starter is an honorary thing. The Opening Day starter is the ace of the staff. Everyone lines up their best for the season opener, then goes from there. As Boone said, the Yankees have a number of Opening Day starter candidates, and that’s a good thing. Let’s make a case for each guy, shall we?

The Case for Sonny Gray

The newest member of the rotation has two career Opening Day starts under his belt. Gray started the season opener for the Athletics in 2014 and 2015, and holy smokes he was awesome both times. Six shutout innings in 2014 and eight shutout innings in 2015. Lost a no-hitter in the eighth inning in 2015.

Of course, what Gray did in 2014 or 2015 doesn’t matter much now. He was good with the Yankees after the trade last year, even great at times, but Sonny lost the plate towards the end of the season and in the ALDS. That led to the Yankees pushing him back to Game Four of the ALCS, in which he pitched well.

I get the sense Gray is being really underrated in Yankeeland right now. He’s young (28), he had a 3.55 ERA (3.90 FIP) last season, and he has a third place finish in the AL Cy Young voting to his credit. Lots of teams would love having a guy like Gray on the mound Opening Day. His case for Opening Day? He’s really good. That’s what it boils down to.

The Case for Jordan Montgomery

Not gonna lie, this one won’t be easy. Montgomery had a fine rookie season last year (3.88 ERA and 4.07 FIP) — he was the best rookie starter in baseball! — and cemented himself as a member of the rotation going forward. He’s a big part of the future for the Yankees, so much so that they limited his workload in the second half last year to put him in the best possible position to succeed going forward. Want the outside the box Opening Day starter candidate? It’s Montgomery.

The Case for CC Sabathia

Sabathia started six straight Opening Days for the Yankees from 2009-14 and he made five Opening Day starts for the Indians from 2003-08. Only nine men in history have made more career Opening Day starts than Sabathia, and they’re basically the eight greatest pitchers in baseball history and Jack Morris. Sabathia has been there, done that, though his career Opening Day numbers stink.

Two things to keep in mind. One, Sabathia is the unquestioned clubhouse leader among the pitchers. And two, Sabathia was pretty good last season (3.69 ERA and 4.49 FIP) and the Yankees trusted him to start winner-take-all games in the ALDS and ALCS. I guess that’s three things. But you get the point. Sabathia is the staff leader, he’s still effective, and the Yankees trust him in big games. Sabathia has the pedigree and the recent performance to justify yet another Opening Day assignment.

The Case for Luis Severino

Severino was, by any measure, the best starter on the staff last season. He was one of the best pitchers in baseball overall, throwing 193.1 innings with a 2.98 ERA (3.08 FIP). Severino was top ten in MLB in pretty much every important pitching category, and he became the first Yankees starter with a sub-3.00 ERA since David Cone and Andy Pettitte both did it in 1997.

On merit, Severino deserves the Opening Day start. He was the team’s best starter last season and, generally speaking, that’s who gets the Opening Day nod. With all due respect to Montgomery and Gray (and Justus Sheffield), the Yankees are planning to build their rotation around Severino long-term. He’s the man. For what it’s worth though, Severino said he doesn’t care if he starts the season opener.

“It doesn’t matter,” said Severino to Randy Miller when asked about wanting the ball in the first game. “If I start on Opening Day, it would be an honor for me. But starting on Opening Day doesn’t matter to me. I know I’ll be starting one of the games in Toronto, and I’ll be happy about that.”

I can think of two possible reasons to not give Severino the Opening Day start. One, the Yankees might not want to put too much responsibility on Severino’s shoulders at such a young age. We saw what happened when he got too amped up in the Wild Card Game. And two, the Yankees might have some sort of workload plan mapped out and the optimal schedule doesn’t include Opening Day. Aside from that, Severino has done pretty much everything necessary to get the ball in the season opener.

The Case for Masahiro Tanaka

The Yankees gave Tanaka the ball on Opening Day each of the last three seasons because he was their best pitcher and he earned the right. Tanaka wasn’t good overall last season (4.74 ERA and 4.34 FIP), but he was a monster in the postseason, so we know the dominant Masahiro Tanaka is still in there.

The fact Tanaka finished so well and has started the last three Opening Days means it would be awfully easy for Boone to go back to the well and give Tanaka the ball on Opening Day again, even though the last three Opening Days didn’t go well. And, for what it’s worth, at least one pitcher on the staff thinks Tanaka should get the ball in the season opener.

“Of course,” said Severino to Miller when asked whether Tanaka should start Opening Day again. “I’m saying the truth. Tanaka is a veteran guy. He’s one of the best pitchers in the game right now. He had a bad year last year, but he finished the season great. In the playoffs he was one of the best pitchers for us. I would choose Tanaka.”

* * *

The Yankees have gotten some pretty crummy outings from their Opening Day starters in recent years — they’ve received one quality start on Opening Day since 2009 — and they’ll look to buck that trend this year. Ultimately, Opening Day is just another game. One of 162. Getting that Opening Day start is an honor though. Let’s get to the poll.

Who should start Opening Day?

Fan Confidence Poll: February 19th, 2018

February 19, 2018 by Mike Axisa Leave a Comment

Spring Training Record: 0-0 (0 RS, 0 RA)
Spring Training Schedule This Week: Fri. vs. Tigers (YES), Sat. @ Pirates, Sun. @ Phillies (MLBN)

Top stories from last week:

The Yankees attended Tim Lincecum’s workout Thursday and are said to be monitoring the market for Lance Lynn, who remains unsigned like so many free agents.
Injury Updates: Aaron Judge (shoulder) is progressing well following surgery and will take batting practice today. CC Sabathia (ankle) rolled his ankle during a fielding drill but is fine. Thairo Estrada (hip) was shot during a robbery attempt in Venezuela a few weeks ago and is thankfully doing well. He’s expected to begin riding a stationary bike this week.
Judge took Derek Jeter’s spot in Captain’s Camp and hosted a dinner for the prospects. The Yankees announced the coaching staffs for their full season minor league affiliates.

Fan Confidence Poll: February 12th, 2018

February 12, 2018 by Mike Axisa Leave a Comment

2017 Regular Season Record: 91-71 (858 RS, 660 RA, 100-62 pythag. record), second in ALE
2017 Postseason Record: 7-6 (51 RS, 42 RA), won AL WC Game, won ALDS, lost ALCS

Top stories from last week:

The Yankees remain in the market for a starting pitcher and an infielder. They won’t be signing Yu Darvish or Todd Frazier though. Darvish went to the Cubs and Frazier went to the Mets.
At long last, the Yankees officially announced their new coaching staff. There were no surprises. P.J. Pilittere is the new assistant hitting coach.
The Yankees signed outfielder Shane Robinson to a minor league deal and traded for Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson. He’ll spend some time in Spring Training.
Injury Updates: Albert Abreu (appendix) will miss the start of Spring Training following surgery. I suppose that’s not really an injury, but whatever.
I posted my annual Top 30 Prospects List. Both Baseball Prospectus and FanGraphs had five Yankees on their annual top 100 prospects lists.

Fan Confidence Poll: February 5th, 2018

February 5, 2018 by Mike Axisa Leave a Comment

2017 Regular Season Record: 91-71 (858 RS, 660 RA, 100-62 pythag. record), second in ALE
2017 Postseason Record: 7-6 (51 RS, 42 RA), won AL WC Game, won ALDS, lost ALCS

Top stories from last week:

Justus Sheffield, Estevan Florial, and Chance Adams are among the 20 players the Yankees will bring to camp as non-roster invitees this spring. As a reminder, all players on the 40-man roster will be in big league camp automatically.
The Yankees landed six prospects on MLB.com’s top 100 list, including Gleyber Torres at No. 5. They also have baseball’s second best farm system according to Baseball America.
Infielder Danny Espinosa and right-hander David Hale signed minor league contracts with the Yankees. Hale’s a depth arm, but Espinosa could wind up on the Opening Day roster.
The Yankees hired veteran executive Marc DelPiano for a role in their pro scouting department. DelPiano was one of several executives the Marlins cut loose earlier this winter.

Fan Confidence Poll: January 29th, 2018

January 29, 2018 by Mike Axisa Leave a Comment

2017 Regular Season Record: 91-71 (858 RS, 660 RA, 100-62 pythag. record), second in ALE
2017 Postseason Record: 7-6 (51 RS, 42 RA), won AL WC Game, won ALDS, lost ALCS

Top stories from last week:

The Yankees ranked second in Keith Law’s farm system rankings and had five players on his top 100 prospects list, including Gleyber Torres at No. 5. Baseball America had six Yankees on their top 100 prospects list. Torres was sixth.
The Yankees reportedly want to set aside $10M for midseason call-ups and additions. That leaves them approximately $12M to spend under the $197M luxury tax threshold.