NY Yankees News, Information & Community

Heyman: Yankees, Chris Young have mutual interest in reunion

November 8, 2014 by Mike 434 Comments

According to Jon Heyman, the Yankees and free agent outfielder Chris Young have mutual interest in a reunion. The team views him as a fourth outfielder. Both Brett Gardner and Jacoby Ellsbury are left-handed, plus Carlos Beltran has been way better from the left side of the plate these last few years, so a right-handed hitting fourth outfielder makes perfect sense.

Young, 31, hit .282/.354/.521 (146 wRC+) with three homers in 23 September games with the Yankees. He hit .205/.283/.346 (81 wRC+) with eleven homers in 111 games with the Mets before being released at midseason. Young is still an above-average defender in all three outfield spots and he’ll even steal the occasional base. Some pop, some speed, good defense checks all the necessary boxes for a fourth outfielder in my book.

Young credited departed hitting coach Kevin Long for his late-season turn around — “I’ve been able to find some things here that can carry me for years to come,” Young said to Dan Barbarisi in September — so there’s at least a chance his big September is the result of tangible improvement and not just dumb luck. A one-year deal in the $2M to $3M range, maybe with incentives based on plate appearances, makes the most sense for New York.

Yankees re-sign Andrew Bailey, 13 others become minor league free agents

November 7, 2014 by Mike 58 Comments

No photos in Bailey in a Yankees uniform anywhere. (Presswire)

Via Chad Jennings: The Yankees have re-signed right-hander Andrew Bailey to a new minor league contract after declining his option earlier this week. He missed all of 2014 following shoulder capsule surgery and had several setbacks during his rehab. The option was believed to be worth $2M or so. No word if the new contract includes an option for 2016. If he ever gets healthy, Bailey figures to get a chance to help the bullpen next summer.

Thirteen other players became minor league free agents, according to Matt Eddy. The most notable are SwP Pat Venditte, LHP Jeremy Bleich, LHP Nik Turley, 3B Scott Sizemore, SS Carmen Angelini, and OF Zoilo Almonte. As you may have already seen, Kiley McDaniel wrote the Yankees have frustrated other clubs by spending big (relatively) on minor league free agents these last few years — that’s how they landed Yangervis Solarte — and I expect that to continue this offseason.

2014 Season Review: Whitley & The Long Men

November 7, 2014 by Mike 36 Comments

The Yankees opened the season with three players capable of serving as a long reliever. Adam Warren held the job just last year, David Phelps did it the year before that, and Vidal Nuno has always been more of a multi-inning guy than a lefty specialist. Warren quickly settled into a short relief role and both Phelps and Nuno were in the rotation due to injuries before long, so the Yankees went from having three potential long men to zero by time May rolled around. They cycled threw some collection of arms this summer. Time to review the long relievers.

Chase Whitley

Last winter, every other team in baseball passed over Whitley in the Rule 5 Draft. By mid-May, the career reliever was starting games for the Yankees because their rotation was so devastated by injuries. The team moved Whitley into the rotation full-time this year after a nice run of Triple-A spot starts late last year, and he earned the call-up by pitching to a 2.39 ERA (1.72 FIP) in 26.1 innings across six starts.

Whitley held the Mets to two hits and two walks in 4.2 innings in his MLB debut, and six days later he limited the Cubs to just one run in 4.1 innings. Joe Girardi understandably had a very quick hook, pulling the right-hander after 74 and 71 pitches, respectively. It wasn’t until his third start that he topped 90 pitches (he threw 91, to be exact). He allowed three runs five innings against the Cardinals.

Next time out, Ace Whitely was born. Whitely struck out six Twins and allowed just one run in five innings on June 1st, then he held the Royals and Mariners to two runs in seven innings and 7.2 innings in his next two starts, respectively. A five-inning, two-run outing against the Blue Jays followed that. After his first seven MLB starts, Whitely had a 2.56 ERA (2.74 FIP) in 38.2 innings. It was exactly what the Yankees needed given their rotation situation.

The wheels came crashing off the bus in Whitley’s eighth start, which was also the first time he faced a team for the second time. The Blue Jays clobbered him for eight runs on eleven hits and three walks in only 3.1 innings of work. The Red Sox punished Whitely for five runs in four innings next time out, then the Twins got to him for four runs in three innings. After allowing eleven runs in his first seven starts, he allowed 17 runs in his next three starts.

The Yankees pulled Whitley from the rotation after that — the Brandon McCarthy trade and Shane Greene call-up made that possible — and he settled into a long relief role. Whitely threw 26.2 innings in his final 14 appearances after being yanked from the rotation while also spending some time back in Triple-A. He had a 5.40 ERA (4.44 FIP) in those 14 outings. Here is a quick breakdown of Whitley’s season split into two parts:

	IP	ERA	FIP	K%	BB%	GB%	HR/FB%	Opp. OPS
First 7 Starts	38.2	2.56	2.74	16.6%	2.6%	43.8%	2.1%	.615
After That	37.0	8.03	5.59	19.7%	8.1%	46.8%	25.0%	1.030
Total	75.2	5.23	4.14	18.2%	5.5%	45.6%	12.0%	.831

Even when Whitley was at his best during those first seven starts, I think we were all waiting for the other shoe to drop. His stuff was good but not great — he’d break off a few nice sliders or nasty changeup every once in a while, but every pitcher does that — and it just seemed like it was only a matter of time before the league got a book on him and made adjustments. It happened fairly quickly and Whitley became unusable in non-mop-up situations. Those first seven starts though, they were excellent and a big help to the team at the time.

Alfredo Aceves

When the Yankees took all three of Phelps, Warren, and Nuno north out of Spring Training, they grabbed Aceves off the scrap heap to replace the depth in Triple-A. Someone needed to soak up all those extra innings and teams routinely sign veterans they can abuse so the actual prospects don’t get overworked. Fans (myself included) were pretty happy Aceves was back simply because of what he did in 2009. He built up a lot good will that season.

Aceves started the year in Triple-A and made three starts with the RailRiders before being called up to the Yankees in early-May. He made his triumphant return to the pinstripes on May 4th, when CC Sabathia got knocked around by the Rays and failed to complete the fourth inning. Aceves picked him up with 5.1 scoreless innings of relief, striking out five and allowing only three hits. It was vintage Aceves, the kind of stuff we saw back in 2009. Suddenly it looked like the Yankees had someone who could fill that revolving door in the back of the bullpen.

That didn’t happen though. Aceves was legitimately terrible after that first appearance. He pitched in nine more games with the Yankees and allowed runs in seven of them. In 14 total innings he managed to put 24 men on base, allow 14 runs, and serve up six (!) homers. After giving up two homers in his June 2nd appearance, Aceves, who is eccentric at best and downright crazy at worst, threw inside at several Mariners players, so much so that pitching coach Larry Rothschild had to go out to the mound to tell him to stop.

Aceves’ second stint in pinstripes ended after that appearance. The team designated him for assignment, he returned to Triple-A to make a handful of relief appearances, then was suspended 50 games for a failed drug test. Not performance-enhancing drugs, a drug of abuse. Reportedly cocaine. The Yankees released him after the suspension was over. Aceves had a 6.52 ERA (6.29 FIP) in 19.1 innings across ten games with the team. Let us never speak of this again.

Esmil Rogers

The Blue Jays have made some shockingly bad trades involving catchers the last few years. First they shipped Mike Napoli to the Rangers for Frank Francisco (Frank Francisco!), then they sent Yan Gomes to the Indians for Rogers. Gomes has broken out and is now one of the better catchers in the game. Rogers wore out his welcome in Toronto in less than two years (5.06 ERA and 4.81 FIP in 158.1 innings), but the Yankees were intrigued enough to claim him off waivers at the end of July.

Because he had been working as a starter in Triple-A before the Blue Jays cut him loose, Rogers was nice and stretched out, which allowed Girardi to use him for three innings in his first appearance with the team. He held the Red Sox hitless in the three innings in his Yankees debut. Five days later, Rogers made a spot start filling in for the injured Phelps, and allowed just one run in five innings against the Indians. His first three appearances — there was a one-inning relief outing sandwiched between the three-inning debut and spot start — were enough to earn him some more responsibility.

After the spot start, Girardi used Rogers as a sixth and seventh inning type reliever, occasionally in the eighth inning as well if the rest of the bullpen was taxed. He made 15 appearances after the spot start and two were disasters — three runs and one out on September 16th, four runs and one out on September 28th — uglifying his stat line. Rogers had a 4.68 ERA (4.17 FIP) in 25 total innings with New York, but I thought he generally pitched better than that. He wasn’t great, but he wasn’t truly awful either. Most of the time, anyway.

Billings. (Presswire) — Dolla dolla Billings, y’all. (Presswire)

Bruce Billings

Billings was another one of those veteran arms for Triple-A — there were a lot of them this year, the Yankees didn’t have many actually pitching prospects in Scranton — though he did get called up to make one appearance with the big league team. He soaked up four innings against the Angels on April 25th, allowed four runs on four hits and a walk. Two of the four hits left the yard. Billings did strike out seven of 17 batters faced though. That’s cool. He was called up again at midseason before the team dropped him from the 40-man roster. Billings elected free agency and signed with the Dodgers, then spent the rest of the season in their Triple-A bullpen. Those for the four innings, Bruce.

Chris Leroux

Leroux was a starter with Triple-A Scranton at the start of the season, though he was unable to give the Yankees any length in his two appearances with New York. He allowed two unearned runs in one inning in his first game on April 29th, then he got clobbered for five runs in an one inning on May 2nd. That was in the 14th inning of this game, which you might remember because the Yankees made a spirited comeback to tie the game in the eighth and then again in the ninth to force extrainnings. Leroux was dropped from the roster soon thereafter and spent the rest of the summer either hurt or pitching for the RailRiders. What a summer of long men.

RAB Live Chat

November 7, 2014 by Mike 8 Comments

Report: Yankees among teams with interest in Alexei Ramirez

November 7, 2014 by Mike 189 Comments

Via Bruce Levine: The Yankees are one of several teams with interest in White Sox shortstop Alexei Ramirez. The Mets and Dodgers are also involved. Levine speculates the White Sox will want young power pitching in return, specifically right-handers. He says the Mets have been the most aggressive, and not just this offseason. They’ve been after Ramirez for the last year.

Ramirez, 33, hit .273/.305/.408 (97 wRC+) with 15 homers and his usually low strikeout rate (12.3%) this past season, making it his best offensive season in several years. His defense, which usually rates very highly, was below average in 2014 according to the various stats. Ramirez is very durable (exactly 158 games in four straight years) and he’s owed $10M in 2015 with a $10M option for 2016, so he’s reasonably priced as well. I’d prefer a younger shortstop, but Ramirez wouldn’t be a bad stopgap by any means. The only question is whether the ChiSox like New York’s young arms enough.

Ben’s obligatory offseason wish list

November 7, 2014 by Benjamin Kabak 271 Comments

It goes without saying that, as a Yankee fan, my off-season wish list revolves around a trophy. Right now, the San Francisco Giants are in possession of that trophy, and it’s been five years since the Yanks last celebrated this item, the third-longest World Series drought of my life. I want that trophy back.

Sitting where we are, after a disappointing and often dull 84-win season, it’s hard to see a short path 2015’s trophy, and with Derek moving on, the ties to even the 2009 team are being held together by ARod for now and Francisco Cervelli, Brett Gardner, Mark Teixeira, CC’s knee and current free agent David Robertson. Flags fly forever, but leave them outside long enough and they’ll start to look a little tattered.

As far as Yankee needs go, it’s hard to disagree with Joe’s and Mike’s wish lists. Even as the Yanks faded into the middle of the pack this summer, they fell only four games shy of a Wild Card berth, and as the Royals demonstrated, get there and anything goes. Of course with the way the roster currently looks, the Yanks need three infielders, a starting pitcher or two and another reliever, and those pieces aren’t coming out of Scranton in April, Rob Refsnyder notwithstanding.

But you know what the Yanks need. Your wish lists is mine: the best players yesterday and that parade down Broadway in Lower Manhattan. For my take on the offseason, I want to talk about a different kind of wish list. This is about mystique and aura, no longer appearing nightly. It’s about the team’s image — their brand, if you will. Now that Derek Jeter has retired, the Yankees need to pass the baton, but to whom? Bernie Williams and Paul O’Neill were there after Mattingly’s departure, and Jeter burst onto the scene. In 2015, the Yankees don’t really have a franchise face or up-and-coming star. It’s time to rebrand.

1. Do Something About Yankee Stadium

For better or worse — until the Yanks pull a Braves in twenty years — New Yankee Stadium is what we have, probably for most of the rest of my life. I tolerated it at first, and it helped that the Yanks won a World Series in the park’s first season. But as far as baseball stadiums go, it’s a nothing. There’s no charm or attitude to it. It’s sterile-looking with the feel of something you should look at but not touch.

In September, during Jeter’s last home stand, I went to a game with a friend of mine. We had comps — good seats in the 100s level that were supposed to be next to each other. Instead, we got to our seats to find a table in between the two of us. I have no idea why the Yankees decided they needed to remove seats to stick tables in between them. We all managed at baseball games for decades without tables. But my friend and I had a table, and we had to spend the whole game either leaning toward each other or shouting to be heard. These seats and that table seemed to be built with attendees who care more about the scene than the game.

The Yankees aren’t going to gut their new stadium and reconfigure the seating bowls to better resemble the Yankee Stadium of my childhood and teenage years. But they could find a way to make the stadium feel more inclusive and fan-focused. If the product on the field isn’t going to be impressive, the ballpark at least should be. Right now, with Painfully Awkward George Steinbrenner looming over everyone, it’s grand but lacking.

2. Change the In-Game Experience

This goes hand-in-hand with No. 1 on my list, but must we sit through another season of the grounds crew doing the YMCA dance, Cotton Eye Joe and “God Bless America”? Must we be bombarded with sound at every opportunity? At the risk of sounding like a cranky old man, there’s something to be said for a simple game experience. I saw a Sunday matinee at Fenway this past year, and the only sounds were the PA announcer and the organist. I don’t expect the Yanks to sacrifice scoreboard revenue every day but doing so once in a while would be a nice treat.

3. ‘It is high…it is far…it is still broadcasting Yankee games!’

Every winter, I hope that John Sterling isn’t still broadcasting games come Opening Day, and every Opening Day, he is. We already know that the 2015 season will be no different, but I can dream.

Overall, the Yanks’ radio broadcast needs a rethink. It’s become an advertising vehicle for WFAN that also happens to provide some amount of play-by-play and the bare minimum of informed commentary. The Yankees and CBS make their money through endless sales of everything on the broadcast, and Sterling’s schtick can sometimes be enjoyable in that grandfatherly rolling-of-the-eyes sort of way. But as a way to learn about what’s happening on the field or gain insight into a baseball decision, well, you won’t find that on the John and Suzyn Variety Show. Maybe next time.

4. A Redesigned RAB

4. Re-Sign David Robertson

Okay, okay. Not everything can be a complaint about the in-game presentation. We do need to focus on the field too, and for me, keeping David Robertson around for a few more years is a top priority. I realize there’s a prevailing sentiment that Dellin Betances can close and for a lot less money, and maybe that’s true. However, moving Betances into the closer role has a cascade effect on the rest of the game and not in a positive way.

By the middle of the season, Joe Girardi believed in Betances to use him perfectly. He was the fireman when there was a problem in the 7th; he could handle the 8th with aplomb. He was a versatile reliever with a rubber arm and a 100 mph fastball. As a closer, he’ll take those last three outs, 3-run lead or 1-run lead, and his innings and utility will drop. Plus, someone else — Adam Warren? Shawn Kelley? — will have to pick up higher leverage innings.

Meanwhile, Robertson has been one of the best, most consistent relievers in baseball over the last five years. He can handle the 9th in New York, and he’s at a prime age for a pitcher. Simply put, Robertson gives the Yanks comfort in the 9th and a deeper, more versatile bullpen overall. I’d sign Andrew Miller too, but that’s just being greedy.

5. A Short Stop

Brendan Ryan is the only short stop under contract for the 2015 Yankees. Gulp.

* * *

All in an all, it’s a tough winter for the Yankees. They have a lot of dead or dying weight on the books for the next few seasons and aren’t rushing to add more. They have some promising high-ceiling prospects in their lower levels, and the best thing for the future of the club would be for the farm system to have an actually good year all around next year. For now, though, this seems to be a franchise in a holding pattern. The books closed on one great era of team history. We’ll see what comes next starting in April.

Thursday Night Open Thread

November 6, 2014 by Mike 393 Comments

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This is your open thread for the night. The Thursday NFL Game is the Browns and Bengals. The Devils and Islanders are both playing as well. Talk about those games or anything else that’s on your mind right here.