NY Yankees News, Information & Community

Time is not on the Yankees side as they look for upgrades

June 21, 2013 by Mike 35 Comments

With last night’s loss, the Yankees have now dropped seven of their last nine and 17 of their last 28 games. They went from 1.5 games up in the division to 3.5 games back during that four-week stretch. The pitching staff has been fine during those 28 games (4.24 ERA and 3.61 FIP), but the offense put together a meager .217/.280/.316 batting line while averaging 3.2 runs per game during the slide. Given all the position player injuries, it’s no surprise they’ve struggled to score.

For most of the year, at least at the outset of the season, the plan was to tread water until the injured guys return. Stay close enough to the top spot in the division — 3.5 games back easily qualifies as “close enough” in my book, especially in mid-June — then make the move when everyone gets healthy. It sounds great in theory, but at this point the plan has failed. They are still in the hunt, but that “get healthy” part hasn’t happened.

Both Curtis Granderson and Mark Teixeira returned as expected in May only to wind up back on the DL almost immediately. Granderson’s broken hand was a fluke injury, but Teixeira re-injuring his wrist wasn’t surprising. Derek Jeter was expected back sometime in May only to suffer a new fracture in his surgically repaired ankle. He’s out until at least the All-Star break. Alex Rodriguez looks “fantastic” during his rehab work according to Jon Heyman, but a team official said he could start rehab games after the All-Star break. That’s the optimistic outlook, starting rehab games after the break.

None of those injured guys are close to returning, and that’s the problem. There is no offensive help coming from within. Sure, maybe Zoilo Almonte gets hot for a few weeks or maybe David Adams turns back into the player he was when he was first called up, but it’s clear the team needs bats. Not a bat, bats. Plural. Combine New York’s recent slide with the surging Blue Jays — they’ve won eight straight and 22 of their last 34 — and it becomes even more clear they need those bats soon. Waiting a month for A-Rod & Co. isn’t a luxury the team has right now, especially since we have no idea what they can provide when healthy. Granderson should be okay since it wasn’t his lead hand, but Jeter (ankle)? A-Rod (hip)? Teixeira (wrist)? Those are the types of injuries that sap production even after the doctor clears them to play.

“It’s not how you draw it up, there’s no doubt about that,” said GM Brian Cashman earlier this week, after it was announced Teixeira was going back on the DL and Kevin Youkilis would miss at least 10-12 weeks following back surgery. “We’re always looking to upgrade if we can regardless of position. You have to keep in mind too that we expect to get [Alex Rodriguez] back. As of right now we’re going with what we have and if we ever run into something that makes sense then we’ll look at that. We’ll keep going with what we’ve got.”

Patience has been a Cashman trademark since he got his supposed autonomy following the 2005 season — remember, this is a GM who lost both Hideki Matsui and Gary Sheffield to serious injury in May 2006 and didn’t acquire Bobby Abreu until the trade deadline as he waited out the Phillies and got them to drop their asking price. I remember realizing that it was a sign the team was going to be run differently going forward, and it has been. The number of knee-jerk reaction moves have been largely non-existent, at least outside of Kei Igawa and very minor stuff like bullpen or bench additions. Patience is what Cashman does.

Unfortunately, the Yankees don’t have the same luxury of time right now. It’s one thing to tread water until some injured players return in May, but it’s another thing to do it until after the All-Star break. The guys that helped the team get off to that hot start in April — specifically talking about Vernon Wells, Travis Hafner, and Lyle Overbay here — have turned back into pumpkins, and there’s really no reason to expect them to get back to being those kinds of hitters again. April was the outlier for them. I don’t know who is realistically available to help out this lineup right now, but the Yankees can’t afford to sit around, be patient, and play the waiting game again. They have to act soon if they want to continue treading water until some injured players return.

RAB Live Chat

June 21, 2013 by Mike 4 Comments

Olney: Cubs are ready to sell

June 21, 2013 by Mike 62 Comments

12:59pm: Olney says the Cubs have already started exchanging names with other teams about their players, just to give you can idea of where they sit in the process. Doesn’t seem like they’re going to wait until the deadline to start dealing players.

12:00pm: Via Buster Olney (subs. req’d): Rival evaluators say the Cubs are “open for business” and ready to sell off pieces in advance of the trade deadline. Chicago is 29-42 with a -21 run differential, the fourth worst record and ninth worst run differential in baseball. Based on their situation and what the Theo Epstein-led regime has done since taking over, it’s safe to say they’ll be looking for prospects in any trade.

Olney says the Cubbies are “prepared to move” outfielder Nate Schierholtz, who received a contract offer from the Yankees this offseason and is hitting .288/.338/.545 (136 wRC+) in 208 plate appearances on the season. He’d be a fantastic fit for New York, just as he would have been over the winter. Alfonso Soriano, the currently-injured David DeJesus, various starting pitchers, and a bevy of relievers are said to be among the other available Cubs. Obviously adding offense is priorities number one, two, and three for the Yankees.

Mailbag: Cano, Warren, Trade Candidates

June 21, 2013 by Mike 71 Comments

Going with a rapid fire mailbag today, so nine total questions. The Submit A Tip box in the sidebar is the way to send us anything throughout the week.

John asks: Hypothetically speaking, if the Yankees were to trade Robinson Cano today, what type of package do you think they could expect in return? Considering the new rule that the acquiring team will not get comp picks if they lose him, would the package really be that significant? In Spring Training I think they could’ve gotten, lets say, Oscar Taveras and Shelby Miller from St. Louis. Now I don’t think they would get Taveras by himself. Am I off base?

Half-a-season of Carlos Beltran fetched Zack Wheeler, and Beltran had a clause in his contract that prevented the team from offering arbitration after the season. The Giants knew at the time they would be unable to recoup a draft pick. Beltran was also a corner outfielder with a long injury injury while Cano plays a more premium position and 159+ games a year, every year. There’s no way they should settle for anything less than a prospect of Taveras’ caliber. That said, Matt Carpenter is amazing and the Cardinals no longer need a second baseman. I know they were just an example though. A half-season of Cano should net the Yankees an elite prospect at the very least. I’d want someone MLB ready who could step right into the lineup after the trade.

Humphrey asks: Given the apparent need of the Tigers to improve their bullpen, is this a place the Yankees can match up? Is there something the Yankees could get in return that would be valuable to them?

The Tigers desperately need bullpen help, particularly capable late-game relievers. The problem is that they’re a contender and are unlikely to trade away big league players to get that bullpen. They’ll offer prospects instead, and they don’t have many great ones to offer. Sorry, but you’re not getting Nick Castellanos (or even Avisail Garcia, for that matter) for David Robertson. I can’t see the Yankees weakening the pitching staff, pretty much the only thing keeping them afloat these days, for minor league players who won’t help right away. I don’t see a good fit for anything more than a minor trade.

Travis asks: Do you think Adam Warren will get a shot at starting in 2014 or will he just stay in the bullpen?

Assuming Phil Hughes is allowed to leave and neither Hiroki Kuroda nor Andy Pettitte return, the Yankees will have to come up with three starters next year. Even if they sign some free agents, they won’t all be studs. I expect Warren to come to camp as a starter with the opportunity to win a rotation spot. I do think he’s best suited for the bullpen and have for a few years now. He’s been very good as the long reliever but I think he could also wind up contributing as a more tradition one-inning, late-game reliever at some point. Give him the chance to start though, he’s earned it. If they come to camp with an open rotation spot or two, they owe it to themselves to see what Warren can do.

SMC asks: What would it take to get Danny Espinosa from the Nationals? He’s clearly fallen out of favor with their organization, but he’s a young switch-hitter with power who plays the middle infield well, steals bases, and draws walks.

I have to preface this by saying I’m a huge Espinosa fan. He was awful this year (23 wRC+) while foolishly trying to play through a chipped bone in his wrist, and he’s since been placed on the DL and then sent to the minors. Espinosa has flirted with 20-20 in each of the last two years and came into this season with a career 98 wRC+. He’s also very good defender who can legitimately play shortstop on an everyday basis. I’d love to get my hands on him at this point while his value is down, especially since Washington has Anthony Rendon at second and seems disinclined to move Ryan Zimmerman off third. I don’t know what the Nationals would want in return, but if they wanted a good but not great prospect like Nik Turley or Ramon Flores, I’d do it in a heartbeat. Espinosa fits the Yankees needs very well going forward even if he is a low-average, strikeout-prone hitter. Power, speed, and defense on the middle infield is hard to find.

Ian asks: If Mark Teixeira’s wrist is still hurting, what is the point of even trying to bring him back? It clearly isn’t right and isn’t likely to get right given the rigors of the season. Why not accept reality and do the surgery so the team can try to salvage the last three years of this now awful contract?

I disagree that it “isn’t likely to get right given the rigors of the season.” If the doctors say he is healthy enough to play, let him play. He can help the team. Wrist surgery is no small thing, you never want to cut into an important joint like that if it can be avoided.

Donny asks: The Yankees have three potential free agents who could be offered a qualifying offer — Cano, Curtis Granderson, and Hughes. This would result in a total of four first round draft picks, correct? If that is the case, are there any limits on how many compensatory picks a team is allowed or, in theory, could the Yankees have their entire team turn down qualifying offers that then resulted in 26 first round picks? That seems a little ridiculous to me if that is the case, no?

We could add Kuroda to that list as well, he’s definitely a qualifying offer candidate. Hughes is very much on the fence right now. But yes, there is no limit to how many compensation picks a team can have. The idea of letting the entire roster walk and netting 25 additional first rounders is obviously unrealistic, but technically it is possible. I don’t think it’s ridiculous at all either. If you have a lot of good players, you should be able to reap the draft pick reward if they decide to sign elsewhere.

Colin asks: Saw a blurb that the White Sox may look to sell at the deadline. What are the chances they move Alex Rios or Gordon Beckham? Rios would be a great fit for the Yanks right now.

Beckham, even the disappointing version who is just an okay player and not the star he was expected to be, would definitely help the Yankees. I have a hard time trusting Rios though. He is so wildly up and down. Here, look:

Source: FanGraphs — Alex Rios

You’ve got a star player one year, a replacement level guy the next, a league average player the next … who knows what’s coming in the future? The 32-year-old Rios has hit well since the startof last season and seems to have figured it out, but is it worth gambling ~$20M through 2014? The Yankees are already saddled with Ichiro Suzuki and Vernon Wells through next year, I’d hate to add another dud outfielder to those two. Plus having Rios and Wells on the same team gives me nightmares about the mid-2000s Blue Jays.

Bill asks: Would never happen but say hypothetically the Dodgers were looking to trade Matt Kemp (once healthy) since they have Carl Crawford, Yasiel Puig and Andre Ethier. What would the Yanks have to offer if they even have enough?

Kemp, 28, was having a terrible year (78 wRC+) before hitting the DL with a hamstring problem. He had left (front) shoulder surgery during the offseason, and the team has acknowledged it is still giving him problems. That said, he put up a 146 wRC+ just last year and nearly went 40-40 in 2011. He’s not old, though he is well-paid (~$140M through 2019). I really don’t know what it would take to acquire Kemp; we don’t have any comparable trades to reference. The first Alex Rodriguez trade maybe? The contract and shoulder should drag the value down a bit, but it’ll still take a huge package. Multiple top prospects, I’m guessing.

Ari asks: Chris Stewart hasn’t hit a double all season. What is the record for plate appearances without one? Can we start the Chris Stewart doubles watch?

I hadn’t even realized Stewart was double-less until this question came in. Stewart has three homers and no other extra-base hits on the season. That’s hard to believe. Anyway, the record for most plate appearances without a double by a non-pitcher is 321 (!), which Rafael Belliard set with 1988 Pirates. Here’s that list, and here’s the list of most double-less games to start a season by a Yankee (doesn’t include last night’s game, but it doesn’t change much):

Rk		Strk Start	End	Games	AB	R	H	3B	HR	RBI	SO	BB	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
1	Eddie Robinson	1955-04-14	1955-07-22	63	143	23	30	0	15	40	21	27	.210	.352	.524	.877
2	Gil McDougald	1955-04-13	1955-06-21	59	209	34	53	3	7	21	31	35	.254	.360	.383	.743
3	Phil Rizzuto	1955-04-13	1955-09-05	55	111	12	27	1	1	7	15	15	.243	.344	.288	.632
4	Enos Slaughter	1959-04-16	1959-07-25	51	69	9	11	0	6	15	17	11	.159	.272	.420	.692
5	Dick Howser	1968-04-13	1968-07-07	48	75	13	11	0	0	2	8	19	.147	.326	.147	.473
6	Norm Siebern	1956-06-15	1956-09-29	47	158	26	32	4	4	21	37	19	.203	.287	.329	.616
7	Frankie Crosetti	1941-04-18	1941-09-15	43	127	10	29	2	1	19	11	16	.228	.329	.283	.612
8	Horace Clarke	1968-04-10	1968-06-05	42	163	14	36	0	0	4	15	5	.221	.243	.221	.463
9	Chris Stewart	2013-04-03	2013-06-19	40	118	15	31	0	3	10	22	11	.263	.323	.339	.662
10	Bobby Richardson	1961-04-11	1961-05-30	40	157	10	32	1	0	10	2	5	.204	.233	.217	.450

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 6/20/2013.

Add in last night’s game and Stewart is at 41 games, still sitting in ninth place on that list. At some point he will yank a ground ball passed the third baseman and into the left field corner for a double … right? Yeah, it’ll happen eventually. He has about a month to do it before he sits atop that forgettable list.

Rays rough up Pettitte; take series opener 8-3

June 20, 2013 by Mike 125 Comments

The nail-biter two-game winning streak was nice while it lasted, but the Yankees have now lost two straight and and seven of their last nine games. They’ve also lost 15 of their 24 games if you want to go back even further. Thursday’s loss was an 8-3 drubbing at the hands of the Rays. New York’s run differential is down to -5 on the season.

The Tragic Number
For the fourth time in the last six games and the fifth time in the last nine games, the Yankees starter allowed at least four runs. It should be no surprise that they’ve lost seven of those games; this lineup simply can’t overcome that. Four runs allowed is the ~~magic~~ tragic number, anything more than that and New York is probably going to lose.

Andy Pettitte was the culprit on Thursday night, surrendering five runs on nine hits and one walk in 6.2 innings against Tampa. The top four spots in Tampa’s lineup went a combined 7-for-12 against him, driving in four of the five runs. Since returning from the DL four starts ago, Andy has allowed 14 hits on 35 base-runners in 25.2 innings. I don’t know if the lat (or back) is still bothering him or what, but the Bombers need more than that from the veteran left-hander.

Three Runs, One Hit
Matt Moore came into this start having allowed 20 runs and 39 base-runners in his last 12.1 innings (three starts), but the Yankees offense has a way or helping out struggling pitchers. Moore shut them down for the first five innings before they managed to put together a three-run rally on the strength of one hit. It wasn’t even a three-run homer or anything, in fact it was a leadoff single by Reid Brignac of all people.

The Yankees loaded the bases with no outs in the sixth inning thanks to the Brignac single and walks by Brett Gardner and Jayson Nix. They couldn’t have asked for anything more than to have Robinson Cano up at the plate, but they didn’t even have to wait until the end of his at-bat to score a run — Brignac scampered home on a (very) wild pitch. Cano plated the second run with a hard-hit sacrifice fly to center, then Travis Hafner got the third run in with a ground ball out to the right side of the infield. That made it a one-run game, but only temporarily. The Rays started to blow things open the next inning.

More Bad Pitching
Because the starters haven’t been crummy enough the last two weeks or so, the bullpen has now allowed nine runs on 18 base-runners over their last 8.2 innings. That dates back to the disaster ninth inning in the series finale against the Angels. Joba Chamberlain and Boone Logan both allowed homers in this game — Joba a solo shot to Evan Longoria and Logan a two-run shot to Yunel Escobar. Preston Claiborne threw a scoreless frame, but put two men on-base and has now allowed six base-runners in his last 2.2 innings. Can’t hit, can’t pitch, can’t bullpen.

Leftovers
Outside of the three-run inning, the Yankees didn’t put up much of a fight offensively. Didn’t hit Moore hard at all, did nothing against the bullpen. The lineup was completely overmatched. Let’s recap the ridiculousness:

Cano went 0-for-3 with the sac fly and forgot how many outs there were after striking out in the fourth. He put his helmet down and started taking his batting gloves off at the plate before being shooed back to the dugout.
Vernon Wells went 0-3 and is down to .221/.263/.368 (68 wRC+) on the season. He admitted to getting dominated by a pitching machine before the game — “I got dominated by the machine for a little bit, then I came through,” he said to Chad Jennings. Yep.
Nix went 0-3 with a walk and two strikeouts, plus he actually hit a ball to the warning track. That doesn’t sound like a big deal until you realize it is only the fourth (!!!) ball he’s hit the warning track this season. Here’s his spray chart if you don’t believe me. Four balls to the warning track in 72 games. Four.
Brignac went 1-for-3 and raised his OPS to .269 in pinstripes. Not his average, not his OBP, not even his SLG. His OPS. That is the third lowest OPS by a non-pitcher Yankee since 1917 (min. 40 PA). I assume he is on the roster to make Eduardo Nunez look good by comparison.
Chris Stewart went 0-for-3 with a walk and is sitting on an 80 wRC+ this year. That is the highest wRC+ by a Yankees right-handed hitter this season (min. 70 PA), by a lot. Stewart is the team’s best right-handed hitter. Chris Stewart.

On the bright side, Zoilo Almonte picked up his first big league hit off former Yankee Kyle Farnsworth while pinch-hitting for Wells in the ninth. The hard-hit grounder was ticketed for the left field corner and a double, but it hit the third base bag and ricocheted to the infielder. Bad break, but hey, congrats on the first hit. Hopefully Almonte actually gets into the starting lineup on Friday. He can only help at this point.

For the second time in a week, a Yankee ran into an out at third base on a ground ball hit in front of them on the left side. Lyle Overbay did the honors on Wednesday, getting cut down at third with one out in the seventh. Gardner did the same thing over the weekend. Bad recent pitching and a generally bad lineup are hard enough to overcome, can they at least not run into outs?

WPA Graph, Box Score & Standings
MLB.com has the box score and video highlights, FanGraphs has some other stats, and ESPN the updated standings. The Red Sox lost while the Orioles and Blue Jays were off, so the Yankees are two back of Boston and Baltimore in the loss column, two up on Tampa, and three up on Toronto. Wins, they need them.

Source: FanGraphs

Up Next
Same two teams on Friday night, when David Phelps and ~~Fausto Carmona~~ Roberto Hernandez meet in the second game of the four-game series. RAB Tickets is the place to go for last minute ticket deals if you want to catch the game live.

Murphy stays hot in Triple-A loss

June 20, 2013 by Mike 24 Comments

Just as a reminder, the two Rookie GCL Yankees squads open their season tomorrow. Should be fun having two rookie ball affiliates, there are always some ridiculously great performances down there. Now there will be twice as many. Here are some more notes:

The Yankees have signed 1B Andrew Clark and assigned him to Double-A Trenton, reports Chris Cotillo. Clark confirmed the move on his Twitter feed. The 25-year-old was mashing in an independent league — .421/.536/.816 with nine doubles, seven homers, 17 walks, and ten strikeouts in 24 games mashing — and will help fill out the injury-depleted rosters at the upper levels of the minors.
Both 3B Eric Jagielo (hamstring) and LHP Omar Luis Rodriguez (calf) are listed on the Low-A Charleston DL according to Josh Norris. Rodriguez was the team’s last big international splash before the new spending limits were implemented.
RHP Scottie Allen was been promoted to Double-A Trenton, reports Norris. He’s had an okay year at best (4.34 ERA and 4.18 FIP) for High-A Tampa, so this might just be a temporary thing.
LHP James Pazos has been promoted to Low-A Charleston, reports Robert Pimpsner. He appeared in one game for Short Season Staten Island earlier this week and is presumably replacing LHP Dietrich Enns in the bullpen.
And finally, Triple-A Scranton manager Dave Miley has been named the International League manager for the All-Star Game, reports Donnie Collins. Congrats to him, Miley’s done a really good job with the Triple-A squad over the years.

Triple-A Scranton (5-2 loss to Rochester)

C J.R. Murphy: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 K
RF Fernando Martinez: 1-4, 1 K
1B Randy Ruiz: 1-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 3 K — 8-for-19 (.421) with a double and two homers since signing
SS Alberto Gonzalez: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI
LHP David Huff: 4.1 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, 1 Balk, 3/2 GB/FB — 43 of 76 pitches were strikes (57%) … first walks in four starts since being sent down
RHP Chase Whitley: 2.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 3/3 GB/FB — 25 of 41 pitches were strikes (61%)

[Read more…]

Pineda allows two runs in latest rehab start

June 20, 2013 by Mike 3 Comments

In his second minor league rehab start with High-A Tampa, right-hander Michael Pineda allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits and one walk in four innings of work. He struck out three (all swinging) and got four ground balls compared to six in the air. No word on his velocity or pitch count, but he was expected to throw around 80 pitches.

The 24-year-old Pineda’s rehab clock expires on July 8th, so he has another three or four starts to go before the team has to decide whether to stick him on the roster or option him to the minors. That’s something to worry about when the time comes. I suppose Pineda could make move up a level and make his next rehab start with Double-A Trenton, but the team has yet to announced their plans. The Thunder will be home early next week, making travel easy.