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Rumor of the day: Who watches the Wanger?

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When the Yankees nailed down Chien-Ming Wang’s first win of 2009, the team breathed a collective sigh of relief. The psychological benefits alone for a pitcher who, two months ago, was 0-3 with a 34.50 ERA in six innings, are immense, and the Yankees need their cost-controlled sinker ball specialist, once among the game’s best pitchers to rediscover his form.

Since returning from the disabled list in late May, Wang has looked better than he did in April. Over eight games, five starts, he has thrown 30.2 innings and is 1-3 with a 5.28 ERA. As we’re used to seeing Wang twirling over six innings a start to the tune of a sub-4.00 ERA, that’s still not quite up to par for the Taiwanese hurler, but instead of looking epically bad, it resembles a rough patch. We generally wouldn’t worry about a rough patch.

When push comes to shove this season, Wang’s final numbers won’t look pretty. His ERA stands at 10.06 through the first three months of the season. If Wang makes his final 17 starts and averages six innings per start, he will have to pitch to an ERA of 2.38 just to get his season mark to 4.50. I don’t think anyone expects that.

Yet, despite these inflated numbers, Wang is still attracting interest from other teams. Today’s rumor du jour comes to us via the Daily Dish. Per the rumors site, Jim Salisbury of The Philadelphia Inquirer noted yesterday that the Phillies have been scouting Wang. The pitching-starved defending World Champs need some arms, and as Salisbury reasons, the Yanks, with Phil Hughes waiting in the wings, could opt to trade Wang.

While it’s awfully flattering of the Phillies to look, chances are close to nil that the Yanks would trade Wang this year. First, while the Yankees have long been reluctant to give Wang a long-term deal, his value is at an all-time low. He is coming off of a bad foot injury and a three-month winless bout of ineffectiveness. His sinker isn’t quite doing what it needs to be doing, and he’s still getting his legs under him. The Yanks could probably land something decent for Wang, but nothing the Phillies would be willing right now to offer could replace Wang’s potential.

Furthermore, Wang is still a big part of the Yanks’ plans. By most accounts, this will be Andy Pettitte’s last year in pinstripes. The Yanks have the younger pieces waiting in the wings to supplant Pettitte, and to do that, they will rely on Wang to anchor the middle of the rotation. Right now, the Yanks view the 2010 rotation as featuring CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Wang, Joba Chamberlain and Hughes. They won’t give up on Wang, cost-controlled through the end of 2011 and with a good track record, so easily.

Of course, in the end, everyone has a price. If the Phillies make the right offer, they could probably land Wang. But I wouldn’t read much into this. Ruben Amaro, the Philadelphia GM, is simply doing his due diligence on a potential acquisition, but the Yanks won’t give up on this one so easily.

Wang finally picks up a win as Rivera saves No. 500

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When Joe Girardi summoned Mariano Rivera into the game with two outs and two on in the bottom of the 8th, it was the 561st time in his career that Rivera would enter with a save on the line. For the 500th time, Rivera would complete it. He is just the second closer to reach that lofty mark and the first to do so while driving in a run as well.

The Yankees headed into tonight’s game with a sense of urgency. The Red Sox had lost earlier in the day, and the Rays had won. They could gain a game on first place while keeping two games ahead of the charging Rays. Furthermore, the Yanks needed to see Chien-Ming Wang get that first win. It had been nearly one year and two weeks since his last victory.

Early on, the Yanks seemed to be rolling. Derek Jeter doubled, and then Nick Swisher hit into what should have been an out. Daniel Murphy, an outfielder pressed into duty at first base, tried to get Jeter at third and failed. Mark Teixeira hit a booming double to drive them in. A few batters later — after Murphy dropped the relay on a potential double play — Posada hit a sac fly to give the Yanks a 3-0 lead.

That would be it for a while though, and in fact, the Yanks had a frustrating offensive night. Livan Hernandez gave up just one more hit after the 1st, and the Yanks would add one more against K-Rod in the 9th. However, the team worked out 11 walks against the Mets. It was all for naught though as the Yanks went 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position and hit into three double plays. On another night, we would have bemoaned it. Last night was a night for celebration.

After the first, the highlight of the day came during the 9th. K-Rod had some problems finding the zone, and with the bases loaded and two outs, Rivera’s spot came up. On Friday, he had just his second career at-bat, and he nearly managed to knock in a few with a line drive. Today, he was more patient. He saw seven pitches from K-Rod — including one foul ball — and the Yanks’ Hall of Fame closer worked out a bases loaded walk. It would be his first RBI of his career, and the timing — coming on the same night as his 500th save — could not be better.

It is fitting that Joe Girardi was the catcher for Rivera’s first save on May 17, 1996. It was Girardi who handed Mo the ball in the 8th. Rivera has now saved 18 of 19 this year, and after a hiccup earlier this month, his ERA is down to 2.93. He has walked three and struck out 39 in 30.2 innings of work. Superhuman, indeed.

Lost in the hullabaloo over Rivera was Chien-Ming Wang. After dominating Atlanta last week, he wasn’t as perfect against the Mets, but it worked. He allowed two earned runs and four hits against the Mets in 5.1 innings. He walked three and struck out three while tossing 49 of 85 pitches for strikes. While his sinker wasn’t as consistent as it should be, he generated 11 ground ball outs and just two fly outs — one on the first out of the game.

It’s hard to understate the psychological importance of that win. After a terrible start that had many of us questioning whether or not Wang should be in the rotation, he is seemingly settling down. If Wang can get back to form, the Yanks will have a fearsome rotation indeed.

As the Yanks wrap up Interleague Play, they head into an off-day feeling good. They’ve won five in a row and five of six against the Mets this year. They’ll face Seattle and Toronto this week, and I’m feeling good about the team.

Choosing among starting pitchers

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The Phil Hughes and Chien-Ming Wang show hit the field again last night. Wang went five good enough innings, and Hughes came in for a two-inning relief cameo. He turned in a now-familiar line: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K. He threw first-pitch strikes to all six batters he faced.

For Hughes, this outing marked another in a series of stellar relief appearances. He has now thrown 10.2 innings out of the pen and has allowed just two earned runs. Opponents have just five hits off of the Yanks’ youngster, and he has struck out 14 while waking two. The drubbing he suffered at the hands of the Orioles in early May is but a memory.

With this latest appearance, Hughes’ numbers now don’t even require us to take out that disastrous 1.2 innings in Maryland to look good. He has thrown 45.1 innings and has allowed 42 hits. He has given up 17 walks while striking out 45. His ERA is down to 4.57. (Without that bad outing, his ERA sits at 3.09.) He has been, in other words, as good as advertised a few years ago.

The other half of his pitching partnership hasn’t been as good this month. After a horrendous April and three relief appearances, Chien-Ming Wang has tried to find himself in the starting rotation. The results are decidedly mixed. He needed just 62 pitches to make it through five innings against the Braves but didn’t have his best location. Since returning to the rotation, he has made four starts spanning just 17.1 innings. He has given up 24 hits and 14 earned runs for an ERA of 7.27. It’s an improvement over his 34.50 mark from April, but it’s not quite what we expect or need from the 0-6 Wang.

It would seem, then, that the Yankees will soon be faced with a decision. Do they stick with Wang and continue to ride out this winless streak of ineffectiveness and inconsistency? Do they turn the ball over to Hughes and look to see if the confidence and mentality he has shown out of the pen can translate into success over six or seven innings as a starter? It’s a quite the conundrum. They need Wang to pitch well, and they need to straighten out his problems. But as Joe said in the recap, more Phil Hughes please.

For now, the Yankees do not actually need to answer this question. Hughes will have to shadow CC Sabathia and his sore bicep until at least Friday, and the Yankees seem committed to letting Wang toss in the pitcher-happy haven that is Citi Field. I’m OK with that for this week, but one of these pitchers is making a case for himself. It’s not the one getting the ball in the first inning every five days, and we can’t ignore that reality, no matter how uncomfortable it might be.

Even more Wang analysis

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Mike Fast at THT took another look at Chien-Ming Wang’s Pitch f/x data to try to figure out what’s wrong with the guy. Inlike everyone else, he actually adjusted for differences in PFX cameras at the New and Old Yankee Stadiums. His data is more accurate, but the problem is that he still comes to same conclusion: Wang’s releasing ball from a different spot than he has in the past. Why? Who knows? But Fast’s analysis shows that it is indeed happening. Check it out. (h/t dan)

Meanwhile, Wanger became a dad for the first time today. Justin Jesse Wang was born this morning, and in the Taiwanese culture a new baby brings good luck to the parents. Congrats to Chien-Ming and his wife.

Not the last dance for Chien-Ming Wang

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During his last outing in Boston, Chien-Ming Wang couldn’t escape the third inning. He threw 29 pitches in the first inning, and while his fastball was up in the mid-90s, his sinker had no sink. Boston tattooed him, and the Yanks would go on to lose 6-5.

After the game, Joe Girardi didn’t commit to another start for the Yanks’ erstwhile ace. “I’m not ready to make that decision right now,” he said.

Less than 24 hours later, though, Girardi was ready to make that decision, and he did so in the form of an ultimatum. Wang would get one more start this week against the Nationals. If he falters against Washington, the Yankees will need to come up with a new plan, Girardi seemed to intimate. With Al Aceves and Phil Hughes both on the 25-man roster, the Yankees could easily find someone to take Wang’s place in short order.

Yesterday, following the Yanks’ victory over the Mets in the most lopsided Subway Series game in Interleague history, Brian Cashman sat down for a short state of the organization chat with Newsday’s Arthur Staple. While Staple and the Yanks’ GM chatted about the importance of Brian Bruney, Cashman’s need of Steinbrenner approval for any payroll increases and the vague state of the trade market, Cashman’s most pregnant words were reserved for Wang.

Staple wrote:

Cashman said Wang’s start Wednesday against the Nationals would be a big factor in determining what happens next.

“We need Chien-Ming Wang,” Cashman said. “This is an important step. We know what he’s capable of. The velocity and the sink are there. Maybe his confidence isn’t there.”

After Wang flamed out again in Boston on Wednesday, Cashman, Joe Girardi and pitching coach Dave Eiland met to decide Wang’s future. They chose to give him one more chance at starting before demoting him and returning Phil Hughes to the rotation. Hughes pitched a scoreless ninth inning yesterday.

“Clearly, our bullpen and our team can’t continue to deal with this issue,” Cashman said, “especially when we have someone who can do the job better.”

That’s a very public way of dealing with an internal matter that would have short- and long-term ramifications. As the Yankees have evaluated their pitching prospects, Wang has always been a big part of their plans. He along with Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes, Al Aceves and Ian Kennedy made up the internal, cost-controlled pitchers who would complement the big free agents. With Wang lost, the Yanks’ plan relies very heavily on young talent.

Meanwhile, I don’t see the need to put so much emphasis on one start. Four days ago, I was ready to throw Chien-Ming Wang to the wolves. I couldn’t bear to watch the Yanks spot their opponents to four runs and have to rely on the bullpen to get 15 or 18 outs. Yet, after reading the comments on my game recap and having a few other discussions, I don’t believe the Yanks should be so easy to give up on Wang.

It is certainly important the Yankees field the top five guys who can best put them in a position to win right now. They’re two games out of the AL East and lead a hard-charging Tampa Bay Rays team (as well as the Angels and Blue Jays) by three games in the Wild Card. They need victories, and they can’t really afford to write off at least one out of every five games.

All things considered, though, if the Yankees believe that Wang’s problem is not physical and is only mechanical in such a way that confidence impacts his approach, they are doing themselves no favors in limiting their evaluation of him to one start. Chien-Ming Wang was 54-20 with a 3.79 ERA prior to this year. That isn’t talent readily available anywhere, and while I don’t believe the Yanks owe it to Chien-Ming Wang to let him pitch, they owe it to the team now and the team next year to straighten him out.

Removing him after one more sub-par start and exiling him to the bullpen or the scrap heap isn’t really a stellar solution. Finding the cause of the problem and fixing it is. That is, after all, why the team has a coaching staff.

Updated: Wang to start Wednesday

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Despite having the highest ERA in history for any pitcher with 20+ innings pitched and five or more starts in a single season (by over a full run, no less), Chien-Ming Wang will make another start for the Yanks according to Buster Olney’s people. Wang’s next start is scheduled for next Tuesday, but they could choose to skip him with Monday’s off day and push his start back to next Saturday. Considering that the Nationals’ team OPS is nearly 60 points higher than the Marlins’ … yeah, push him back.

Update by Ben (5:10 p.m.): While speaking with reporters prior to tonight’s Yankees/Red Sox game, Joe Girardi said that Chien-Ming Wang will start on Wednesday at home against the Nationals. The Yankees are committed to working through Wang’s problems, and he’ll get the ball while facing a team that has fared well against right-handed pitchers. Despite sporting the Majors’ worst record, the Nats have hit righties to the tune of .265/.345/.417. I hate to call any one start do-or-die, but this will be a do-or-die outing for Wang in Yankee Stadium.

Quick Links: YES ratings, fan rankings and more

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I have a few Yankees articles open in various browser tabs. Time for a link dump of Yankee news and features.

We start with the YES Network and their ratings. As the Yankees were rolling over the competition en route to a finish in first place in May, the team’s RSN found itself enjoying record-setting ratings. YES averaged a 4.50 household rating in the New York area for the month. This mark is a record for a New York-based RSN broadcasting baseball, and in lay terms, it means simply that a lot of people are watching the Yanks on TV. Welcome to the bandwagon, friends.

Despite this popularity, in a new study, Forbes ranked Yankee fans in the middle of the pack in terms of value. By dividing broadcast revenue, gate receipts, sponsorship money and other revenue sources over fan base population, Forbes has ranked baseball teams by the amount per fan they draw in. The Yankees draw in just $45 per fan.

Forbes’ writer Christina Settimi called that a “middling” total, but their equation seems flawed to me. Calling the entire population of a metropolitan area the potential fanbase ignores the reality that the vast majority of city dwellers just aren’t interested or can’t go to games. How much the Yankees draw in per fan at the game and through their TV and radio broadcasts would be a far better measure of fan value.

In non-business news, the entire country of Taiwan has been living the ups and downs of Chien-Ming Wang’s rocky season. Marc Carig interviewed various people from the Wang-crazed nation, and it’s clear that the islanders did not like how the Yankees treated their struggling hero. It’s hard to grasp just how big a deal Chien-Ming Wang is in Taiwan.

Finally, check out the new photoblog Demolition of Yankee Stadium. Yankee fan Joe Mazziliano is running the oft-updated site with pictures from the destruction of the House that Ruth Built. He promises fresh content until the replacement parks are open, and with photos from inside and outside of the stadium, his site provides a visual log of the final days of Yankee Stadium.