The Yankees have outrighted left-hander Justin Thomas to Triple-A Scranton after he cleared waivers. He was designated for assignment last week to clear room on the 40-man roster for David Aardsma. The 28-year-old Thomas allowed three runs while striking out three and walking one in three innings for the big league team in September after spending most of the season in Triple-A. The Yankees originally claimed him off waivers from the Red Sox back in May.
Falling into (first) place
After yesterday’s blowout victory over the hapless Red Sox and a loss to the Orioles, the Yankees suddenly find themselves with a few inches of breathing room. With only two games remaining, the Yankees can assure at least a tie for the division lead by winning one of the upcoming contests, and will hold on to the division lead if they can finish up the sweep. Things have been incredibly tense over the last few weeks, driving even the most level-headed Yankee fans to the brink of panic. However, the team has held on, flirting with mediocrity at times but doing just enough to stay afloat. While anything can happen over the next two games, we can be reassured by the fact that the Yankees are for sure going to be in the playoffs in some form, and that they control their own destiny.
Last night’s win over the Red Sox was big not only because of the implications of the division race, but also because of some promising developments. Of course, these have to be taken with a grain of salt because the Yankees have not exactly faced stellar competition of late (the checked-out Red Sox fielding a AAAA lineup looked particularly pathetic), but there have been a number of encouraging signs.
After an up-and-down 2012 that saw CC Sabathia show signs of mortality, he has finished the season strong. Over his last three outings, he has looked more like the reliable ace he has been throughout his big league career, a welcome development just in time for the start of postseason play. He is potentially set up to pitch in the one-game playoff if the Yankees don’t end up winning the division, or else could start Game One of the Division Series. Whenever he ends up pitching, Sabathia getting his mojo back is incredibly important for the Yankees’ playoff chances. Another important aspect of CC’s outing today is that the Yankees didn’t have to use any of their key relievers. This leaves Rafael Soriano, David Robertson, and company available as the Yankees try to lock down the division over the next two games.
The Yankee lineup also has seen the return of some key players. Mark Teixeira announced his return from the DL in loud fashion with a home run off of old friend Alfredo Aceves. He also made it through the game playing 1st base, which bodes well for his chances to play at his natural position in the playoffs. This bumps Nick Swisher back to right field, and hopefully prevents the Yankees from needing to play Raul Ibanez or Andruw Jones in the outfield. Brett Gardner is also back. Though he was hitless in his only at-bat, he played the outfield without incident, and could be a factor come playoff time. I would guess that Gardner may be a bit rusty offensively to start every day in the outfield (especially considering how well Ichiro has hit of late), but he could still have a major impact as a pinch-runner and defensive replacement.
Curtis Granderson and Robinson Cano have had their struggles this season, but their bats look to be coming to life at the most crucial time. Cano in particular has absolutely crushed the ball of late, racking up seven straight multi-hit games. Granderson meanwhile did not let his demotion to the #7 spot in the lineup faze him, and he can provide some valuable punch at the bottom of the order if he continues to hit in that spot. Russell Martin has also posted some valuable contributions of late. With their hitters getting healthy and starting to click, the Yankee lineup is suddenly incredibly deep and dangerous again.
Of course, there are still plenty of reasons to be nervous, and the next few days will assuredly be agonizing. However, the Yankees do at very least seem to be peaking at the right time, and perhaps this will provide just enough of a boost to outlast the Orioles. I am hopeful that the Yankees can pull it out with as little drama as necessary, if the Red Sox and Rays would only be so accommodating. Regardless, there is definitely some exciting baseball to come.
Brett Gardner cleared to swing, no longer has any restrictions
It was just a footnote in last night’s win, but Brett Gardner got an eighth inning at-bat and actually took some swings. He’s been taking batting practice over the last few weeks but has limited to pinch-running/defensive replacement duties off the bench in games. Joe Girardi confirmed last night that his Opening Day left fielder has been cleared by doctors and has zero restrictions going forward. That obviously gives him a leg up on a potential postseason roster spot.
“It’s definitely something you have to think about now … When you talk about a playoff roster, sometimes you have one extra spot for that runner. Now that he’s a full player, it makes it a little bit different,” said the skipper. Girardi added that he does not consider Gardner a full-time player going forward because he hasn’t faced enough big league pitching lately, which is really just a nice way of saying there’s no way in hell they’re taking Ichiro Suzuki out of the lineup considering how well he’s hitting. Still though, having Gardner back to 100% is a huge upgrade for the bench going forward.
The Return of Ichiro!
I was very skeptical when the Yankees acquired Ichiro Suzuki from the Mariners prior to the trade deadline. He could still run and play strong defense, but his offensive production had really cratered these last two years. From the start of last season through the date of the trade, Ichiro hit just .268/.302/.342 in nearly 1,100 plate appearances. That’s not a small sample, and at 38 years old, I thought he was done as even a league average hitter.
The Yankees made the trade and I suppose they believed three factors would help spark Ichiro’s bat. One, he was going from a last place team to a legitimate World Series contender. Ichiro had 10-and-5 no-trade protection and had to approve the deal, which he obviously did. That was at least an indication that he was looking forward to the opportunity to play meaningful games again. Two, he was moving out of cavernous Safeco Field and into hitter friendly Yankee Stadium. Three, they were going to limit his exposure to left-handed pitchers by platooning him.
Ichiro started his Yankees’ career with a 12-game exactly-one-hit streak, but through his first 41 games and 140 plate appearances with the team he had hit just .271/.297/.398. Yankee Stadium did help him hit some homers (three to be exact), but he was only 4-for-7 in stolen base attempts and really didn’t provide that game-changing speed on the bases. My expectations were low and I was still pretty underwhelmed. Worst of all, the Yankees were slipping in the standings and their one notable trade deadline acquisition wasn’t having much of an impact.
That all started to change about a month ago. The Yankees were wrapping up an important ten-game stretch against the Orioles and Rays with four games in Baltimore, a four-game series in which Ichiro went 8-for-14 with a stolen base and three multi-hit games. In a three-game series against the Blue Jays two weeks ago, he went 9-for-12 with three doubles, a homer, and four steals. All four steals came in the middle game, a 4-for-4 effort in which the fourth hit drove in the game-winning run. At one point he had six hits in six straight plate appearances against left-handed pitchers as well.
Since the start of that series in Baltimore, Ichiro has hit .417/.411/.560 with nine steals (in eleven attempts) in 24 games and 90 plate appearances. That has raised his batting line with the Yankees to a stout .327/.339/.461 in 230 plate appearances, and his season batting line to a respectable .284/.309/.391 in 653 plate appearances. He has eleven multi-hit games in his last 24 contests, which is Ichiro of old stuff. Exclamation point Ichiro. Ichiro!
The hot hitting as prompted Joe Girardi to bump Ichiro up in the lineup, and he now hits second rather than eighth or ninth. The move has added some length to the batting order, and in a lot of ways it has recreated the Derek Jeter-Johnny Damon dynamic of 2009. Ichiro doesn’t hit for the kind of power that Damon did in 2009, nor does he walk or work deep counts as often, but he’s a far better defender and is creating more havoc on the bases. With the resurgent Jeter leading off and the hot hitting Ichiro behind him, the Yankees have two high-contact, high-average hitters setting the table for the big power bats.
I was really skeptical at the time of the trade, but Ichiro … ahem, Ichiro! … has gone on to prove me and every other doubter wrong these last few weeks. It’s not like he’s hitting .300 or something during a hot homestand, he’s hit over .400 for nearly four weeks while saving runs with his glove and taking extra bases with his legs. Ichiro has more than replaced Brett Gardner at this point, the very man whose injury created the need for the trade in the first place. He’s also gone from the world’s most famous complementary player to a key cog in an offense that has averaged 6.3 runs per game since he moved up in the batting order.
Banuelos to have Tommy John surgery this week
Via Josh Norris, left-hander and top pitching prospect Manny Banuelos will have Tommy John surgery on Thursday. Brian Cashman confirmed the news and said it’s a new injury. “If we knew he’d needed (surgery) a year ago, he’d have had it done a year ago,” said the GM.
Banuelos, 21, missed essentially all of 2012 with what the team called a “bone bruise” in his elbow, so this news is crummy but not completely unexpected. The worst part is that between this year and next, he’ll have lost two consecutive years of development due to injury. It’s probably not a coincidence that long-time pitching coordinator Billy Connors was recently dismissed given this news. He was working with the team’s rehabbing pitchers this year.
Hal Speaks: “Jobs are not riding on this”
The regular season ends tomorrow, so all across the league owners are spending the final series with their teams as they look forward to the postseason, search for answers, or just want to pal around with the fellas after being off-the-radar for the last six months. Maybe it’s all three in some cases.
Hal Steinbrenner was at Yankee Stadium yesterday, and he briefly spoke to the media prior to last night’s blowout win. Hal isn’t his father, so there wasn’t anything too exciting to come out of the media session. There is still some stuff to talk about, however. The following quotes come courtesy of George King and Bryan Hoch.
On whether jobs depend on how the Yankees finish the season…
“Are jobs riding on this? Not that I know of. Jobs are not riding on this and that’s not something I am concerned about right now. We look at everything in the off-season as we always do.”
In our recent polls, the majority of RAB readers said that neither Brian Cashman nor Joe Girardi should be fired or would have been fired had the Yankees failed to qualify for the postseason. A wildcard spot is clinched, but I suspect that sentiment will not change regardless of how the Yankees finish the season.
Cashman is under contract through 2014 and I never really thought/still don’t believe his job is in any kind of jeopardy. Girardi’s contract is up after next season and I was in the “he shouldn’t be fired but will be” camp with regards to his job security had the Yankees missed the postseason. He a fine manager, not great and not terrible, but five years is a pretty long time for stick around in this business. With Terry Francona available and waiting to be hired, my gut said Joe would have been the easy scapegoat.
On the tight race in the final month of the season…
“I am excited, I think we all would like a bit more breathing room, we have zero breathing room. But the guys have been playing tough and we have (Mark Teixeira) back Monday night and he will give us a boost so I am excited … I was concerned (about blowing the ten-game lead), I wouldn’t say I was worried. These guys know what is expected out of them. They are professionals. I had no doubt they were going to persevere the best they could. We kept getting a big guy back and another big guy goes out and it’s frustrating after a while. But we have everybody back now and we are at full strength and we will keep pressing on.”
Nothing really to add here, I just find it a little funny that he was “concerned” and not “worried.” I know there’s a difference, but I still got a nice chuckle out of this.
On the plan to get under the $189M luxury tax threshold by 2014…
“I’ve made it clear that it’s very important to me for several reasons. Again, you’re talking about a 10 percent reduction in payroll. I don’t see that as an outrageous concept. I never have.”
The 2014 payroll plan was just a well-sourced rumor until Steinbrenner (and Cashman) confirmed it back in Spring Training. I don’t know of any fans that actually like the plan since what the hell, if you have the money spent it. That said, I think we can all understand why they’re striving to get under the luxury tax considering the potentially enormous savings. That doesn’t mean we have to like it, but part of me is hoping that it will force the team to be smarter with their spending and decision making. A $189M payroll is still nothing to sneeze at anyway, if they can’t contend with that then the problems go well beyond the money.
Late night update: AL playoff field set
With their wins tonight, both the Athletics and Tigers have clinched playoff berths. The Yankees, Orioles, and Rangers all clinched last night. The Tigers have the seventh best record in the AL but still became the first team in the league to clinch a division title with their win over the Royals. The Athletics clinched at least a wildcard berth with their win over the Rangers. The AL East and AL West titles are still up for grabs, so we don’t know who is playing who just yet.
It remains to be seen how the Rays will play against the Orioles the next two days now that they’ve been eliminated from postseason contention, but the Yankees do control their own destiny. If they win their next two games, they’ll be the AL East champs regardless of what happens in St. Pete. It’s also worth noting that the Yankees are now tied with Texas for the best record in the AL. New York also holds the tie-breaker, which is a big deal. Lots on the line the next two days.