Andy Pettitte Archives - River Avenue Blues

Yankees name Andy Pettitte special advisor to Brian Cashman

February 25, 2019 by Mike

Welcome back to the Yankees, Andy Pettitte. Earlier today Pettitte was named a special advisor to GM Brian Cashman, the Yankees announced. Pettitte said Derek Jeter tried to woo him to the Marlins — Jorge Posada recently joined Miami as a special advisor — but he wanted to remain a Yankee.

“I spoke with Derek recently,” said Pettitte to Ken Davidoff. “Obviously that would be something fun you could consider, with a couple of my buddies doing that or whatever. But this is something that has been in the works for really five years. Hal (Steinbrenner) and Cash and the organization have really been so great to me.”

“I’ll take as much Andy as I can get,” said Cashman to Bryan Hoch. Pettitte told Jack Curry his role will be “as loose as you could imagine,” and will allow him to coach his son Luke’s eighth grade baseball team this spring. He’ll assist Cashman however needed on the Major League and minor league side. Typical special advisor stuff.

The Yankees have never been shy about bringing aboard former players as special advisors. The special advisor stable currently includes Pettitte, Carlos Beltran, Hideki Matsui, Reggie Jackson, Alex Rodriguez, and Nick Swisher, among others. I’d bet on Mariano Rivera getting the special advisor title soon as well.

Poll: After Derek Jeter, who will be the next Yankee voted into the Hall of Fame?

January 24, 2019 by Mike

Mariano Rivera made history throughout his 19-year career and he made history again earlier this week, when he became the first ever unanimous selection to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. All 425 voters named him on their ballot. I didn’t think it would happen but it did, and it’s pretty awesome. Couldn’t pick a better player to be the first unanimous Hall of Famer.

Mike Mussina, Rivera’s teammate with the Yankees for eight years, was also voted into the Hall of Fame earlier this week. Mussina has not yet decided whether he’ll wear a Yankees hat or an Orioles hat on his Hall of Fame plaque, though he did have more wins (147 to 123), more innings (2,009.2 to 1,553), more All-Star appearances (five to zero), and more WAR (+47.8 to +35.2) with the O’s. Going in as an Oriole seems appropriate.

Derek Jeter joins the Hall of Fame ballot next year and, like Rivera, he is a slam dunk first ballot Hall of Famer. He might even be unanimous! That would be fun, Rivera and Jeter being the first two unanimous Hall of Famers. Either way, Jeter is getting into the Hall of Fame next year. There’s no doubt about it. After that though, it might be a while until another Yankee gets voted into Cooperstown.

Bernie Williams and Jorge Posada have already dropped off the Hall of Fame ballot, having received less than the 5% needed to remain on the ballot another year. (Williams did spend two years on the ballot. Posada dropped off in year one.) Don Mattingly exhausted his 15 years on the ballot without being voted into the Hall of Fame. I suppose one of the eras committees could vote him in a la Harold Baines. We’ll see.

We know Jeter will be the next Yankee voted into the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers Association of America. We don’t know who will be the next after that. Let’s go through the upcoming candidates, shall we? Here are the Yankees due to appear on the Hall of Fame ballot in the coming years.

2020 ballot

Jeter is the big name here. He’s the only slam dunk Hall of Famer joining the ball next year. Also joining the ballot are former Yankees Jason Giambi, Bobby Abreu, and Alfonso Soriano. Abreu has a stathead case for Cooperstown but, if he gets in, he’ll have a Phillies cap on his plaque. He played more games with the Phillies (1,353) than all other teams combined (1,072).

Giambi played more games with the Athletics (1,036) than the Yankees (897), plus he won an MVP and finished second in the MVP voting while with the A’s. Also, there’s the performance-enhancing drug thing. Giambi gave that vague apology for letting people down without ever saying what he did, but we all know what he was talking about. So many Hall of Fame voters are dug in against PEDs that, even if Giambi’s case were stronger than it actually is, I still don’t think he’d get in.

Soriano played more games with the Cubs (889) than the Yankees (626) but he had some of his best seasons in pinstripes. He led the league in hits (209) and homers (41) in 2002 and finished third in the Rookie of the Year voting and third in the MVP voting while with the Yankees. Soriano’s best season, his 40/40 season (46 homers and 41 steals) came with the Nationals in 2006.

I don’t think Giambi has a chance at the Hall of Fame because of the PED stuff. Abreu and Soriano strike me as Hall of Very Good players rather than Hall of Famers, and hey, there’s nothing wrong with that. They had great careers and made tons of dough. Also, we’re looking for the next Yankee Hall of Famer here, and I don’t think Giambi, Abreu, or Soriano would have a Yankees hat on his Hall of Fame plaque even if they get in. They did more with other teams.

The best player with a chance to go into the Hall of Fame as a Yankee next year other than Jeter is Andy Pettitte. Pettitte was on the ballot for the first time this year and he received only 9.9% of the vote. He’s much, much closer to falling off the ballot than he is getting the 75% needed for induction into Cooperstown. It took Mussina six years on the ballot to get into the Hall of Fame. I have to think it’ll take Pettitte at least that long, if not longer to gain induction.

2021 ballot

There are no slam dunk Hall of Famers set to join the ballot in 2021, Yankees or otherwise. The best players joining the ballot are probably Tim Hudson and Mark Buehrle. The best former Yankees set to join the ballot are A.J. Burnett and Nick Swisher. Next.

2022 ballot

Now we’re talking. Alex Rodriguez joins the ballot in three years and his career was very obviously worthy of the Hall of Fame. There’s no arguing with the raw numbers. A-Rod is one of the 10-15 best players in the game’s history and, if you take his career at face value, he should be a unanimous selection. You can’t take his career at face value though. Rodriguez admitted to using PEDs and served a year-long suspension for a separate PED transgression.

If Barry Bonds and Rogers Clemens do not get into the Hall of Fame, A-Rod has little hope of getting in. The voting body is skewing younger and thus more forgiving of PEDs, but so many voters are dug in on this subject and will not change their minds. Jeff Passan recently spoke to voters who do not vote for Bonds or Clemens and it’s clear where they stand. Bonds and Clemens have seen their support plateau in recent years. It would take a sea change in the Hall of Fame voting for them to get in before their eligibility expires in three years.

In the unlikely event he does get voted into Cooperstown, it’s safe to assume A-Rod would go in as a Yankee. He played more games as a Yankee (1,509) than he did as a Mariner and Ranger combined (1,275), plus he won two MVPs in pinstripes and his World Series ring. More games, more homers (351 to 345), more hardware, more rings as a Yankee than everywhere else combined. Should he get in — assuming Rodriguez stays on the ballot all ten years, his final year of eligibility will be 2031, which is a looong ways away — A-Rod would go in as a Yankee.

The other notable former Yankee joining the ballot in three years is Mark Teixeira. My hunch is that, if Fred McGriff was unable to get into the Hall of Fame, Teixeira won’t get in either. Teixeira did hit 409 homers and he led the league in homers and total bases once (39 and 344 in 2009, respectively), but that’s pretty much it. Teixeira did play more games as a Yankee (958) than as a Ranger, Brave, and Angel combined (904), so if he gets into the Hall of Fame, I think he’d go in as a Yankee. I’m just not sure he’s getting in.

2023 ballot

The only serious Hall of Fame candidate joining the ballot in four years is Carlos Beltran. I think he’ll get into Cooperstown. If not on the first ballot, than eventually. Beltran is an unlikely candidate to be the next Yankee in the Hall of Fame simply because he played the bulk of his career elsewhere. Only 341 of his 2,586 career games came in pinstripes, or 13.2%. I guess Beltran would go into the Hall of Fame as a Royal or Met? Either way, it won’t be as a Yankee, so Beltran’s not the answer to our question.

2024 ballot

Players who retired following last season will be eligible for Hall of Fame induction in 2024. That means Adrian Beltre, Joe Mauer, Chase Utley, and David Wright. They combined for zero (0) games as a Yankee. Matt Holliday and Curtis Granderson could also join the Hall of Fame ballot in five years if they fail to find work this winter. Holliday spent one kinda crummy year with the Yankees. He’d go in as a Rockie or Cardinal. Granderson had some of his best seasons in pinstripes but played more games with the Tigers (674) and Mets (573) than the Yankees (513). Love the Grandyman but I don’t see him as a serious Hall of Fame candidate.

Active players

Ichiro Suzuki is a clear cut Hall of Famer and he’s going in as a Mariner, as he should. That leaves two active players who spend the bulk of their careers with the Yankees and deserve serious Hall of Fame consideration: Robinson Cano and CC Sabathia. This offseason’s trade ensures Cano would go into Cooperstown as a Yankee. He’ll split the second half of his career between (at least) two teams, meaning he won’t be able to accomplish enough with the Mariners to change his legacy from Yankees great to Mariners great.

Cano of course served a PED suspension last year, which likely ruins his chances at the Hall of Fame. Manny Ramirez has no-doubt Hall of Fame credentials, but, because he served two PED suspensions, he hasn’t topped 24% of the vote in his three years on the Hall of Fame ballot. Cano is closing in on 3,000 hits and Jeff Kent’s home run record for second basemen. Robbie’s the best second baseman of his generation. The suspension means he has a tough hill to climb.

Assuming Cano finishes out the final five years on his contract, that means he’s ten years away from appearing on the Hall of Fame ballot and 20 years away from exhausting his ten years on the ballot. We could still be talking about Robbie being on the ballot as a potential Hall of Famer in 2038! That’s an awfully long way away, man. The voting body can and will change between now and then, and a PED suspension may not be as much of a dealbreaker then as it is now. We’ll see.

Sabathia has more wins (129 to 117) and more starts (284 to 254) as a Yankee than he did as an Indian and Brewer combined, though he has slightly less WAR (+29.7 to +32.5). Also, Sabathia won his Cy Young in Cleveland and split 2008, his best individual season, between the Indians and Brewers. He won his World Series ring (and ALCS MVP) as a Yankee and has three top four finishes in the Cy Young voting in pinstripes. At some point this year he’ll record his 250th win and 3,000th strikeout, which is pretty cool.

I believe Sabathia would have a Yankees hat on his Hall of Fame plaque. The real question is whether he gets into Cooperstown. Mussina was an objectively better pitcher and he had to wait six years on the ballot to get in. Pettitte was a notch below Sabathia but he has the whole legacy Yankee thing going for him, and he didn’t come close to induction this year. (Pettitte is an admitted human growth hormone user though.) Sabathia will retire after this season and that means he’ll hit the Hall of Fame ballot in 2025. If he gets into the Hall of Fame, it’ll probably take several years on the ballot a la Mussina (and Pettitte).

Looking more long-term, Giancarlo Stanton is on a potential Hall of Fame track seeing how he’s at 300 homers and +40 WAR through his age 28 season. Five-hundred homers and +65 WAR is well within reach. Aroldis Chapman is like 60% of the way to Billy Wagner’s career at this point and Wagner hasn’t come close to induction yet, so Chapman has an uphill climb. Aaron Judge was a bit of a late-bloomer (he played his first MLB season at age 25), which puts him behind the Hall of Fame eight-ball. Gary Sanchez? Gleyber Torres? Miguel Andujar? Luis Severino? Great talents who are a long, long way from the Cooperstown combination.

What about Dellin Betances? He is the best setup man of his generation (yup) and it’s possible that, by time he’s eligible to appear on the Hall of Fame ballot, the voters may have very different standards for relief pitchers. As long as Wagner stays so far away from induction — this was Wagner’s fourth year on the ballot and he’s yet to receive even 17% of the vote — I can’t see Betances as a serious Hall of Fame candidate. Gosh, it would be fun though, wouldn’t it?

* * *

We know Jeter will be voted into the Hall of Fame next year. That is a certainty. The next Yankee to go into the Hall of Fame after Jeter is up in the air, largely because A-Rod and Cano have served PED suspensions, which significantly lowers their chances of winding up in Cooperstown. Since we’re here, we might as well turn this into a poll, so let’s get to it.

Who will be the next Yankee voted into the Hall of Fame after Jeter?

Mariano Rivera Should be Baseball’s First Unanimous Hall of Famer

December 22, 2018 by Bobby Montano

There are four notable former Yankees eligible for election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2019. Two will almost certainly never be elected. Andy Pettitte, a beloved fan favorite, simply doesn’t have the case and Gary Sheffield’s more compelling case is not translating into votes. Of the two remaining, Mike Mussina should already be enshrined—and 2019 may finally be his year. That leaves Mariano Rivera, about whose candidacy there is no doubt. He will be inducted in 2019, but for a player like Rivera, mere induction is not enough: he deserves to be the first player unanimously voted into the Hall of Fame.

Mike listed why he will not receive that honor a few weeks ago, and the reality is that he is right. Odds are a voter or two will strategically create a spot on their 10-spot ballot for a player who may need to clear the 5 percent threshold to remain on the ballot in 2020 by leaving off near-lock Mariano. But deserves to be and will be are different arguments, and on the merits alone, there is simply no compelling case to be made for leaving Mariano off of even a single ballot.

Rivera pitched 1,283.2 innings in his 19-year career (1996-2013), almost all of them in the 8^th or 9^th inning of close games. He was on the mound for the final play of an MLB record 952 games, recorded another MLB record 652 saves and compiled the best league-adjusted ERA (2.21 ERA, 205 ERA+, 49 ERA-) for any pitcher with over 1,000 innings pitched in the history of baseball. He walked only 2 men and allowed per 7 hits 9 innings pitched for a clean 1.000 WHIP, and, most impressively, gave up one home run every 18 innings pitched. All of this in the steroid-era against many of the game’s most fearsome hitters.

This translates to a 56.2 bWAR, which is the most WAR compiled by a reliever by a truly laughable amount. Jay Jaffe’s JAWS ranks him second, but that’s because Dennis Eckersley’s total is skewed by his years as a starter. As Mike wrote, among pitchers with 80 percent or more of their appearances in relief, Rivera is first in WAR—Hoyt Wilhelm is second at 50 WAR in more 1,000 more innings, and if you squint, you can see Goose Gossage’s 41.9 WAR in 3^rd place. Rivera’s contemporaries in the top 30, Tom Gordon (34.9) Joe Nathan (26.7), Billy Wagner (27.7), Trevor Hoffman (26.7) and Jonathan Papelbon (23.5) are not even close.

That is especially noteworthy because of an obsession among baseball writers to anoint his successor, even when Rivera himself was still dominating. A Google search of “next Mariano” reveals that Roberto Osuna, Zach Britton, Joba Chamberlain, Craig Kimbrel, Kenley Jansen and Jonathan Papelbon have all been dubbed baseball’s next Rivera. The best of these comparisons occurred while Rivera was playing, and almost always ended in a humorous fashion.

That’s because of almost superhuman longevity, which is worth detailing in a quick exercise by highlighting three seasons in the beginning, in the middle and very end of his career.

At age 26, Rivera logged what is one of the most dominant seasons in relief in modern baseball history. In 107.2 IP he pitched to a 2.09 ERA (240 ERA+) with a 1.88 FIP, 10 strikeouts per 9 innings pitched and surrendered only 1 home run. He was worth, according to Baseball-Reference, an absurd 5 wins as a multi-inning setup reliever and was a key player in the shocking 1996 World Series run.

In 2006, a decade later, 36-year-old Rivera posted another 4 win season. In 75 innings had a 1.80 ERA (252 ERA+) despite only recording 6 strikeouts per 9 innings (but walked only 1 per 9) and surrendered 3 home runs. This was hardly a notable season at the time; it was just another season of Mariano Rivera being Mariano Rivera.

Finally, at age 43 in 2013 (a year after a season-ending ACL injury), Rivera had 44 saves in 64 innings. His 2.11 ERA (190 ERA+), nearly 8 Ks per 9 and impeccable control (1 walk per 9) remained in line with his career numbers; he retired because of the travel, not because of any regression or diminished returns. This, more than anything else, is what separates Mariano Rivera from his peers—three seasons, each almost ten years apart, in which he was virtually unhittable.

But if Rivera’s regular season achievements have no comparisons, it is the postseason where the separation is most stark. There’s almost no point repeating the laundry list of achievements, but two things stand out: 1) Rivera got better across the board in October (he had a 0.70 ERA) and 2) in 141 postseason innings (two full seasons), Rivera surrendered only two (2!!) home runs. He won 5 World Series, was on the mound for the final out of four consecutive World Series and had some of the most heroic performances in the recent Yankee dynasty. The unfavorable endings of the both 2001 World Series and 2004 ALCS are so memorable not just because of their natural excitement, but because so much of the action came against Rivera—it’s as if nobody could believe their eyes.

All of this adds up to a simple, undeniable fact: we will never see another Mariano Rivera. He is, by any standard, the most dominant relief pitcher in baseball history, the baseline against which all other relievers are judged. His postseason heroics will never be matched, his longevity defies belief and, of course, he did it all with one pitch for two decades.

Tom Kelly, the manager of the 1996 Minnesota Twins, best summarized him after an early season matchup against the ’96 version of Rivera: “He should be in a higher league. Ban him from baseball; he should be illegal.” Voters now have a chance to actually put him in a higher league by making him baseball’s first unanimous Hall of Famer.

After all, if Rivera pitched without peers throughout his career, that is how he ought to be inducted to the Hall of Fame: a cut above the rest, having accomplished what nobody else could do, or will ever do again.

Andy Pettitte is an all-time great Yankee but he is not a Hall of Famer, and there’s nothing wrong with that

December 20, 2018 by Mike

In four weeks and five days MLB and the BBWAA will reveal the 2019 National Baseball Hall of Fame class. Mariano Rivera is a lock for induction. Edgar Martinez seems like a good bet for induction in his tenth and final year on the ballot. Rivera and Martinez going in the same year is kinda funny seeing how Edgar is pretty much the only hitter who solved Rivera (.579/.652/1.053 in 23 plate appearances!).

Among the many players on the ballot who will not receive enough votes for induction into the Hall of Fame next year is Andy Pettitte. As of this writing Ryan Thibodaux’s ballot tracker says Pettitte has appeared on only 11.3% of submitted ballots — that is eight votes on 70 public ballots — well below the 75% needed for induction. Pettitte should clear the 5% needed to remain on the ballot another year. Induction won’t happen in 2019 though.

And that’s fine. Pettitte is, clearly, on the very short list of all-time great Yankees pitchers. He is the franchise leader in strikeouts (2,020) and tied with Whitey Ford for the franchise lead in starts (438). Pettitte is top three in pitching WAR (+51.4), wins (219), innings (2,796.1), and a bunch of other things. And he was a key component of five World Series championship teams. He didn’t just come along for the ride and win a ring as a bystander.

The Yankees retired No. 46 for Pettitte three years ago and deservedly so. The Hall of Fame standard is much higher than the “the Yankees should retire his number” standard though, and, to me, Pettitte doesn’t meet that Hall of Fame standard. I can sum this up in three points.

1. Pettitte had the longevity but not the peak. Let’s do the ol’ blind comparison test, shall we? Mystery Pitcher here is a fellow lefty who pitched in the same era as Pettitte.

	G	W-L	IP	ERA	ERA+	K%	BB%	bWAR	fWAR
Pettitte	531	256-153 (.626)	3,316	3.85	117	17.4%	7.3%	60.7	68.9
Mystery Pitcher	518	214-160 (.569)	3,283.1	3.81	117	13.6%	5.4%	60.3	51.9

Give up? Mystery Pitcher is Mark Buehrle. Buehrle was really good! Had he not spent most of his career on some crummy White Sox teams, he’d have more wins and more postseason appearances to his credit, but that’s not really his fault. He did his part. His teammates didn’t. Does anyone think Buehrle is a Hall of Famer? Nah. A Hall of Very Good pitcher through and through, and gosh, it sure is tough to tell him apart from Pettitte, statistically.

For all intents and purposes, Pettitte was a consistently above-average pitcher for a very long time but he was never top of the league and on the short list of the game’s best. Seventeen times in 18 big league seasons Pettitte posted at least a 100 ERA+. Only six times in those 18 seasons did he best a 112 ERA+, however, and in three of those six seasons he made no more than 22 starts. Andy’s career is one of longevity, not top of the game dominance, and you typically need both to land in Cooperstown.

2. His postseason resume doesn’t boost his candidacy much. Five World Series rings is crazy impressive, and Pettitte is the all-time leader in postseason wins (19 — leads by four) and innings (276.2 — leads by 58.1), but his overall postseason body of work was more really good than great. He has a career 3.81 ERA in October, which more or less matches his regular season 3.85 ERA. Pettitte’s had some postseason gems (like this one and this one) but also some postseason stinkers (like this one and this one).

There is definitely something to be said for just how much Pettitte pitched in the postseason. The addition of the LDS round in 1995 and the fact the Yankees were so good for so long allowed Andy to rack up those postseason innings and he did answer the bell. I mean, a 3.81 ERA in 276.2 postseason innings is pretty bonkers. That’s more than an extra season’s worth of innings in his career. So perhaps knocking him for being merely very good and not truly great in October is wrong. It just seems to me there’s not enough October excellence to push Pettitte into Cooperstown.

3. It doesn’t matter that he’s better than someone who’s already in. With the Hall of Fame, it’s very easy to fall into the “well if this guy is in then that guy should be in” trap, and, with Pettitte (and others), the Jack Morris comparisons are inevitable. Pettitte compares very favorably to Morris statistically — he has him beat handily in both versions of WAR (60.7/68.9 to 44.0/55.8) despite throwing roughly 500 fewer innings — so, if Morris is in, Pettitte belongs to be in too, right?

Well, no. That’s the wrong way to look at this. For starters, Morris maxed out his 15 years on the BBWAA Hall of Fame ballot and was not voted into Cooperstown. The Modern Era committee had to vote him in last year. Yeah, he passed, but only because the teacher gave him an extra credit assignment. Secondly, Morris has the highest ERA (3.90) and third lowest ERA+ (105) among full-time pitchers in the Hall of Fame. A case can be made he’s the least accomplished pitcher in Hall of Fame. Morris was great! But this shouldn’t be the standard for induction.

When that’s the sort of comparison that has to be made to get Pettitte into Cooperstown — Andy would have the second highest ERA among Hall of Famers should he get voted in — well, it’s a losing argument. The voters would be doing a disservice to fans and the Hall of Fame by lowering the standards for induction based on a handful of players who probably shouldn’t be in but are in. Morris is one of them. Pettitte would be as well.

* * *

Personally, I don’t get too upset about performance-enhancing drugs, but many voters do, and Pettitte is an admitted human growth hormone user. There is definitely selective outrage with PEDs — generally speaking, we only get outraged when the players we don’t like use them — but some Hall of Fame voters undoubtedly will hold it against Pettitte when the time comes to submit their ballot.

In Pettitte’s case, this wouldn’t be PEDs keeping a surefire Hall of Famer like Roger Clemens or Barry Bonds out of the Cooperstown. Pettitte is more of a borderline candidate. The current (small sample) voting totals make it clear the voting body doesn’t consider him a strong candidate. Even without the PED stuff — lots of people seem willing to gloss over that with Andy anyway — he wouldn’t be a lock for induction. The performance doesn’t make an overwhelming case for Cooperstown.

There’s nothing wrong with being an all-time great Yankee and something short of a Hall of Famer. It doesn’t take away from what Pettitte accomplished and it certainly doesn’t change the way I feel about him or how I felt watching him pitch. Those memories aren’t tarnished. Maybe Pettitte will pull a Morris and get voted into Cooperstown somewhere down the line. If he does, cool. If not, I’ll live. He’s still the greatest Yankees starter I’ve ever seen and a huge part of my formative years as a baseball fan.

Saturday Links: Pettitte, Mock Draft, Jersey Deal, Juiced Balls

May 26, 2018 by Mike Leave a Comment

The Yankees and Angels continue their three-game series later tonight, but not until 7pm ET. Saturday night games are The Worst. Here are some notes to check out before first pitch.

Pettitte to make Old Timers’ Day debut

Andy Pettitte is officially an Old Timer. The Yankees announced the 2018 Old Timers’ Day roster earlier this week and Pettitte is among the first-timers, along with Jason Giambi, Nick Swisher, Dion James, and (of course) Aaron Boone. The usual cast of characters will be in attendance as well. Here is the press release. Old Timers’ Day is Sunday, June 17th, this year.

Pettitte, who turns 46 next month and recently became a grandfather, retired for good following the 2013 season. He will be Hall of Fame eligible for the first time later this year. Mike Mussina has been unable to get over the hump and into Cooperstown, and based on that, I don’t think Pettitte is getting voted in anytime soon. I do think he’ll stay on the ballot for several years though. Going to be fun to see him at Old Timers’ Day.

MLB.com mock draft v5.0

Another week, another mock draft from MLB.com. Jim Callis provided this week’s mock. He has the Tigers selecting Auburn RHP Casey Mize with the No. 1 pick, which should be no surprise if you’ve been following mock drafts these last few weeks. The Yankees hold the 23rd overall pick. Here is Callis’ mock selection for the Bronx Bombers:

23. Yankees: Brice Turang, SS, Santiago HS (Corona, Calif.)
Turang was mentioned as a candidate to go No. 1 overall entering last summer, and while he hasn’t lived up to those expectations, he’s still a talented shortstop in a Draft thin at that position. A variety of high school position players get mentioned with New York, including Adams, Casas, Edwards and outfielder Mike Siani (Pennsylvania).

Here are my write-ups on Turang, Siani, and Triston Casas. Could’ve sworn I wrote one for North Carolina OF Jordyn Adams, but apparently not. Florida HS SS Xavier Edwards is still on my list of draft prospects to profile. Anyway, once again the Yankees are connected to bats. That has been the case all spring. Aside from guys expected to go in the top 5-10 picks, this draft class is light on college bats, so it’s no surprise the Yankees are connected mostly to high school kids. The draft is a week from Monday.

Nike, not Under Armour, to get MLB apparel rights

According to Terry Lefton, Nike is expected to get MLB’s next apparel rights deal, which begins in 2020. Under Armour was getting the deal but is backing out for financial reasons. “They were a different company when they did the deal. It’s just not affordable for Under Armour anymore,” said a source to Lefton. You may remember Under Armour was set to slap their logo on all jerseys, like so:

It’s unclear whether the Nike swoosh will appear in a similar spot going forward. Majestic currently provides MLB apparel and their logo appears on the sleeves of all jerseys except the Yankees. The Yankees were granted an exception. They weren’t getting an exemption from Under Armour. No idea what’s up with the Nike deal.

I’m of the belief it’s only a matter of time until there are advertisements on MLB jerseys — they’re not going to look like NASCAR cars or anything, but I bet we see advertisement patches on sleeves in the near future — and a logo on the chest of jerseys is step one. Well, no, step one was the Majestic logo on jersey sleeves and step two was the New Era logo on the side of caps. A logo featured on the front of jerseys is step three. Jersey ads are coming. Maybe not with the Nike deal, but eventually.

MLB releases study on “juiced ball” study

Earlier this week MLB released the results of a study into the “juiced baseball,” or, in English, they looked at whether changes to the ball led to the uptick in home runs. Here’s a breakdown of the results. The study found the baseball itself has not changed. Everything is within specifications, though, to be fair, those are wide-ranging. From the study:

There is also no evidence that any variations in the ball occur either intentionally or through substandard quality control by Rawlings. If anything, they would be inherent to the manufacturing process, which relies on substantial “by hand” labor.

The committee in charge provided recommendations, which include potentially establishing standards for storage (i.e. a humidor in all parks). Homers are actually down this year — teams are averaging 1.12 homers per game, down from 1.26 last year and 1.16 homer the year before — but they’re still flying out of the park at one of the highest rates in history. I like dingers. Dingers are cool. If MLB does something to reduce dingers, I’ll be bummed, but I’d understand.

The brief moment of doubt for an otherwise undoubted team

February 2, 2018 by Steven Tydings Leave a Comment

The 1998 Yankees were perhaps the most infallible team in baseball history. They went from a 1-4 start to a 61-20 first half and rode that all the way to the best regular season record in franchise history.

But in the postseason, for one brief moment, they were on the brink. They were seemingly the underdogs. They were ripe for the picking.

That’s because as good as the 98 Yankees were, the late 90s Cleveland Indians were a force to be reckoned with, particularly on the offensive side of things. Having appeared in two of the last three World Series, Cleveland was on the verge of a dynasty of its own if the cards broke right and could have very well been known as the American League’s team of the 90s.

Mike already detailed their lineup in his Orlando Hernandez piece, but it’s worth taking a second look. They had in-his-prime Manny Ramirez, who had hit 45 home runs and driven in a ridiculous 145 runs. Future Hall of Famer Jim Thome, who was batting sixth for some reason despite a team-best 152 wRC+. Travis Fryman, David Justice and Mark Whiten provided a veteran backbone to the lineup while Kenny Lofton and Omar Vizquel combined for 91 steals in what was each of their age-31 seasons.

Yet the Yankees jumped ahead of Cleveland in Game 1 as expected and had David Cone on the hill for Game 2. After how well the Yankees hit in the first inning to blitz Jaret Wright, it seemed like the Bombers would have little trouble with a team that finished with 25 fewer wins than them in the regular season.

Yet Game 2 didn’t go according to plan.

***

The Chuck Knoblauch play is what sticks out from the stunning defeat. Future Yankee Enrique Wilson stumbling around third and ending up nearly flat on his face while scoring the winning run, all while Knoblauch (justifiably) protested that Fryman had run in the basepath.

“We were all yelling, ‘Get the ball, get the ball,'” Tino Martinez told Jack Curry. “It’s just one of those plays.”

“If there’s a ball rolling around now, I’m sure nine guys will be running after it,” Paul O’Neill added a day later. “It’s easy to say now. It’s almost comical.”

But it wasn’t just one play that lost the game. No, it was a lackluster offense that did the Yankees in. They stranded six runners in scoring position and only pushed across one run across 12 frames.

Martinez was one of the culprits, putting together just a walk in 10 plate appearances while failing to drive in O’Neill from third in the fourth inning. Knoblauch went hitless in six at-bats and the team was just 7-for-43 against Charles Nagy and six relievers. Welp.

“It’s very frustrating,” Martinez said to Curry. “I feel good, I’m relaxed and, all of a sudden, I’m trying to make things happen that are not there. I’m swinging at 3-2 pitches that are out of the zone. I’m striking out on bad pitches. I’m trying to do too much instead of letting things happen and unfold.”

Still, the team wasn’t about to lose its head after one bad game.

“I think it’s good for us to come back and keep doing what got us here,” Tim Raines said before Game 3. “I don’t think anyone is about to jump ship. We still think we’ve got the best team in the American League. We had opportunities to win that game and we didn’t. No one in here thinks it’s the end of the world.”

***

Game 3 somehow went worse. The Yanks pushed across a run in the first inning and that was it. Just one run once again.

But in this one, it wouldn’t be a pitchers’ duel; The Cleveland offense came alive and showed what got them there.

Andy Pettitte ran into trouble from the start but worked out of it in the first. But five pitches into the second, Thome homered to draw Cleveland even in the second inning before Wilson put them ahead with an RBI single.

Pettitte had performed well enough in the ALDS to earn the start, but this start would look closer to his lackluster August and September in which he combined for 6.13 ERA in 58 2/3 innings.

So it didn’t necessarily surprise when he allowed three home runs, one each to Ramirez, Whiten and Thome, in the fifth inning before he was unceremoniously pulled. The performance had Joe Torre seemingly shaky on Pettitte’s status for a potential Game 7 and likely led to his demotion from Game 3 to Game 4 in the World Series.

On the offensive end, the Yankees had a single walk in 12 plate appearances over the last four innings and even that walk was erased on a Derek Jeter GIDP. Bartolo Colon would close out the four-hitter by striking out Martinez.

“It’s gut-check time,” Cone said to Buster Olney. “It’s a real character test for this team. We need to come out and win tomorrow night and get the ball back to Boomer in Game 5. And we feel good about that.”

***

You know the rest of the story. El Duque begins his legendary postseason career with his dominant Game 4. David Wells outpitched Chad Ogea in Game 5 and the Yankees hit their way to a Game 6 win that was sealed by Jeter (aided by some WTF defense from Manny) and Mariano Rivera.

But as Cone said, the Yankees had a real gut-check moment. They had to overcome a legitimate challenge, one that surely scared fans a bit more after the Yanks blew a 2-1 lead in the 1997 ALDS to the same Indians team. It’s not hard to imagine a scenario where the ’98 Yanks are more ’01 Mariners than ’27 Yankees and the world suffered through a Cleveland-San Diego World Series.

Thankfully, the gut-check moment was passed with flying colors.

Saturday Links: Lefty Reliever, Top 100, Captain’s Camp

January 28, 2017 by Mike Leave a Comment

Only three more weekends without baseball after this one. Spring Training games aren’t that far away! Thank goodness. I am so ready for this offseason to be over. Here are some links to check out today:

Yankees still looking for a cheap lefty reliever

According to Ken Rosenthal, the Yankees remain in the hunt for a left-handed reliever, but only want a player who will take a low base salary or minor league deal. Boone Logan and Jerry Blevins, the two best free agent southpaws, are seeking two-year deals worth at least $12M, says Rosenthal. If they stick to that demand, the Yankees won’t get either. I assume Travis Wood is a non-option too given the low base salary thing.

The Yankees have Tommy Layne, Chasen Shreve, and Richard Bleier as their top middle innings lefty reliever candidates at the moment, and Brian Cashman talked up Joe Mantiply at the town hall last week. “He’s a soft-tossing situational lefty that I know that people were coming up to me saying, you snookered us when you claimed him off waivers,” he said. Would Charlie Furbush take a minor league deal after a shoulder injury sidelined him all of 2016? He might be the best available cheap southpaw.

Five Yankees on ZiPS top 100 prospects

In a companion piece to Keith Law’s top 100 prospects list, Dan Szymborski put together a list of the top 100 prospects according to his ZiPS projection system (sub. req’d). ZiPS is entirely data-driven, so you’ve got to take the projections with a big grain of salt, though I still always like seeing where the scouting reports and stats disagree.

The best prospect in baseball per ZiPS is Braves SS Dansby Swanson, who Law ranked second. Red Sox OF Andrew Benintendi is first on Law’s list and seventh on the ZiPS list. The Yankees had five ZiPS top 100 prospects:

8. SS Gleyber Torres (Law’s rank: 4th)
9. OF Clint Frazier (Law’s rank: 27th)
34. OF Aaron Judge (Law’s rank: 44th)
44. OF Blake Rutherford (Law’s rank: 22nd)
65. 3B Miguel Andujar (Law’s rank: DNR)

RHP James Kaprielian and LHP Justus Sheffield made Law’s list but not the ZiPS list, though ZiPS tends to skew towards position players because they don’t carry as much injury risk. The top nine and 21 of the top 25 prospects in baseball are position players according to ZiPS, so yeah. Interesting to see Andujar a middle of the top 100 guy according to ZiPS. The system likes his low strikeout rate and developing power, it seems.

New Spring Training hats leaked

For the umpteenth straight spring, teams will wear different hats for Spring Training this season. A photo of the new Yankees hat was leaked over at SportsLogos.net and my goodness, it’s hideous:

It should be noted MLB and the Yankees have not officially revealed their new Spring Training hats, so it’s entirely possible that hat is a rejected design or something like that. I can’t. I just can’t anymore. Stop messing with the classic interlocking NY, yo.

Captain’s Camp now underway

Remember yesterday’s mailbag question about Captain’s Camp? Well now we have an update, courtesy of Brendan Kuty. Farm system head Gary Denbo said Captain’s Camp is currently underway and will run from January 18th to February 24th this year. Andy Pettitte, Alfonso Soriano, Alex Rodriguez, and Tino Martinez are among the scheduled guest instructors. Several current Yankees will help out as well once Spring Training beings. Derek Jeter has taken the prospects out to a surprise dinner the last two years and Denbo hopes he does the same this year.

Denbo came up with the idea for Captain’s Camp a few years ago and says the goal is to “develop championship-type complete players for our Major League club.” The Yankees bring in a bunch of prospects for Captain’s Camp and basically teach them how to be professionals, how to be accountable, and help them become the best player they can be. Workouts and drills are part of Captain’s Camp, no doubt, but most of it is geared towards the off-the-field aspects of being a Yankee. They’re the most recognizable brand in sports, which creates unique demands.