The Pinstripe Beat
A Daily Yankee Fan Blog, For Everything New York Yankees.
Texas Showdown
Apr 23rd
The Big Man with a big task tonight.
Tonight the Yankees begin a three game set against the Texas Rangers in Arlington. The game is at 7:05 and can be seen on MY9 locally and ESPN nationally. The Texas Rangers are on a blazing-hot start to the season and own the best record in baseball (13-3). The Texas Rangers offense, besides the Red Sox when they are themselves, is really the only offense in baseball that is a legitimate threat up and down their line-up.
Tonight’s Match up:
CC Sabathia (1-0, 5.59 ERA) Vs. Derek Holland (2-0, 3.10 ERA)
Derek Jeter, SS
Nick Swisher, RF
Robinson Cano, 2B
Alex Rodriguez, 3B
Mark Teixeira, 1B
Curtis Granderson, CF
Andruw Jones, LF
Eduardo Nunez, DH
Chris Stewart, C
Game 16
Apr 23rd
Tonight’s Pitching Match-Up
CC Sabathia- (1-0) 5.59 ERA 1.34 WHIP
Derek Holland- (2-0) 3.10 ERA 0.89 WHIP
The Yankees coming off a “sweep” in Boston look to roll into Texas and take a few games from maybe the best team in baseball. Sabathia coming off a win against the Twins looks to forward that good fortune in Texas tonight. In CC’s last start, he pitched 7.1 innings allowing 3 runs and striking out 7. Hopefully he can shut down this beast of an offense with Josh Hamilton in the middle of it.
NOTES
-
Yankees are 9-6 tied for first in the AL East with Baltimore.
-
Texas is going into tonight’s game as one of the best teams in the league with a 13-3 record, after a controversial win yesterday.
-
Jeter is off to a very hot start with a .382 average, with 4 Homers, and 12 RBI’s.
-
Michael Pineda suffered a set back, and will see a doctor later on today in New York.
Yankees Line Up
1. Derek Jeter SS
2. Nick Swisher RF
3. Robinson Cano 2B
4. Alex Rodriguez 3B
5. Mark Teixeira 1B
6. Curtis Granderson CF
7. Andruw Jones LF
8. Eduardo Nunez DH
9. Chris Stewart C
P: CC Sabathia
This game can be seen locally on YES and also nationally on ESPN
Let’s Go Yanks
Follow me on twitter @chriskayy
Rain Out
Apr 22nd
The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox have been Postponed due to rain. No make up game has been scheduled yet. Sabathia was supposed to pitch tonight, but his start got pushed foward to tomorrow night in Texas against the Rangers.
http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=bos&tcid=mm_mlb_sitelist
2012 Yankees Top 30 Prospects
Mar 7th
With Spring Training finally here and players getting rid of the rust in preparation for the 2012 season, it is the time known as “Prospect Season”. It is that time of year once again where the fans and organizations get to see what their prospects have to offer. This is the time where all the baseball writers, bloggers, and organizations begin to rank all the prospects accordingly.
Last year, the Yankees farm ranked anywhere from #4-#7 on the organizational rankings throughout baseball, pretty good for being near dead-last the past decade. This year they look to continue that as they come into the baseball season with a seemingly strong farm system. Though ranked decently high on the organizational rankings, the bombers farm system took a bit of a hit this past off-season because of the big Michael Pineda/Jesus Montero trade with the Mariners. Jesus Montero was the Yanks star hitting prospect by a decent margin. Although Montero was a big prospect atop the Yankees prospect list, the trade did not knock them that far down. I’d say they currently sit in the #6-#8 spots in the 2012 organizational rankings.
This year here at The Pinstripe Beat we will be putting out our very own Top 30 Prospect List which will include the players name and ranking. The list will be available throughout the season for those who wish to browse through it.
1.) Manny Banuelos – LHSP – 21 YO
2.) Gary Sanchez – C – 19 YO
3. Dellin Betances – RHSP – 24 YO
4.) Mason Williams – OF – 20 YO
5.) Jose Campos – RHSP -19 YO
6.) Austin Romine – C – 23 YO
7.) Slade Heathcott – OF – 21 YO
8.) J.R. Murphy – C – 20 YO
9.) Dante Bichette Jr. – 3B – 19 YO
10.) Tyler Austin – 1B/3B – 20 YO
11.) Ravel Santana – OF – 19 YO
12.) Adam Warren – RHSP – 24 YO
13.) David Phelps – RHSP – 25 YO
14.) Zoilo Almonte – OF – 22 YO
15.) Ramon Flores – OF – 20 YO
16.)D.J. Mitchell – RHRP – 24 YO
17.) Melky Mesa – OF – 21 YO
18.) Brett Marshall – RHSP – 22 YO
19.) Cito Culver – SS – 19 YO
20.) Angelo Gumbs – 2B – 19 YO
21.) Brandon Laird – 3B/1B/LF – 24 YO
22.) Mark Montgomery – RHRP – 21 YO
23.) Nik Turley – LHSP – 22 YO
24.) Graham Stoneburner – RHRP – 24 YO
25.) Corban Joseph – 2B – 23 YO
26.) David Adams – 2B – 24 YO
27.) Greg Bird – C – 19 YO
28.) Dan Camarena – LHSP – 19 YO
29.) Cesar Cabral – LHRP – 23 YO
30.) Chase Whitely – RHRP – 22 YO
-As the season draws closer and we see a little more of the Yankee prospects, we will have more on the “Hot Prospects” and potential “Number Jumpers”.
2012 Preview: Key Factors
Mar 5th
The Major League Baseball Spring Training scene is finally abuzz. After 2+ months of a quiet and dormant off-season, (besides the Pineda/Campos-Montero/Noesi trade and the Kuroda signing), we fans finally have something to get excited about. Baseball is back. The feeling of baseball returning after a cold winter just gets better and better every year. The return of baseball also means the return of spring and summer which means warm weather; I think I speak on behalf of most when I say the warm weather could not get here soon enough.
With the Yankees strengthening their rotation and adding some small complementary bats in Raul Ibanez and Russell Branyan to man the DH spot, the Yankees come into the 2012 season with a seemingly good, strong roster. Though there are many factors that also seem to be essential to the Yankees success in 2012 and beyond. Many of these factors include newly acquired Yankee Michael Pineda and old battery-mates Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter.
The Young Guns: Michael Pineda & Ivan Nova
-When the Yankees had traded for Pineda, many had believed that the Yankees had solidified their rotation and put together a humongous (literally) 1-2 punch in CC Sabathia and Michael Pineda for 2012. The Yankees had achieved that. But what many did not realize is that the Yankees had effectively solidified their rotation for the next few years, something the Yankees have not had success doing in the past. Pineda is extremely young, has lots of time to develop into something special, and will be here in New York for a long time as he is under team control for the next 5 years. With Pineda inserted into the pinstriped rotation, the one essential factor that Pineda needs to do to be successful and help the Yankees is to develop and refine his changeup. We know Pineda’s fastball and slider will be his bread and butter and dial it up for the radar guns but the wild-card is his changeup. Brian Cashman himself has said the most important obstacle for Pineda is working on the changeup, “He has to develop his changeup. It is a below average pitch for him right now. I don’t think there is a No. 1 or 2 starter in the big leagues that you can say is a No. 1 or 2 with two pitches. You can pitch like that for a certain period of time, but to pitch like that for a consistent period of time you need more than one or two pitches,” Cashman said. Pineda’s feel for his changeup and success with the pitch will be a big part of the Yankees success in 2012 and in the near future.
Keep Smiling!
-Ivan Nova had a spectacular campaign in 2011 and was extremely important to the Yankees success and drive to the playoffs last year. With his refinement and development of his slider, Nova has matured and grown into a good talent for the Yankees in the middle/back of the rotation. Although Nova has been a good pitcher for the bombers, he still has some more maturing and developing to go as a pitcher. Nova still needs to continue the development of his slider and show that he can raise his strikeout rate a bit from 5.3 in 2011 and continue to be the effective groundball pitcher that he has shown.
The young tandem of Nova and Pineda will have to prove that they can continue development and shown that they can be a solid core for the Yankees in the rotation not only 2012, but in the near future as well.
The Vets: Alex Rodriguez & Derek Jeter
-Alex Rodriguez has been somewhat of a disappointment these past 3 years because of health. Since 2009, A-rod has missed 126 games (only played in 99 games in 2011) with various injuries such as the hip surgery, a bad thumb, knee surgery, and some shoulder bumps and bruises. Arguably one of the most important factors for the Yankees in 2012 is the health of Alex Rodriguez. Their clean-up hitter. Their 3rd basemen. Their $275 million dollar man. Alex needs to be healthy to be the solid reinforcement for an already great lineup. Alex’s health and ability to stay on the field in 2012 will help alleviate some of the pressure on Cano, Granderson, and Teixeira. With a healthy A-rod, the Yankee lineup is no doubt, (in my mind at least) the best lineup in all of baseball. People need not worry about Alex’s numbers when he is healthy, the talent is absolutely still there and the skills are still there. He has not declined much but people should not expect another 2007 Monstrosity Reign by Alex because that is out of the question and will not be seen from him again, but it may be reasonable to project Alex to have numbers like .280-.290 AVG, 30-35 HRs, 105-115 RBIs. Again, this is all contingent on Rodriguez’s health and ability to stay on the field/be in the lineup. If Alex can stay on the field, it will be a huge plus for the Yankees.
-The Captain started off the year in a bad slump but by the All-Star break he had picked it up and had picked it up with some fire and carried that hot streak to the end of the year. Hopefully Jeter can continue to have that kind of streak to start off the year. Though I don’t expect Jeter to have such a huge start, I do believe that Jeter will have a much better year. The Yankees need Derek to have a better year than last year. Like his battery-mate on the left side of the infield, Derek needs to stay healthy like Alex and be in the lineup whenever he can.
Both A-rod and Jeter, although aging and no longer the core of the team (Cano, Granderson, Teixeira are now the core), are still major contributors to the success of the Yankees. Both Superstars need to remain on the field and be able to keep their health in check, if they succeed in doing so, the numbers will be there for them which in turn, will be essential to the Yankees success. With the additions of Pineda and Kuroda and the rebound/health of Jeter, Alex, and Teixeira, plus other key components, the Yankees look to begin and continue their quest towards championship number 28.
Danks, ChiSox Agree To Extension
Dec 21st
According to MLB Trade Rumors, John Danks and the White Sox have agreed to a 5 year, $65 million extension. Let me start by saying NOOOOO! Danks was a very attractive trade target for the Yanks and now he’s off the market. Now there’s no guarantee the Yankees would have acquired Danks, it’s just that us Yankee fans like to dream. But, this seems like a good deal for the Sox, they keep their good young starter for the long run while they try to regain some “winningness”.
**For those who aren’t aware of John Danks, I analyzed him and broke him down in TPB’s very own “Target Series”, which can be seen here.
Yankees Bid Less Than $20 Million
Dec 20th
Via Andrew Marchand, The Yankees bid for Yu Darvish was supposedly less than $20 million! I’m sort of surprised that they bid so low. I had presumed since Darvish was a much better talent than Kei Igawa (just a comparison for now), they would have bid more then $30 million. I guess they just made a “Due Diligence” bid hoping that he would somehow find his way to the Yankees.
To Be Yu Or Not To Be Yu
Dec 20th
Well, it was nice knowin' Yu!
Well it’s all over folks! Yu Darvish the young ace, phenom from Japan is now either going to be a Texas Ranger or a Nippon Ham Fighter for a year. It was announced last night that the Texas Rangers had won the bidding process with a final bid of $51.7 million. That’s some serious cash to throw down to just negotiate with the guy. Although, my gut feeling is that we are going to see Darvish in a Ranger uniform come Opening Day 2012 because it was subsequently reported that Darvish wanted to be posted so badly that the Nippon Ham Fighters and he had pretty much strained their relationship to the point of no return. Plus, he goes through this whole ordeal just to play another year in Japan when he could be making millions more here in the States? My gut says he’s a Ranger for Opening Day 2012.
As for the Yankees, looking back on all the info we got (accurate info or not) it seemed as though they valued Darvish, but not so much that they wanted to go all out and take out their “Blank Check Book” (something we probably won’t see much more of and rightfully so). Even though we don’t know what the Yankees bid was for Darvish (although it will be known sooner or later) my guess is they bid somewhere in the $35-$40 million range, certainly more than what they bid for Kei Igawa ($33-$34 million) but nothing crazy enough to win the Darvish bidding. In hindsight, even though Darvish was probably the best option out there (I certainly advocated it), It was probably smart not to commit $90+ million on an unknown commodity as much as we might argue for trying to win the bidding, it’s not necessarily a good idea to commit that much long-term as there is too much risk involved with an unknown commodity in Yu (as there is with any player).
Now that the Yu Darvish ordeal is over with, we could see the trade market and the remaining free-agent market (re)heat up with names like Roy Oswalt, Hiroki Kuroda, Edwin Jackson, Gio Gonzalez, John Danks. In my opinion, Roy Oswalt (now reportedly seeking a 1 year deal, perfect for Yanks) could be a fit as well as Hiroki Kuroda (also seeking 1 year deal, again, perfect for Yanks situation as of now). I would start watching the markets on Oswalt and Kuroda as the Yankees are probably in on them as they are the best options left on the free-agent market that suit their needs at the moment.
Rapid Fire Notes
Dec 18th
With the Yu Darvish sweepstakes slowly coming to light and teams eventually knowing who the winner of the posting system is, we find ourselves in a slow and anxious situation with the Yankees. There are still many options available to them but the right feasible ones remain to be seen. Just some quick news and notes to go around.
- Yu Darvish: The young stud pitcher looks like he will be negotiating with the Blue Jays as many reports have seemingly pointed to the Jays as the clear winners of the bidding process. It is reported that the Jays bid close to $48 million, which is a hefty price to pay. It was also reported from either Jon Heyman or Joel Sherman that the Yankees did place a bid but it was a “modest bid” and Jack Curry also reported that the Yanks bid came “with 2 hours left”. I guess we can predict that the Yankees had interest, but not enough to bowl-over the competition with a huge bid. The Yanks most likely thought that Darvish was a nice piece to have under the Christmas tree but, he’s still an unproven commodity over here in the MLB and putting up all that money could be a risk that they weren’t willing to take. They probably put in a bid as a “due diligence” bid.
- Hiroki Kuroda: Kuroda is probably, right now, the best option for the Yankees as he is only looking for a 1 year deal (perfect for the Yankees) and around $12-$14 million. At this point for the Yanks, 1 year deals are ideal as they are planning for next years free-agent class so they can go nuts and sign many pitchers. Back to Kuroda, Kuroda is a good pitcher who gets many groundballs and has a decent strikeout rate. Kuroda is the perfect short-term rental that can produce for the Bombers as there aren’t many good options that are worth their while.
- Gio Gonzalez/John Danks: Now that the top free-agent pitchers have signed and the market has cooled just a bit, the prices for pitchers like John Danks and Gio Gonzalez may come down a bit. The A’s were asking for 2 of Manny Banuelos, Jesus Montero, Dellin Betances. That is not happening on Cashman’s watch but the prices may come down. If the A’s will settle for one of the top prospects, maybe Betances, then I think Cashman may be able to pull that trigger on a deal. As for Danks, he is the most likely to be traded out of the 2 I mentioned. He would be cheaper than Gio because he only has 1 more year of team control before he is a free-agent hence the lower cost in terms of prospects. Now with Yu Darvish (presumably) negotiating with the Blue Jays (hazarding a guess here), I think we may see the trade market for pitching heat up again and maybe be more exciting than a couple weeks ago because of lowered prices. Hopefully the Yanks can upgrade the rotation at a reasonable price, just don’t overpay!
- Nakajima sign-and-trade: With the Yanks winning the posting process for Nakajima, there have been talks of a sign-and-trade because Nakajima has a strong preference for the West Coast. I could see it happening but Nakajima would only be a throw-in for maybe a bigger package as he is an average/bench shortstop. We’ve heard that the Cubs and Giants like him, but I dont think they even sign the guy to be honest, he’ll just go back to Japan but we’ll see.
- Administrative Stuff: Here at TPB, as I’ve stated before, we are going to have our annual predictions post/page up regarding who we believe will be the award winners, division winners, and playoff winners this coming year so look out for that. We also will be looking into and experimenting with a radio show to make Yankee fans experience here at TPB a better one. Again we are experimenting and hopefully it goes well!
Patience, Yu, Cashman, Notes
Dec 11th
(Apologies for no posts in a while, been busy for the past week or two.)
–As we’ve sat at the edge of our chairs for the Winter Meetings, which have come and gone with no real meaningful news about Yankee acquisitions or Yankee moves, we wonder if it really is going to be another quiet off-season like Brian Cashman has stated time and time again. With many rumors having already been dispelled such as the Gio Gonzalez rumors, the “Nunez/Gardner for Jair Jurrjens” talk, and the John Danks trade-musings, we find the off-season to be rather dull. Although rightfully so, this off-season is rather boring because despite the Yankees’ and Yankees’ fans lust for pitching, there isn’t much that this team needs to improve on. As is, this team is a 90-94 win team and all things considered, that is very good considering we have an ace and a few question marks in the rotation and one of the best offenses in baseball. With many young guns in the minors getting seasoned for the MLB, maybe it would be smart for the Yankees long-term to only push all-in for a proven #1/#2 as they need to begin to develop impactful pitching from within. Though I believe the Yankees have a masterful plan that they are putting in action as we speak. With next years free-agent class loaded with talent that hopefully hits the market (barring the players signing extensions/new contracts) the Yankees may push all in for guys like Cole Hamels, John Danks, or Matt Cain. Only time will tell but…….a rotation with CC, Hamels, Danks, ManBan makes me salivate just thinking about it!
–Although Yankee fans have had a rough off-season so far in terms of roster moves and free-agent signings/trades, the Yankees and Yankee fans did get some great news this past week as Japanese ace, Yu Darvish, has been posted and the bidding process has begun. This is great news for the Yankees. Of all the off-season targets the Yankees may look at for pitching, Darvish is by far the best option in terms of cost. For anybody that does not know about the posting system and how it works, it’s basically a blind auction where a bidding team is bidding in the dark where they have no idea who else is bidding and for how much. The bidding team must make judgments based on performance and worth to set a bid that they think will win them an exclusive negotiating window to sign Yu. With the process having been started a couple of days ago, we should know who won the bidding as it should be announced by the Nippon Ham Fighters sometime next week. Again, Yu is the best option for the Yankees as he wont cost any prospects, and best of all, the bid they place will not count towards the luxury tax threshold. Only the contract that the Yankees may reach with Yu will count towards the luxury tax (if they win and if they sign him). Plus, Darvish isnt expected to make a fortune here in the U.S. There is some speculation he could get a 4-6 year deal for maybe $9-$14 million per year which isn’t bad.
Judging by the scouts and his numbers over in Japan (he hasn’t had an ERA over 2 since 2007!), Yu is a real ace and is only 25! Others who claim that he won’t succeed because other guys have failed over here is completely BS. One, those guys (Kei Igawa, Dice-K) were not projected to be aces or as good as Darvish is. At worst Darvish could be a decent #3/#4. Two, I believe Darvish will be able to handle the cultural adjustment as he is a huge baseball star in Japan. He is all over the sports media in Japan so I think he will be able to make the necessary adjustment with no significant problem. I also think Yu is the one to go after as he is a long-term option too, as I stated he is only 25 years old. Despite what you may here in the media of what Cashman says, he only says he is not interested or is incapable of spending money that fashion because he is downplaying the Yankees interest and by doing this, it works in the Yankees advantage in terms of the blind posting system. Cashman should be all over Yu and I wouldn’t be surprised if they bowl over the competition with an astronomical bid like $50-$65 million. Hey Cashman, Yu should be all over Yu! 
–Whatever happens for the Yankees, I just hope they continue this idea of patience. No more overpaying, no more paying a “Yankee Price”. Only pay what the Yankees feel is the right price and don’t throw away young talent where it is not warranted. The Yankees have some top-notch talent in the minors that are almost ready to be contributors for the big league club. Many of the kids have the talent to be impact guys on the Yankees. These kids are talented and are good, don’t let that talent go to waste in a bad trade or a bad deal……and especially not in the bullpen a la Joba!
*Note*– Sometime within the next couple of weeks here at TPB, we will have a new “Prediction Tab” where my fellow writers and I will be putting our sucky predictions on paper as we’ve traditionally done for fun.