Former Yankees: The Pitchers

The Yankees had 10 different pitchers who were with the team in 2010 and are now elsewhere. The Reason I did Chan Ho Park separate was because he is actually the only one who was released during the season. 9 other pitchers spent time in the rotation, bullpen or both.

The man with the name Jonathan Albaladejo, he was the closer in AAA Scranton last year and his numbers were phenomenal with a 1.42 ERA and 43 saves. However with the Yankees Albaladejo was unimpressive sporting a 3.97 ERA in 11.1 innings, which is especially annoying considering that we traded Tyler Clippard for this guy and he has been good with the Nationals since being moved to the bullpen. Granted Albaladejo had been good with the Nats before coming to the Yankees and the AL east is a different beast. Albaladejo asked to be released after the season so that he could sign with the Yomiuri Giants, The Yankees received some type of compensation for Albaladejo and he just got his first win in Japan after failing to earn the closers job for the Giants. I expect that he could be back in the majors next year and i was a little surprised he had no trade interest as some bullpens could really use him and hope to catch his AAA magic in an easier division.

The man with the Name

Another former Pitcher who likely wont have much of an impact this year is LHP Royce Ring. He only pitched 2.1 innings with the bombers and was awful giving up 4 runs. The former first round pick has had a disappointing MLB career spending only 1 full year in the majors where he was beyond bad with a 8.46 ERA in 42 appearances. His only positive is a good HR/9 rate, but its amazing what being a lefty will do for you. He's not on the Seattle 40 man, but his good AAA numbers means the 30 year old could earn another cup of coffee with a MLB team.






 Javier Vazquez: There is a lot to say about Vazquez and I don't want to say it all. We traded two top pitching prospects in Michael Dunn and Arodys Vizcaino, as well as fan favorite OF Melky Cabrera for Vazquez. Vazquez had a sub 3 ERA in 2009, but the Yankees only needed him to repeat his numbes with the White Sox which was of a mid rotation innings eater with a lot of strike outs. The Yankees hoped that Vazquez could serve the team until some of their pitching prospects developed in the next few years, that didn't happen and the Yankees lost some real good pieces in that trade. Vazquez signed a 1 year $7 million deal with the Marlins who thought he would bounce back with a return to the NL. That proved to be untrue so far until his most recent start where he 3 hit the Rays through 7 innings. His fast ball has remained bad and will have to wait and see how this year turns out for him.

We saw the Javy sad face a lot

 Mark Melancon was a prospect who was viewed highly and as a future key man out of the Bullpen perhaps even the successor to Mariano. He only pitched 20.1 innings with the Bombers before he was traded to the Astros for Lance Berkman. Many people have decried this trade especially since he was good with the Astros last year and this year he has really been the only good one in their bullpen and is now closing for Houston. Again hard to know if he would ever have been sucessful as a Bomber, but we wont have to face him very often to find out if we regret this trade.Best of luck to you in Houston Mark.

Chad Gaudin was a Yankee who was brought in as a Starter in 2009, where we won every game he pitched. He competed for the 5th starter job in 2010 spring training, didnt make it and was cut and signed by the A's. When he was cut by the A's we brought him in as our Lets just get this over with guy. He boasted a 4.5 ERA through 48 innings and his biggest contribution was a very attractive girlfriend and now wife by the name of Syndal Gordan. My girlfriend informed me that their wedding and dress picking out was on TLC. After the season he was cut and signed with the Nationals where he was mediocre before going on the DL with Shoulder trouble and he could be out for awhile.

His wife is literally the first thing that comes up when you google him

Segio Mitre, the experience if you will, was traded in spring training for Chris Dickerson. The Brewers needed another bullpen arm espchily a long reliver/spot starter as Greinke was on the DL and Chris Dickerson has the potential to be a decent all around backup and is a better backup lefty bat option than Colin Curtis, i wrote about this trade here. The Yankees didn't need Mitre and getting Dickerson was a steal because they probably would have just released him if not for the trade. Mitre posted a career year in 2010 with a decent 3.33 ERA, but no wins and fans did not like "the experience" despite a good job as the long man in 2010. Mitre has been very good with the Brewers posting a sub 2 ERA in 21 inning of work so far and while that is likely not where he will finish the year he will likely be more appreciated in Milwaukee than he was in New York.

Kerry Wood has had a very interesting career formerly being one of the top starters in baseball before burning out his arm. He then moved to the bullpen where he was very effective and signed a two year deal with the Indians before the 2009 season. He struggle in Cleveland and was traded to New York where he posted an unreal 0.69 ERA in 26 innings. The Yankees declined his $11 Million option for 2011 but were reportedly still considering him before he turned down more money to sign a 1 year $1.5 Million deal to return to the Cubs. He has been pretty good with the Cubs so far posting a 2.41 ERA. Wood apparently really wanted to resign with the Cubs, but in retrospect picking up his option may have been a good idea as Carl Pavano 2.0 aka Rafiel Soriano is being paid $35 million over 3 year and may need season ending elbow surgery. The Yankees will definitely miss Wood this season and all genitalia related jokes that now cannot be said while watching the Yankees (however we do have Dickerson).

Wood is missed

Dustin Mosely began the season with AAA Scranton after spending parts of each of the last 4 years with the Angels. He took Pettitte's spot in the rotation after looking better than Mitre and was overall mediocre in the rotation and poor in the bullpen. He was non tendered after the season and signed with the Padres. He became something of note for going winless in his first 5 starts despite a sub 2 ERA. however his most recent starts have been mediocre to bad, but his most recent on May 23rd was again good but no run support. Some may show this as the Yankees missing out but we saw what he did in the AL East and I don't miss him.

Do you have to grow a beard when you stop being a Yankee?

The Reason we don't still have Alfredo Aceves is a mystery to me. I know he missed almost the entire 2010 season because of his back and that he got into a motor cycle accident during the off-season, but the guy still had minor league options, was versatile as he could start or relive very well. On top of that he is only 28 and if we got something for Mitre we definitely could have got a return on Aceves. The worst part is that Aceves signed a deal with the Red Sox and has been good for them this year. I talked about it before he signed here and I am still upset about this as I would really really like to have Ace back right now. Of all the people that we lost/dealt Ace is the only one I just do not understand, Brain Cashman said that the Yankees Doctors thought his back would continue to be an issue, but seriously why non tender a guy with a 14-1 record and minor league options.

Apparently it is a rule. You are missed Ace