The Yankees likely September Callups

MLB Rosters expand on September 1st and the Yankees will likely call up a group of players on that day and then another group when the AAA season ends on September 5th because the Scranton Yankees will not make the post season and neither will the AA Trenton Thunder.  On Septemeber 1st you will see the following guys get called up.
OF Greg Golson
OF Chris Dickerson
RHP Lance Pendelton
LHP Aaron Laffey
C/DH Jesus Montero
These are guys that we are all familiar with. Golson and Dickerson both are extra outfielders who can pinch run and will come in to games as defensive replacements. Golson is a little better runner and a great defensive player. Dickerson is more experienced, a better hitter and is a left handed bat so he's going to get the most playing time of the two. Pants Lendelton had a a fabulous debut on Jackie Robinson day but is nothing more than an innings eater in unimportant innings. He hasn't been walking guys like crazy in the minors like he was with the Yankees but the Yankees may not even have him keep his 40 man spot this off-season. There have been some conflicting reports on if Laffey was sent down or DFA but he is still showing up on the Yankees 40 man so I assume he will come up as soon as rosters expand and the Yankees will have another lefty in the pen. The only reason Golson could not get a call up is if he has not spent enough time with the Yankees this year to burn a minor league option and then they will probably save that option for next year. Montero should come up when rosters expand but he needs to be added to the 40 man first and Gustavo Molina was recently DFA so a spot is available. If Jeter and A-Rod are out of the lineup on September 1st then Montero could get the DH start against the Red Sox and make his home debut the next day against the Blue Jays. If I had to guess I think he will make his catching debut with Bartolo Colon because its just Fastball every time.

These guys should come up when the minor league season is over.
3rd/1st Brandon Laird
RHP Kevin Whelan
RHP Andrew Brackman
LHP Steve Garrison
LHP Raul Valdez
Some may be surprised that Brackman is getting the call up but since he reverted his mechanics he has been significantly better and the Yankees will try and get as much out of him as possible considering his major league contract. We got a look at all the other guys here which is why they will finish out the season in the minors. Whelan and Garrison will be extra arms in the bullpen with Garrison getting blowout duty. Whelan has been very good as the Scranton Yankees closer and is hoping to make a better impression than his .2 innings with 4 walks debut against Cleveland. Valdez was claimed off waivers from the cardinals and could be used as a LOOGY, but he is currently in Trenton and could be used to help the Scranton Yankees finish out the year before coming up on the 5th. Laird could get called up on September 1st with A-Rod soar, but its not necessary and I seriously doubt he would help the club at all in the 4 days between September 1st and the end of the Scranton season. Laird will likely see some time at 3rd and possibly LF late in September.
Some of You may be wondering why Hector Noesi will not be called up on September 1st but because he was sent down today 8/29 he will need to wait 10 days before coming back. Other notable exceptions are Ryan Pope, Manny Banuelos and Dellin Betances. Betances and Banuelos will likely travel with the team but I doubt that either will make their debut this September, as for Ryan Pope he is unlikely to keep his 40 man spot this off season as he was very poor at Scranton this year and overall the 2007 3rd round pick has been disappointing.
Most Important about the September call ups is that we will see Jesus Montero make his Yankee debut and we will finally see if he can handle catching in the majors. Honestly I think that his bat is so good that his defense wont matter but he can fake it for the next few years until he can move to 1st base or DH.

Breaking down the MVP Race

Could he be the 2011 AL MVP?

If you watched last nights game then you heard Michael Kay spending a lot of time talking about Curtis Granderson and the MVP race. I don't think that he's correct in saying that if he gets his BA to .290 then he will definitely win in, but Granderson is definitely a top MVP candidate. The Five candidates for MVP are Jose Bautisa, Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, Adrian Gonzalez and Curtis Granderson. Honestly every stat screams that Bautisa should win the MVP but for some reason the fact that he is on a non contending team, even though they are above .500 prevents people from voting for him, that is why A-Rod didn't win the 2002 MVP award and it could be why Joey Bats doesn't get an MVP trophy for his mantle.
Joey Bats has a 7.6 WAR and while he likely won't have another 50 HR season he is more than likely to get 40 HR this season and if starts hitting like he did in the first half he may still win the batting title. His numbers would actually be even better if their was anyone else in the Toronto lineup that scared opposing pitchers, which speaks to his 120 walks in 113 games. If Toronto had a better lineup then he would probably have a shot at the triple crown but its doubtful he will even get 100 RBI this year. Its really unfair that Bautisa is not running away with the MVP award  because he deserves it. Its very frustrating for Blue Jays Fans as some over a Blue Bird Banter wrote about. Its funny too because The Blue Jays have the capacity to turn into a true sustainable power house team, because don't forget Toronto is a big city with an ownership group with deep pockets. Mike Axis from River Ave Blues wrote more about the Blue Jays here.
I'm just going to lump Pedroia, Ellsbury and Gonzalez together because they are all the reason why they might not win the MVP. Pedria ranks #2 in WAR this year and according to ESPN talking heads he is the greatest player ever because he plays with his heart on his sleeve and has cured cancer with his smile. Honestly seeing how much the ESPN and FOX people fawn over him is disgusting, if you remember from the Yankees Red Sox series they would not shut up about how great Pedroia even after he got caught stealing. Pedroia is having a great year and despite Cano deserving it more he will probably win the 2nd Base Silver slugger. Pedroia's case is hurt by the fact that Jacoby Ellsbury is hitting the ball well, playing good defense and showing some uncharacteristic pop. Adrian Gonzalez is the guy that everybody thought would win the MVP and while he looks like he is going to win the batting title he has only hit two Home Runs since June 25th and both of those were in July, I mean this guy hit 40 HR in 2009 at Petco park, where is the power?  These three guys could draw MVP votes away from each other and make it that none of them win.
Curtis Granderson is the Yankees MVP Candidate and he is having a career year and is proving all those people who felt that the Yankees should have kept Austin Jackson dead wrong. He leads baseball in Runs Scored and tied with Ryan Howard for RBI's. He also has a good shot of going 40-40 and his average is creeping up and .300 is within reach. What is really weird is that he was intentionally walked 3 times last year and hasn't been intentionally walked once this year. Honestly the only thing that is not fantastic about his year is that he has grounded into 11 Double plays which while not a large amount is as many as he had the previous 3 years. He is really heating up to because after hitting .250 in July and June he has hit .369 in august and .359 over the last 28 days.

Right now Bautisa deserves the MVP but Pedroia would probably win his second undeserved MVP award if the voting happened today. however it should be noted that Pedroia, Gonzalez and Ellsbury have all been hitting .250 or lower the last week or two and while that's a small sample size Granderson and Bautisa have been hitting the cover off the ball the last two weeks with Granderson hitting 6 HR and batting .375 over his last 11 games. The MVP voting might see a very close winner with these five splitting the most MVP votes and possibly Zobrist and Miguel Cabrera stealing some top votes. We also still have a lot of baseball left to play.

Dellin Betances: A Frustrated Killer B

From Nalbone

At this point, Betances can only look forward to the Arizona Fall League in October.
Since appearing in the Double-A All-Star Game last month in New Hampshire, Betances is 0-3 with a 6.75 ERA and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 23-14.
Over his last 10 starts dating back to June 15, the Yankees’ top preseason pitching prospect, according to Baseball America, is 1-5 with a 5.55 ERA.

Although legitimately thrilled for his good friend Banuelos, Betances expressed frustration with himself, his surprisingly lackluster season and, at times, with the Yankees’ developmental plan for him during a surprisingly candid interview last week with select reporters, including Mike Ashmore of the Hunterdon County Democrat.

“It (stinks) not being able to pitch good, to be honest,’’ Betances said. “It’s frustrating because you know that if I’m throwing as hard as I am, I should be able to pitch better. I have the confidence in myself to bounce back and finish strong … at least for this year.”

When asked if the Yankees were allowing him to use all of his pitches, Betances said:

“No, right now I feel like I could do whatever I want. I just haven’t got the chance to do it. ’’

Another touchy subject with the 6-foot-8, Brooklyn-educated Betances has been his limited innings, but it is difficult to blame the notoriously cautious Yankees for his inability to reach 100 innings with less a month remaining in the regular season.

Because of his 4.9 walks per nine innings, Betances has been maddeningly inefficient and is averaging less than five innings per start.

“I think now they’re going to let me go,’’ Betances said. “I mean, I would love to go seven innings. I haven’t gone seven innings since Charleston (in 2008) just because they haven’t given me the chance. I’ve had games this year where I could have gone longer than six, but they have something going now and it’s getting to the last month.’’

In his only start following that interview, Sunday in Altoona, Betances again was capped at five innings.

Even if he averages nine innings over his final five (scheduled) regular season starts, Betances will not reach the organization’s preseason goal of 150.

...

“They feel like they have a limit of innings for me,’’ Betances said. “Now that it’s getting into August, the goal is 150 and I’m not even at 100 now. So, it’s one of those things where they probably want to let me go and see if I can get to 130-150 by the end of the year.”

 _______
Betances stats have actually looked better than Banuelsos through this year with their official stats line reading:
Betances is 4-6 with a 3.57 ERA and 54 walks in 98 1/3 innings.
Banuelos was 4-5 with a 3.59 ERA and 52 walks in 95 1/3 innings in AA before his promotion.
I feel for Betances, but if he had pitched better then he would be closer to his 150 innings goal that the Yankees set for him. That being said I feel that the Yankees have not managed high ceiling players like Betances well. Ivan Nova was never a top prospect for the Yankees and he was never tweaked with or capped like High ceiling players like Hughes. Nova has a 3.86 ERA in 2011 as of his 8/10/2011 and is probably their number four pitcher in the playoffs this year. Holding Betances back is the safe approach but their caution may be holding him back from his potential. This is however based on my idea that the innings pitched of a pitching prospect are the most important statistic for someone to build in the minors, especially the pre AAA minors. A lot of fans were hoping that the Killer B's would have done better this year than they have but I think all three of them will be in AAA Scranton next year.

The Yankees and Red Sox Rivalry In Connecticut

Despite being born in New jersey I have lived in Connecticut since I was five and I hope to live here once I finish my graduate degree. Living in Connecticut I have learned several things, people from outside the northeast think everyone from New England speaks with a Boston accent and people seem to think that everybody from New England supports only Boston sports teams, despite Connecticut also being part of Metropolitian New York (ok so only really fairfield county is). Connecticut is a lot more in the middle than people seem to think, which is odd seeing how we are the state that everybody drives through to get from Boston to New York or vica versa. Connecticut even perplexes our fellow New Englander's, almost my entire family now lives in New England and they support all the Boston sports teams and have often asked my brother and I why we like the Yankees. The answer is not a simple one as I have no idea what made me be a Yankees fan, but my brother insists that its because he supported the Yankees and that's why I did. The answer is actually a lot simpler than even I thought, when you grow up in Connecticut the rivalry gets really intense so much so that you essentially have to take a side which is especially true when your a kid and when I was in middle school the 2003 and 2004 ALCS's occurred. For the most part it was a friendly rivalry with a lot of smack talk but I believe there may have been a fight or two. I really followed Hockey and Football a lot more than baseball at that point but I did have a Hideki Matsui jersey but you really start to become a lot more attached to a team when people are smack talking that much. And lets be clear I'm talking about Nutmeger  Connecticut not fairfield county which is more New York than Connecticut. Every bar in Connecticut has to cater to all fans because even the bar owner may have divided loyalty, there's one bar here that has Red Sox and Jets stuff on the walls with a Patriots light on the window and Yankees tall glasses. Its impossible to find a bar that doesn't try and cater to everybody and the only pure Yankees place I know of near where I live is my barber. Its something that really bugs me when people like Joe Buck think that Boston represents all of New England, its the BOSTON Red Sox. It probably wouldn't annoy me if I didn't live in New England but there is a reason that a direct line runs from New Haven to Yankee stadium. The oddity of Connecticut will continue to be something that only we who cannot buy alcohol after 8pm or Sundays will understand, as I am just as much of a divided loyalty Nutmeger who is both a Die Hard Yankees Fan and Die Hard New England Patriots Fan. The Hartford Courant wrote a piece about a poll about the rivalry which you can check out here. They are right the rivalry is probably more intense here than anywhere else, there was a stabbing last year.

The Yankees minor league assets

The Yankees stayed put at the trade deadline and overall the only real trade they made this year was when they traded Sergio Mitre for Chris Dickerson, only to reacquire Mitre in June and then put him on the 60-day DL after four appearances. Every other transaction the Yankees have made has been signing guys to minor league deals or claiming players off waivers.
With the injury to Pedro Feliciano in the spring most people thought that the Yankees would try and acquire a lefty reliever to supplement Boone Logan and they did sign J.C Romero and Randy Flores but neither has been particularly great in Scranton. Flores has been better against right handers than lefties, today he faced two lefties and gave up a hit and a home run and then retired the next three right handed batters. Romero had been better but he did just give up 3 runs in .2 innings on the 29th. If Romero doesn't get called up this week to face the Red Sox then I don't think he will play with the Yankees this year and definitely not  if Marte can pitch in September. There is also the chance that Manny Banuelos could contribute in September when Cashman didn't rule out the possibility.
(Update 10:01pm Randy Flores will be released)
Cashman also mentioned that he has confidence in Adam Warren and David Phelps to start if they have to. Banuelos and Betances are not likely options to start in the MLB this year because of that confidence and Betances isnt even officially in AAA yet.. We did not get a good look at Kevin Whelan when he was called up but we will probably get another look in September as well as Lance Pendelton both of whom have pitched well in Scranton this year. There is also a chance we could get to see University of Connecticut alumni Tim Norton who despite good numbers has been held back by injury, but we will likely not see Mark Prior pitch in pinstripes because he is nowhere near where he needs to be to be MLB ready again.
As I have said in previous posts the Yankees have a lot of depth in the outfield not just in AAA Scranton, but in Trenton Melky Mesa could probably be thrown into the MLB now because his defense is that good, but that would only be in case of an extreme emergency. Weve seen Golson and Dickerson this year, even with injuries to Colin Curtis and Justin Maxwell the Yankees still have another option in Jordan Parraz who is hitting very well and since Golson and Dickerson will both be out of options he will likely be added to the 40 man next year and make his debut in 2012. The Yankees also have Brandon Laird and Kevin Russo both of whom can play the outfield but are primarily infielders.
Speaking of infield the Yankees have good depth there with the aforementioned Russo and Laird with Ramiro Pena currently injured. The Scranton Yankees also have Mike Lamb and Jorge Vazquez both of whom can play 1st or 3rd, and aren't prospects. In Trenton the thunder have Robert Lyerly and  Corban Joseph, but they are still a ways away and Joseph is likely trade bait due to Robinson Cano. In terms of catching the Yankees have Jesus Montero who will likely make his MLB debut this week as well as Austin Romine who will likely be promoted to AAA with a Montero promotion. They also have J.R Murphey who has shown the Yankee brass that he can stay at catcher and they like his bat and of course Gary Sanchez, but those guys are a ways away from the MLB.
The Yankees have depth that other teams pray for right now and the Yankees know it which is why they felt that they didn't need to make a move this trade deadline. That depth also means that they can make a move for a starting pitcher this off season if a top of the rotation starter becomes available.

What to do with the bench Outfield spot.

The Yankees started this year their only backup Outfielder being Andruw Jones who despite his 6 Home Runs is hitting a dismal .204 in 98 AB. I wrote about Jones in an earlier post, obviously Jones hasn't been the Lefty smasher than Thames was last year and has only hit .240 against Lefties this year. As I said in my earlier post despite his poor numbers Jones is a useful bench bat because he is a right handed with some pop and can play the field well and so he was the only backup outfielder that they needed. Last year the Yankees started with Marucs Thames and Randy Winn but Winn was DFA in May and the Yankees used a combination of several AAA outfielders. This year the Yankees decided to mess up my post about the 5th Outfielder by not having a 5th Outfielder and their primary AAA Outfielder is Chris Dickerson who has the most major league experience. Even with injuries to Justin Maxwell and Colin Curtis the Yankees have good outfield depth but none with any real offensive ability. Jones hasn't really been needed this year because both Gardner and Granderson have been hitting lefties well and despite his early struggles Swisher has been solid. The problem with a guy being a good bench bat is that if he is a good enough bench bat then somebody will give him a starting job and even Andruw Jones could sign with a team that gives him more playing time. Next year the Yankees will likely do without a full time DH and will probably use a rotating DH and one or more Veteran bench bats who can DH and play the field. They could look to retain Jones and Chavez next year or they could try and acquire a new fourth outfielder this year or during the coming off-season. However Jones will likely be the Yankees only real option for this year as I doubt that the Yankees can pick up anybody on waivers and with their lack of action on the trade market I assume that they are okay with Jones. If Jones goes into a prolonged slump the Yankees could always call up Marcus Thames, but more likely they would simply give Montero more time at DH and use either Jones, Golson or Dickerson in the outfield occasionally. If Jones can keep playing decently well the Yankees will probably try and keep him for next year, but like I said he could end up on a team where he would get more playing time.