A True Yankee bids sayonara to Hideki Matsui

Godzilla Swag

Hideki Matsui has retired according to Daigo Fujikawa. Godzilla  will make the announcement at a press conference in New York, where he still lived. He last played for the Rays this past season and with Oakland and Anaheim since leaving the Yankees after his stellar 2009 World series. Matsui hit .292/.370/.482 (124 wRC+) with 140 total homers in pinstripes, and his best season came back in 2004, when he produced a .298/.390/.522 (140 wRC+) line with 31 homers. He started his Yankee career in 2003 with a Grand Slam in his Yankee stadium debut (video!) and of course ended it by destroying Pedro Martinez in game 6 of the 2009 world series, earning the world series MVP honers.

As most of us know Matsui was an extremely reliable player, ending his consecutive games played streak of 538 games played only by breaking his wrist while sliding in the outfield for a ball in 2006. Hideki was without a doubt a reliable player in the postseason as well, batting  .312/.391/.541 (143 wRC+) in the postseason.  This is on top of the fact that Matsui was Huge in Japan and before he came to the big apple, he had hit 54 Home Runs and won his third Japan Series Championship  and League MVP with the Yomiuri Giants.
Matsui was my all time favorite player since he came over from a Japan, I have a Matsui shirt that I have had since 2004 and a Matsui Jersey sitting in my closet. I do not know if I will ever be a bigger fan of another Yankee player than I was of Matsui and I will always resent that fact that the Yankees did not bring him back in 2010, especially since Nick Johnson busted so bad.

Matsui was a great Yankee.  He will go down in history as an excellent teammate, a great person and a True Yankee.

Tragedy in Connecticut

I need to write this, but at the same time I know that I cannot really sum up my feelings about this because it hits close to home. Obviously I live in Connecticut, less obviously I am a teacher so this hits really close for me. I was in class, 6th graders, when the reports first started coming in and at the time none of the teachers really knew what was going on, but as the day went on more information started coming in and the picture began to emerge of just how horrific this was. By the end of the day I was in the library and all the teachers were talking to each other about any news that was coming in and at the same time we were trying to keep the students from finding out, so they did not start to panic.
I didn't know anybody directly who was affected by this, but I spent a lot of time trying to figure out if I knew anybody who was teaching there and thankfully I did not. Its Sunday now and I have to think about what the students will be like when I come in. Will they be scared, will they be upset or will they just push it out of their minds and pretend it didn't happen.
Obviously baseball cannot pay tribute to the victims, but highlighting the diversity of Connecticut in sports terms, all six sports teams in action between Boston and New York have or will pay tribute to the victims and the president will speak in Newtown today. Nothing can be said to bring these 26 people back and I do not know if we will ever know exactly why Adam Lanza killed these people, all we can really do is remember those who were killed.

Yankees sign Youk

Kevin Youkilis will be the opening day third baseman for the New York Yankees after agreeing to a 1 year $12 million deal. After Chavez and Reynolds signed, Youk was really the only option and his right handed bat will balance out the lineup nicely. This signing is perfect for the Yankees as its 1 year, Right handed power bat and third baseman. That being said I am personally going to come out and say that I do not like Kevin Youkilis and I still don't like him. I always thought Youk was overrated and to be quite frank he is, but as I said he fits the Yankees need and gives David Adams some time in AAA. Next up, Ichiro.

Lamenting the loss of Russell Martin

 

Well the Yankees lost out on Russell Martin to the Pittsburgh Pirates. First off lets have that sink in, the Pittsburgh Pirates outbid the New York Yankees for the best free agent catcher on the market. The worst part is that Martin gave the Yankees the chance to match the offer of 2 years $17 million and they said that they did not have the money.
Without a doubt Catcher is the most difficult position to play in baseball and if the season started today they would need to rely on a combination of Austin Romine, Chris Stewart and Francisco Cervelli. Obviously Romine has potential but he has only had a limited time in AAA, after missing most of last year with a back injury. Also the Yankees pitching staff the last two years has been great, thanks in no small part to Martin being behind the plate. Martins defense is often undervalued by Yankees fans but his receiving skills and play calling are extremely important to making this pitching staff as good as it has been. Without Martin the Yankees will see a noticeable drop off from catcher defense, not to mention the loss of his offense, as the only current regular right handed bat in the lineup is A-Rod. Say what you want about his batting average but Martin hit 40 home runs in his two years as a Yankee and the balance he helped provide to the lineup cannot be undervalued. Last year the Yankees had four lineup regulars that could bat right handed in Swisher, Tex, Martin and ARod and now they will likely only have two. Those four guys hit 87 Home Runs last season and 45 of those are leaving with Swisher and Martin and its extremely unlikely that the Yankees will be able to make them up with whomever they have to replace those two. The fact that the Yankees refuses to pony up the extra $5-6 million is really going to cost them, especially with him poor the catching market is right now.

Yankees re-sign Hiroki Kuroda

Well the Yankees are bringing back Hiroki Kuroda for another year. The report is that its for $15 million, which is just perfect for Kuroda, he also has several incentives that can add up to $1 million. Now we turn to see if Pettitte will return as he said he would make his decision soon and I would expect he will get a similar deal to Kuroda which would solidify the top of the rotation.

What to do with Eduardo Nunez

This could end badly

 Last season Nunez came in as the backup infielder after filling that same role in 2011. However the real issue is that Nunez can't field and that's not what you want from your backup, so after a multitude of errors Nunez was sent down in May. He promptly got hurt and ended up not playing for most of the year and his defense hadn't improved in the limited action there. The Yankees like Nunez as he has speed and a decent bat, the problem of course is that his defense is horrible even though his range is good, its just that his throwing is atrocious. Cashman and co need to decide what to do with him as his defensive problems are unlikely to go away, he could suddenly figure it out between now and opening day but his minor league track record suggests otherwise. Also the Yankees decided that they did not want him playing other positions than shortstop despite playing all over the field beforehand. Generally the plan for speedy infielders who can't field is you move them to the outfield.

The big problem now of course is Derek Jeters injury as we have no idea how many games he will be able to play at short. It is possible that the 38 year old shortstop who had limited range before hand may not be able to play the position in more than a limited role. If Jeter has to significantly reduce his playing time at short then Nunez could step in and possibly have to be the primary shortstop. He could also spend some time at DH and with those combined he should be able to play everyday, Cashman wants Nunez to play everyday and this is the only way he would be able to  play in the majors and for the Yankees everyday. The Yankees could also trade Nunez but with that they run the risk of nobody being able to play shortstop when Jeter retires or if he is misses a significant amount of time next season. The off season is just beginning and what the Yankees think Nunez can do for the Yankees is going to be a big part of that. It is good to keep in mind that Shortstops who can hit are in demand and a number of teams are looking for shortstop help this off season.

Pondering Phil

Phil Pondering Pitching

As a prospect Phil Hughes was supposed to be the next Yankee ace, but that never came about. But this last season Phil put together his most complete season as a starter by being solid all season, not including early April. He wasn’t an ace, but he was definitely a very good mid rotation pitcher in the toughest division in baseball and a less than friendly home stadium. However Phil Hughes home run rate bordered on comical as he gave up 35 home runs in 32 starts of the regular season and gave up two more in two starts in the postseason for a total of 37 home runs in 200 innings and that’s with giving up 92 earned runs all year.  Obviously his home run rate of 1.6 HR/9 and 2.2 HR/9 in Yankee Stadium makes it seem that he cannot survive long term as a Yankee starter as hitters parks and fly ball pitchers typically don’t mix.  Despite the homeruns it cannot be forgotten that Phil Hughes is just 26 and as he enters his last year of arbitration a decision about Phil’s Puture in Pinstripes needs to be made. There are three possibilities for Phil; the Yankees can sign Hughes to a multi-year deal, they can trade him or they can simply let him hit free agency after the 2013 season. All three are valid options and you can justify each of them as beneficial to the Yankees.

Multi-year deal

As I said Phil Hughes’s Home run rate is not sustainable long term in Yankee stadium unless something changes, but a three year deal in the $22-28 range would likely benefit both sides. The deal would provide security in the middle of the Yankees rotation without hurting the Yankees financial flexibility of the $189 million budget. As much as the Yankees would like to go cheap with a starter, they will probably need Hughes for the next several seasons or at least a pitcher like Hughes who can eat innings. Even if Nova bounces back and Pineda comes back healthy then the Yankees would still need to fill two rotation spots and it would be much easier if they had a guy like Hughes who can be effective and eat innings. The Yankees would be banking on Hughes maintaining his success from 2012, but even if he doesn’t and he is forced to shift to the bullpen Hughes does have a history of being a very good late inning reliever. There is also little evidence to suggest that his performance is not sustainable as his struggles in 2011 have been attributed to his heavy workload in 2010 and injuries. In 2012 Hughes didn’t falter down the stretch like he did in 2010 and the possibility of keeping a solid innings eater for the next three years seems to be worth the risk.

Trade

The Yankees have several holes that need to be filled this offseason and trading Hughes for an outfielder would fill their right field need. Numerous teams would be interested in Hughes as teams need pitching and a team like the twins has outfielders to spare, with a desperate need for consistent starting pitching. Unfortunately with only one year of team control left the Yankees would not get a significant piece without including more pieces to get a young cheap player, otherwise they would be targeting players like Josh Willingham or Corey Hart who are in their thirties and have a limited amount of team control left. Quite frankly I think that if the Yankees traded a starter it would more likely be David Phelps as he had some success last year and still has at least six more seasons of team control left and trading him would not leave a gaping hole in the Yankee rotation.

Let him walk

This is Hughes’s last season of arbitration after which he will be a free agent and could definitely benefit from moving to a more pitcher friendly park. If he can carry over his success from 2012 to 2013 most teams would be interested in Phil when he hits free agency. The Dodgers and Angels both could be interested and Hughes is a Southern California native so he may want to go and pitch close to home. One big team that should also be accounted for is San Francisco who could potentially be saying goodbye to Barry Zito and Tim Lincecum after 2013 and Phil would thrive in AT&T Park. The Yankees also may not want to commit more money to Hughes as they try and get in their $189 million budget and they could feel confident in their young pitching being able to plug the holes without Hughes. However in this scenario the Yankees would get nothing for Hughes as they would not give him a qualifying offer and so when he left they would receive no draft compensation as they would have under the previous model.

As I said there is validity to following any of these models, but in my mind the best option would be for the Yankees to sign Hughes to a short term extension as it will provide security for Hughes and the Yankees and take one less worry out of the near future.

Mariano Rivera wants to return for 2013

He's back

Via George King: Mariano Rivera has informed the Yankees that he wants to pitch again next season. “Rivera contacted us and wants to play,” said Brian Cashman, who admitted to not being surprised by the decision.

Rivera, 43, blew out his knee in early-May and said he wanted to pitch again the next day, but a few weeks ago he told Cashman that he was having second thoughts. The two sides will discuss a contract in the coming week according to King, and this sounds like something that could happen relatively soon. Then again, the Yankees and Rivera have a history of contentious negotiations. Another one-year deal in the $10-15M range is likely in the cards.

This is welcome news and now we only have to worry about how he will pitch after his injury and most of a year off.

Yankees free agents

The Yankees have a total of 14 players hitting free agency, with the key free agents being Russel Martin,  Nick Swisher, Hiroki Kuroda and depending on the status of Mariano Rivera, Rafael Soriano. The last three of these guys will receive a qualifying offer, but the only one with any chance of accepting the $13.3 million dollar qualifying offer would be Hiroki Kuroda, as Soriano and and Swisher will receive large muti year deals. The Yankees seem likely to move away from Swisher, despite him being the best Right Field option for the Yankees and as I said before the Yankees will only look to retain Soriano if Mariano Rivera retires and even then he may be looking for a deal bigger than the Yankees are willing to provide, considering they have several internal closer options.
Russel Martin is an extremly critical retention for the Yankees and he will likely get a multi year deal from them, because he and and AJ Pierzynski are the only everyday catchers on the market. The Yankees have also expressed intrest in brining back Ichiro Suzuki and Raul Ibanez on short term deals, but I don't know how much playing time Ibanez would get due to the rotating DH for the veteran Yankees. Some people really want Ichiro to return, but he should be the Yankees B or C options due to his age.
Andy Pettitte joins Mariano Rivera as someone who is going to either sign with the Yankees or retire and it remains to be seen what either will do at this point.
There is also a chance that the Yankees will retain Eric Chavez and Jayson Nix, but after that none of the Yankees free agents are likely to be retained on anything more than minor league deals and i personally doubt that Nix or Chavez will return. If the Yankees do not retain any of their free agents then there will be a number of holes to fill, that will require a venture into free agency as they will not be able to fill them internally.

Top 5 things the Yankees need to do this offseason

A big part of the Yankees offseason

The baseball season is just about over and unfortunately it is not ending with a New York Yankees World Series win. In fact the Yankees blew their best chance to win the series since 2009 by having their bats disappear in the postseason and now they need to retool for next season. Here are the top 5 things the Yankees need to do for next season .

1. Resign Hiroki Kuroda
This is by far the most critical part of the offseason and if the Yankees want to bounce back from their poor performance they will need to resign Hiroki Kuroda. He transitioned to the AL by having the best season of his career and that's in Yankee stadium. Kuroda was the number two pitcher the Yankees have been looking for, for a long time and if they need to give him a two year deal they absolutely should in order to bring back Hiroki.

2. Right Field
The Yankees have any number of possibilities for Right Field next season and while Nick Swisher is by far the best solution, it seems unlikely that the Yankees will bring him back next season due to his price tag. For all the complaints about Swishers struggles in the postseason the Yankees really need his switch hitting bat and it will be a lot cheaper to give Swisher 3-4 years than try and sign Curtis Granderson after he hits free agency. If the Yankees let Swisher and Granderson walk then they may need to fill two Outfield spots after next season  and we do not even know if they will be able to fill one spot internally. To me the most likely scenario is that the Yankees bring back Ichiro Suzuki or they trade for an Outfielder as there are not many free agent options for the Yankees who want to stay in their budget for 2014. Bringing Ichiro wouldn't be the worst scenario, but he would be 39 and while he may be able to flash a little more power he will be 39. The Yankees would also need to count on Ichiro's resurgence into next year and hope the hot month he had with the Yankees wasn't a fluke.

3. Catcher
This one is very straight forward. The Yankees are going to need to bring back Russel Martin because the free agent and trade market for catchers is pretty barren. Napoli isn't really a catcher, AJ Piezynski is a jerk/old and Olivio is terrible. Martin is the best option and if they don't bring him back then they will need to platoon Cervelli and Stewart and they don't want to do that. Its pretty much Martin or bust for the Yankees.

4. Resign Andy Pettitte
Some may balk that this is 4th, but really this may be a little high for Pettitte. I did initially ponder putting this with Kuroda, but really its much less important for Pettitte to return as it is for Kuroda. Pettitte surprised everybody with his comeback and made a big impact, we just don't know what he will be able to contribute next season. That being said the Yankees want him back, Pettitte just needs to decide if he wants to come back.

5. Bench
The bench doesn't seem like a huge thing but it is going to be very important next season as well in the foreseeable future because of the age of the Yankees roster. The Yankees do not know how many how many games Jeter or ARod will be able to play in the field next season so a good bench is critical. Recently Brian Cashman said that they want Eduardo Nunez to play everyday at short stop and he could potentially play short 60-70 games next season and possibly even more next season depending on Jeters recovery from his surgery. If they don't want Nunez to do that then they will need to acquire somebody who can play short stop frequently as Jeter is defiantly going to need to have a lot of rest, especially at the beginning of the season. Despite his abysmal postseason ARod is going to be okay and is going to be the primary 3rd baseman, but he and Jeter will probably be the primary DH's so somebody will need to be able to step in as the 3rd baseman frequently. If Eric Chavez returns I expect that he will fill that role, but that is in no way a certainty and he has frequently said that his previous injuries have made playing very painful for him. If Chavez does not return then there is a good chance that the bench spot would be filled internally by Corban Jospeh or David Adams both of whom are probably major league ready. The backup catcher will probably be Chris Stewart again  but after that their bench will depend on what their answer in Right Field will be.

I was initially going to include signing both Hughes and Cano to extensions and while I do believe that these are important they do not affect 2013. In Cano's case I feel that he will wait until he hits free agency as he will want a big deal and there is a very real chance that the Los Angeles Dodgers will outbid the Yankees for Cano. In Hughes's case the Yankees should sign him to an extension but it is not critical to the 2013 team. That being said I will have a post up about Phil Hughes and extension possibilities.

The End of the 2012 Yankees

Jeter after suffering his ankle injury

Well the Yankees wasted their best opportunity to win the World series since 2009 and lost in four games to the Detroit Tigers in the ALCS. Normally a team would probably be happy with advancing to the second round of the playoffs, but these are the New York Yankees and its World Series or bust every year. The thing that made this so hard was, as we talked about in the podcast, the Yankees were clearly better than the Tigers but the offense mailed it in for the first series against the Orioles and completely didn't show up for the Tigers series. I mean they managed six runs in four games and when you eliminate the 9th inning of game one they scored two runs in games 2-4. Of course what makes this all worse is that Derek Jeter fractured his ankle is game one and we don't know how he will come back next season as a 38 year old Shortstop.
Playoffs make people crazy and so the ARod, Nick Swisher and Curtis Granderson hate trains were overflowing all playoffs long. Its not that they did not deserve to be criticized for their poor performance, its just that people start thinking that a player is worthless all together if he struggles in the postseason. Curtis Granderson hit 43 Home Runs, the idea that they should turn down his option is ridiculous. Some people try and say that the Yankees should never have acquired Nick Swisher because of his struggles in the post season and criticizing the ARod contract is valid but also having the benefit of hindsight.
The Yankees season ended in a way none of us would have liked but the only thing that we can do now is wait until next season as the Yankees retool for a World series run in 2013.

Jeter will likely need Ankle Surgery

Following his fractured ankle in game one, The Yankees have confirmed that Derek Jeter will need Ankle surgery.Via Wally Matthews: Derek Jeter will “likely” need surgery to repair ligament damage in his fractured left ankle. The Cap’n underwent a battery of tests to confirm the break yesterday, and now he’ll head to North Carolina to see Dr. Robert Anderson, a foot and ankle specialist. Its unclear if this will increase his recovery time, but obviously we hope he can be ready for spring training.

A True Yankee Podcast 10/13

Sorry about the bad quality in the last one but the sound quality is perfect in this one. We talk about the Playoffs so far around baseball. Obviously we talk about the Yankees vs. Orioles ALDS and preview the Yankees/Tigers ALCS.

Yankees advance to the ALCS after CC goes into Beast Mode

(Elsa/Getty)

CC Sabathia threw a complete game to defeat the Baltimore Orioles and the only hiccup was the 8th inning when CC allowed a run and had the bases loaded with one out but he struck out McLouth on four pitches, the slider that McLouth struck out on was nasty all night and the Orioles were flailing at it all night. Yankees escaped the jam one batter later as J.J. Hardy hit a soft hopper to Jeter that Hardy was unable to beat out and just like that the Inning was over. I was a little surprised that Girardi elected to stick with Sabathia for another inning, and he fired off a perfect ninth inning for the complete game, the first of his postseason career. The final line — 9 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 9 K —  doesn't do CC justice since he labored in exactly one inning. Outside of that eighth inning, the Orioles had two baserunners. Two. Sabathia buried hitters with his offspeed stuff, throwing just 62 four-seam fastballs out of 121 pitches, but that is how he has pitched lately. It was the first postseason complete game by a Yankee since Rodger Clemens in 2000. I fully expect that he will pitch in game three on short rest against Verlander, but that also will require Kuroda to pitch on short rest in Game Two. CC also set an ALDS record with 17.2 innings pitched beating the previous record of 16 innings, the previous record was 16, held by Justin Verlander (2012) and Cliff Lee (2010). The previous Yankees record was 15.2 by David Cone in the 1995 ALDS, Cone just so happend to throw out the ceremonial first pitch before the game.

The Play of this Series was Raul Ibanez's Home Run in game three, I really don't know which one I would call bigger but one of them. After that it has to be Mark Teixeira stealing second in the fifth, nobody thought that was gonna happen not with Weiters behind the plate. Granted the Orioles helped out as they weren't holding Tex on because they assumed the guy who doesn't have great speed wouldn't try and steal with a bad calf. They were wrong and it really cost them as Raul singled in Tex to give the Yankees a lead that they would never give up. The Yankees added two more runs on Granderson's solo home run and Ichiro's double off the wall that let Jeter score from first.

Now the Yankees face off against the Tigers in the ALCS and because of the stupid scheduling by the MLB that means Today. The Yankees who are the #1 seed get no break between the ALDS and the ALCS, but the Tigers who are the #3 get one that doesn't make much sense and now David Phelps might need to start game two because the Yankees need to play five in a row.  Tonight's match up will be Andy Pettitte and Doug Fister. Also the Yankees dropped Eduardo Nunez from the playoff roster in favor of Cody Epply. The Yankees won't likely need Nunez because of how right handed heavy the Tigers are and they probably wanted the extra pitcher because they do not know what will happen in game two.

Raul Ibanez is A True Yankee

True Yankee

 I wrote a post back in mid-September I wrote a post about how the Yankees needed to stop playing Raul Ibanez and play Chris Dickerson instead and at the time it wasn't without reason as Ibanez was doing nothing at the plate. Then of course Ibanez saved the Yankee stadium the first time by homering to tie the game in the 13th against Oakland. If you recall it was pretty huge as the Yankees had been down four runs thanks to Freddy Garcia and Justin Thomas. Then the Yankees were down to the corpse that was the 2012 Boston Red Sox in the 9th and he hit a two run home run to tie the game at three before hitting the walk off single in the 12th inning. If the Yankees had lost either of these games they would have fallen into second place behind the Orioles but Raul stepped up and clobbered the Yankees to wins in both of those games.
Then last night all seemed lost as the Yankees were down by one to the Orioles with only two more outs to go and Raul Ibanez pinch hit for Alex Rodriguez and on the second pitch hit a game tying home run off Jim Johnson, who should be noted has now given up two home runs in this series after giving up three all season. But the Yankees failed to score a run and the game was over because it went into extra innings and the Orioles can't lose in extra innings just like they don't lose close games....oh wait but they did. In the 12th inning Raul Ibanez took the first pitch into the second deck on a trademark Ibanez Moonshot. The best part for that was the fact that it was off Brian Matusz who just so happens to pitch left handed and Raul hasn't hit lefties all season but right now the only way to retire Raul is if you have destroyed all the Horcruxes and clearly the Orioles missed a few (because he looks like Voldermort). I don't know if anybody has had a bigger two at bats in one game in Yankee history. I mean the Game tying and game winning home run after pinch hitting in the 9th? I think this night may have bought Raul Ibanez a new contract in 2012, maybe not from the Yankees but from somebody.

Sabathia, Martin defeat the Orioles in the 9th.

Everyone knew it was gone (Rob Carr/Getty)

Despite the final score of 7-2 this was a nail bitter for 8 innings and I don't think anybody thought that the Yankees were gonna hang 5 runs on Jim Johnson, but they did. If it had gone to extras you know they never would have shut up about the Orioles record in extra innings.
CC Sabathia was ridiculous last night and was so close to a Complete game but it probably was responsible of Girardi to take him out after Ford's hit because he was at 120 pitches. Either way CC pitched a fantastic game, got the win and preserved the bullpen. His stuff was nasty all night with the exception of the bad slider he threw to Nate McClouth that scored two runs. After last nights game CC owns a 3.36 ERA in 69.2 innings in the postseason as a Yankee. The Yankees have also won nine of his eleven playoff starts now, with the two exceptions being Game One of the 2009 World Series (offense got Cliff Lee’d) and Game Three of the 2011 ALDS, in which he left in a tie game. As good as he was he does owe alot to his Catcher, Russel Martin who not only hit the go ahead home run but had a great game behind the plate in terms of blocking pitches and pitch framing. He made a great play in the fifth to get the out at first on Lew Ford and look at how good he was at pitch framing last night:

Speaking of Russel Martin, how subdued were the TBS announcing crew on Russel Martins home run? I knew it was going out, so did McClouth and everybody in that park and they act like there is nothing interesting about the flyball whatsoever. I know the crew featured Cal Ripken jr, but seriously at least try to pretend your not rooting for the Orioles.

The Yankees did not have the best four innings on the base paths as Ichiro for some reason decided to try and steal third and got gunned down by Matt Wieters. Then Mark Teixeira got thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double against Chris Davis, you shouldn't do that he has a cannon. But despite missing some great opportunities the offense made up for it by saving the best for last and sucking the life out of Camden Yards in the 9th. Now the Yankees need to win the game tonight as they send out Andy Pettitte to take on the gassed Wei-Yin Chen before heading to the Bronx.

Yankees will face the Orioles in the ALDS

This happened in 1996, apparently nobody in Baltimore has had anything better to think about

Baseball is an amazing thing as that bizarre Cardinals v. Braves game happened Well the Texas Rangers officially choked away their season on Friday and lost to the Baltimore Orioles. Now the Yankees will face off against the Orioles in games one and two in Baltimore and stop this "miracle team" in its tracks. Game One will start 6:15pm ET on Sunday while Game Two will begin at 8:07pm ET on Monday. Games Three though Five (in necessary) will be played Wednesday through Friday of next week with start times yet to be announced. The number of times that Jeffery Maier is going to be mentioned is absurd as is the number of times they mention the Orioles record in one run games and extra inning games. Also infield fly rule, its gonna happen.

not the infield

The six-man umpiring crew will include Brian Gorman, Mark Carlson, Fieldin Culbreth, Mike Everitt, Angel Hernandez, and Tony Randazzo. Games Three though Five (in necessary) will be played Wednesday through Friday of next week with start times yet to be announced. 
Today enjoy the A's-Tigers match up as it is  Parker vs Verlander and Cueto vs Cain in the Reds-Giants game.

10/4 A True Yankee Podcast

Playoffs baby! Yankees are in the playoffs and Chris and I say who is going to win each series and the regular season awards. We also talk about the Yankees vs Red Sox series and the return of Brett Gardner and Mark Teixeira

Yankees win the AL East

The Yankees have won the AL East by sweeping the Boston Red Sox in three games and defeating them 9-2 behind a great start from Hiroki Kuroda and an amazing offensive game from Robinson Cano. In fact Cano and Granderson's four home runs broke the franchise record for home runs with 245 Home runs. It ended up not mattering because the Orioles lost to the Tampa bay Rays whose offense showed once again that is extremely dependent on Evan Longoria, who had a three home run game. Despite all their injuries and all the hate from the media in late August and early September they won the AL East by two games while the Texas Rangers choked on the last day of the season and lost to CCSU Alumni Evan Scribner and the Oakland Athletics. We were all a little freaked out after the Yankees blew that 10 game lead but they were never out of first place at any point since June.  Its time for the Playoffs, but we will have to wait for Sunday to see the Yankees face the winner of Fridays wild card game.

Evan Scribner wins the AL West for the Oakland A's

While some may say credit is due to the Oakland Athletics offense who put up 12 runs on Texas pitching, but i'm going to give it to CCSU alumni and Connecticut native Evan Scribner who took over for AJ Griffin, after he had given up five runs in 2.2 innings, and shut down the best offense in baseball for three innings to earn his second career win. He also struck out Josh Hamilton and Mike Napoli and left to a standing ovation after his three innings.
I wrote about Scribner here and in fact this blog sponsors his Baseball refrence page which you can view here. After today the Blue Davil alumni finishes his season with 35.1 innings pitched and a 2.55 ERA and nice bounce back year in Oakland after his last few outings for San Diego tarnished what had been a decent season last year. Check out Evan Scribner's twitter page or Facebook fan group and give him your congratulations.

Banuelos will undergo Tommy John surgery

Via Josh Norris, left-hander and top pitching prospect Manny Banuelos will have Tommy John surgery on Thursday. Brian Cashman confirmed the news and said it’s a new injury. “If we knew he’d needed (surgery) a year ago, he’d have had it done a year ago,” said the GM.

Banuelos, 21, missed essentially all of 2012 with what the team called a “bone bruise” in his elbow, so this news is crummy but not completely unexpected. The worst part is that between this year and next, he’ll have lost two consecutive years of development due to injury. Billy Connors recently firing suddenly starts to make sense given this news. He was working with the team’s rehabbing pitchers this year. On the bright side Banuelos is still very young and can come back from this.

Yankees clinch Playoff berth

The Yankees clinched a playoff berth with a win today and an Angels loss, as did the Rangers and Orioles. It looked like the Yankees would be doomed to 2nd place as they trailed by four runs after five innings, but the Yankees showed grit and rallied to split the series in Toronto. The Orioles and Yankees remain tied for the division lead with the last series remaining and the Yankees have the clear advantage in facing the Red Sox in the Bronx, while the Orioles face the Rays at Tropicana field. Hopefully the games swing the right way and they will not have to use Hiroki Kuroda in Wednesdays game, otherwise he would have to pitch on three days rest in game two. The end result though is that the Yankees need to win these games so that they can avoid the one game playoff and on a side note, congratulations to the Baltimore Orioles fan base on your first playoff berth in 15 years.

A True Yankee Podcast 9/25

I posted this later today than I wanted to but here it is.Sorry about the delay between this one and the last one but we had some issues, but we will make it up to you by having another episode next Thursday after the season is over. Anyway Chris guest appears for Brooke and we talk about the Yankees recent winning ways including the two walk offs against the A's. We also talk about Andy Pettitte, Ichiro, Raul Ibanez and the Yankees remaining schedule.

Yankees activate Aardsma and Gardner

The Yankees have activated both Brett Gardner and David Aardsma off the 60-day DL. Its not clear what Brett Gardner will do exactly but he apparently will do something and Aardsma will pitch a few times. To make room the Yankees designated Steve Pearce and Justin Thomas for assignment.
Also in unrelated news Yankees farm hand Pat Venditte will likely miss much of 2013 after undergoing shoulder surgery on a torn labrum in his right shoulder. If you recall Venditte is a switch pitcher, but I doubt that the Yankees want him on the field with a shoulder injury, even if he could still pitch lefty. However that does make Gardner's activation seem odd.

The Emergence of David Phelps

Fear the Phelps

The Emergence of David Phelps has been an important piece of the Yankees success this year as he has been able to bounce between the rotation and the bullpen and more importantly have success in both. As a starter he has pitched to a 3.81 ERA in 10 starts with his best start coming in the double header against the Blue Jays in which he pitched 6.2 innings of one run ball and struck out 6, in fact he has struck out 6 or more in four of his ten starts. Even more impressive may be his success coming out of the bullpen where he has a 2.50 Era over 40 innings and a impressive 41-11 strike out to walk rate.
Phelps story is even better because most people had Phelps behind Adam Warren, both as a prospect and on the pitching depth chart, likely due to his injury last season June. If you don't remember Phelps was going to make a spot start for the Yankees, but they instead signed Brian Gordon who made two starts before heading to play to Korea. Phelps was not even expected to make the active roster out of spring training, but he beat out Adam Warren and D.J Mitchell for the long relief spot after Freddy Garcia had to move to the rotation.
I don't know if it is somehow different from his previous approach but Phelps has been getting accolades for consistently pounding the strike zone, especially in relief where he has been needed due to the Yankees failure to acquire a quality middle reliever after Mariano Rivera's injury. However the  upside that Phelps has shown as a starter is one the Yankees will undoubtedly want to take advantage of as they try and rein in their spending. Phelps could be very critical next year as he may very well have a rotation spot, wither for the year or until Michael Pineda recovers from his injury. All in all the future is bright for David Phelps as a New York Yankee.

Ichiro turns back the clock and Dominates

Ichiro is pleased

Well Ichiro Suzuki turned back the clock and went 9 for 12 with three doubles a home run and four stole bases. He was the key cog in the Yankees sweep of the Jays, especially the second game of the double header in which he stole all four of his stolen bases and hit the go ahead run in the 8th. Perhaps the most impressive part of the series is how well he hit left-handers, he went 7 for in the series with all his extra base hits coming against lefties. Even better one of those doubles would have been an easy triple and very likely an inside the park home run, but it bounced into the stands.The Yankees acquired Ichiro to essentially be a platoon left fielder, but Andruw Jones has been so brutally ineffective in the second half that Suzuki will be pressed into full-time duty going forward and so far it looks like it will be well deserved. Also the speed element that Ichiro showed the last two days has been great as only he and Eduardo Nunez are true stolen base threats with Brett Gardner out and Ichiro wasn't even close to being out on any of his four steals. It cannot be overstated of how good Ichiro looked in this series and how pivotal he was to the sweep of the Blue Jays.

Its been said on this blog that everyone has just been waiting for Ichiro to be a Yankee and this series is exactly what everyone had in mind when they thought about Ichiro in Pinstripes. This series has also sparked many people to ponder the idea of the Yankees retaining Ichiro next season and it does remain a possibility, however if the Yankees retain Nick Swisher then there is no chance. Ichiro just had a great series, but don't forget he is 38 and entering the twilight of his career but these flashes of his former greatness should be great to see for all fans.

Andy Pettitte will start Tuesday

Well in addition to Ivan Nova taking Freddy Garcia's spot on Saturday, Andy Pettitte will take David Phelps spot on Tuesday when the Yankees take on the Toronto Blue Jays. Obviously David Phelps will move to the bullpen, but if Nova struggles then Phelps could take his spot after his good start against the Sox. Pettitte declared himself “ready” following his latest simulated game yesterday, though he’s going to be held to a 75-pitch count in his first start back. The Yankees will have to make a 40-man roster move to activate Andy off the 60-day DL and I expect Derek Lowe will be kicked to the curb.

PLAY CHRIS DICKERSON!!!

.226 that is what Raul Ibanez is currently hitting and its below .200 for the last few months and yet the Yankees continue to put out Raul Ibanez in the outfield. Chris Dickerson is clearly a better option than Ibanez right now and the Yankees need to stop playing Ibanez regularly as they afford the automatic outs. Dickerson is a better hitter than either Jones or Ibanez right now and is a better fielder so it makes no sense to keep running those guys out there, but the Yankees will likely keep Jones out there against lefties but it does not make any sense to keep playing Ibanez over Dickerson and I am calling out the Yankees on it right now. Chris Dickerson also gets credit for being a legitimate stolen base threat so in every single facet of the game Dickerson is the better choice. During this pressured pennant race Girardi has made some questionable decisions and to me playing Ibanez over Dickerson is chief among them.

Derek Jeter leaves game with injured Ankle

Update 11:12pm Apparently it is actually a bone bruise on his ankle and Jeter will try and play tomorrow, probably as the DH. So potentially not that bad.

Update 10:38pm Its reportedly a sprained Ankle. I have no idea what the time table for that is but it shouldn't be too long.

Derek Jeter hurt his ankle when he grounded into a double play in the 8th inning. Bryan Hoch reports that it is an ankle injury. No word on the severity of the injury yet and Jeter was replaced by Jayson Nix at short stop in the bottom of the 8th inning.

Mark Teixeira out 10-14 days and Melky Mesa called up

So that sucks but the Yankees need to win despite Mark being out. Also if you were unaware Melky Mesa is a outfielder for the Yankees who primarily played in Double A this season but had been up with the Tripe A Yankees before they were eliminated from the playoffs. Mesa will probably be a defensive replacement and pinch hitter/runner. Although I would like to see them use him against a left hander over Andruw Jones who has been terrible and Mesa does have 23 homers on the year in the minors.

Jerry Meals and thoughts on the Baltimore series

Jerry Meals is blind

The Yankees split the series against the Orioles when they won 13-3 Sunday behind a offensive surge and a great performance from the bullpen. But the thought on every Yankees fans mind is that the Yankees were cost a game because of Jerry Meals horrendous call at first base when he called Mark Teixeira out when he clearly beat the throw. In my mind, which is probably biased, its one of the worst calls of the last three years behind only the Armado Galarraga call and the Jerry Meals 19th inning call. Apparently after Saturdays game Joe Girardi and Joel Sherman, the Yankees writer from the New York Post, got into a screaming match over something, we don't know what. But in the Sunday edition of the Post, Sherman wrote a scathing critique of the Yankees entitled "Blaming umps is loser talk". Yes the Yankees offense let them down, as did their Ace CC Sabathia but it doesn't change the fact that the Yankees did rally and tie it but were cost the tying run on a call that ended the game. Blaming the ump is loser talk, but their comes a certain point when you have the right to be frustrated by a terrible call and this was one of them; good teams take that frustration and put it out on the diamond and lets all hope that its exactly what the Yankees did today by blowing out the the Orioles. Overall I think the Yankees played really well this series, their offense stepped up but their pitching let them down in two of the games.

The Yankees had tied the game on Thursday and David Robertson of all people gave up the lead. Does this mean that Robertson is now not one of the the best relievers in the game? No it does not, Robertson for some reason wasn't throwing his curve ball and I think its because he was trying to cut down on his walks by throwing a cutter and its not as good of a pitch. He looks like he is going back to the curve after he used it more on Friday so looks like it wasn't an injury but only time will tell. The other story is one that certain people have been piping is that CC is not and never has been an ace. This story upsets me because its a sign of how short-term fans memories are, CC is struggling right now because he isn't getting the swings and misses that he should and I guarantee it is because of his arm problems this year. I do not know if this is a long term problem but we all need to hope it is not. Saying that CC is not the Yankees ace though is wrong and every pitcher struggles, Felix Hernandez gave up 6 runs the other day is he not an ace?

Also Mark Teixeira's injury sucks the Yankees really needed him back and if he is out for awhile then he may miss the beginning of the playoffs. The ideal scenario is that he is only out for a week and the Yankees can build that lead back up in the division. Next up comes the Red Sox who just got swept by the equally terrible Blue Jays and have won 1 of their last 10.

Looking at Pettitte's return

Via Joel Sherman, left-hander Andy Pettitte (fractured left leg) threw three innings and 46 pitches during his latest simulated game this afternoon. Pitching coach Larry Rothschild said it went “good, very good, super.”

 Pettitte will getting checked out by the team doctors on Monday, and if all goes well he will start ramping up his workouts in advance of rejoining the team later this month. Pitching coach Larry Rothschild said that Pettite will have no minor league rehab games and will instead have more simulated games. Joel Sherman believes that in the next 7-10 days Pettitte will throw another simulated game, going about 4 innings. The hope here is that after that rehab start Pettitte could rejoin the rotation.

Stretch run Predictions

Well here we are in September, the official stretch run and the Yankees are going to be playing meaningful baseball against the Rays, which is not surprising and the Orioles, which is extremely surprising. Of the eight playoff spots seven are still decently up in the air, but as we saw last September any lead can evaporate. Here are my predictions for the playoff spots.

American League

AL East-Yankees
Quite honestly the division could easily go to the Rays or the Orioles, but the Yankees are the ones with the lead and are hopefully going to get Mark Teixeira, Arod and Andy Pettitte back soon so that should only be an improvement over the current roster. For all the pessimism from Yankees fans, the Yankees still have the best team in the AL East and should still win the division.

AL Central- White Sox
Ive talked about this quite a bit, I know the Tigers are the better team but the White Sox have been ahead of them for long enough that people need to accept that they are not going to just conceded to the Tigers. The White Sox lost three of four to the Orioles are are still three games up on the Tigers. The White Sox have a good enough team to win the division and the Tigers have played crappy baseball all season, why wouldn't they in September?

AL West- Rangers
This one is easy, despite the injuries the Rangers have suffered they are four games up on the A's and 8.5 games up on the Angels. The A's could make a run, but that Texas offense is too good to lose the division and Ryan Dempster will probably adjust to the AL.

AL Wild card- Rays v. Tigers
How awesome is the playoff going to be if the pitching match up is  David Price vs. Justin Verlander. The Tigers are 3 games back, but the AL east is going to beat up on each other which will leave an opening for the Tigers or A's and I expect the Tigers will prevail.


National League

NL East-Nationals
I know they are going to shut down Stephen Strasburg, but unless the other four members of the rotation forget how to pitch they are going to win that division, they are just too good.

NL Central- Reds
The Reds currently have the best record in baseball without Joey Votto and he's coming back soon. Johnny Cueto is a legitimate CY Young candidate and both Todd Frazier and Zach Cozart being NL ROY candidates. Their Rotation and Offense are both great and they have the best shot of finishing with the best record in baseball having won 80 games already.

NL West- Giants
The Dodgers had their mega deal with the Sox and the Giants lost Melky, but the Giants are playing better right now and winning the games they need to win. Even with Timmys troubles their pitching is better than the Dodgers and I expect they will ride that pitching into October. It also helps that Buster Posey is having an MVP caliber season.

NL Wild card- Atlanta v. Cardinals
Atlanta is having a great year and do not look like they will fall like they did last season, also despite the Dodgers acquisitions, they aren't clicking right now and while that can change I think that the Cardinals are built to make a run better than the Pirates or Dodgers. I initially went with the Dodgers but I do not know if they can make up that deficit without Chad Billingsly.

8/31 Podcast

In this podcast we talk about the Yankees struggles and the potential return of some injured players.

Nova to the DL

Ivan Nova was sent back to New York on Wednesday after feeling something pull in his shoulder in the 6th inning of his start in Chicago. Nova has been diagnosed with inflammation in his rotator cuff and has been placed on the 15-day DL. The treatment is just rest and medication, and he won’t pick up a baseball for at least five days. I expect the club to be very conservative given the Pineda stuff, so it wouldn’t be a total surprise if Nova has already pitched his last game of 2012. Phelps will take his spot in the rotation and CC Sabathia will take Nova's spot on the roster. CC will start on Friday against Cleveland and Phelps will open the series at home against the Blue Jays.

Michael Pineda busted for DUI

The story of Michael Pineda grows more frustrating. The 23 year old was arrested this morning in Tampa, Florida around 2:30 a.m. with a blood-alcohol level over the legal limit. There is really no excuse for drinking and driving. Ever. its more frustrating that he should be focused on his rehab from shoulder surgery.
Unfortunately, this just darkens the cloud that has hung over the trade since the Yankees have only gotten a few starts out of Jose Campos to show for what was supposed to be the acquisition of a young, fireball pitcher to carry the rotation for years to come. No one knows what kind of pitcher Pineda will be when he returns, but now we know he will have a pretty significant mistake in judgement hurled at him by the general population whenever he fails to live up to expectations.
What a terrible development in what has already been a disappointing story so far.

Kuroda dominant even without run support

Over his past 7 starts Hirki Kuroda has given up eight runs in 51 2/3 Innings of  1.39 ERA baseball and has still managed to only go 5-2.

In Hiroki Kuroda's 4 years with the Los Angeles Dodgers he pitched 114 starts of 3.45 ERA ball and went 41-46 due to his lack of run support from the Dodgers. Then he came to the Yankees and the Yankees ability to score runs looked like it would help him rack up the wins. While Kuroda is only one shy of his career high in wins he has been doing it without much run support from the second best offense in baseball.

Kuroda has only received an average of 3.84 run support, which breaks down into 96 runs across 25 starts, compared to 501 total runs in the 96 games started by everyone else this year. That’s an average of 5.22 runs per game. For whatever reason, the Yankees are scoring one and a third fewer runs per game with Kuroda on the mound this season than they are with anyone else out there. In the last 12 years the Yankees the lowest run support a starting pitcher with 25 starts has received was Mike Mussina back in 2001 with 4.12 runs per game. Bartolo Colon received the club’s worst run support last season at 4.50 runs per game, but he went 8-10 with a 4 ERA.

This is just a fluke and means nothing and other than his start against King Felix he isn't losing some good starts as much as he is simply not getting the win in them. It be nice of the Yankees to score some runs as they haven't scored more than five runs in a start by Kuroda since July 18th when Kuroda tossed an abbreviated Shutout against Toronto. Kuroda's next start comes against the Indians and it would be a good time to give Kuroda a big safe win that he deserves.

A True Yankee Podcast 8/16

Brooke and I talk about the Yankees struggles, the state of baseball around the MLB. We also talk about CC Sabthia's injury, Hiroki Kuroda and a bunch of other Yankees related things.

Melky Cabrera suspended 50 games for PED

Well this may be a sign of where Melkys breakout came from as he admitted to using a PED and the MLB has suspended him for 50 games, essentially ruling him out for the rest of the season and seriously hurting the Gianst playoff chances. Melky also really hurt his wallet as he may now be looking at another one year deal or just a severely reduced deal from his projected 5 year $60 million deal. Its really too bad because he was one of the better stories of the last two years and I hope its at least somewhat because of talent and not just steroids.

Big teams on the outside looking in at the Playoff race

What do the  Phillies, Red Sox, Angels and Tigers all have in common? If the season ended today then none of them would make the playoffs and they rank 2-5 in payroll behind only the Yankees. If you look at their payroll and roster everyone of these teams should make the playoffs and at the beginning of the year all of them were projected by most people to make the playoffs. All year we have heard that the Tigers team was so much better than the White Sox that soon they would just blow by them and win the division easily  and you know what that hasn't happened. The same goes for the Angels, who many have said are better than anyone else in their division, but as of August they sit behind both the Oakland A's and the Texas Rangers despite what is supposedly a superior roster featuring Jerad Weaver, Albert Pujols and Mike Trout. The Phillies were supposed to win the NL East despite the injuries because their pitching staff was just too good, but they sit 11 games under .500 and have been trying to move some of their bloated contracts. The Red Sox are in the same boat as everyone said their problems from last September wouldn't carry over and yet they have struggled all year and have been under .500 this season more often than not.Fans of everyone of these teams will cry foul and say injuries have hurt their season, but every team deals with injuries, the Yankees have lost Mariano Rivera, Michael Pineda, Andy Petitte, CC Sabathia, Brett Gardner and ARod and have still manged to have the best record in the AL.
My point in this is not to rip these teams as much as it is to point out that at a certain point you cannot keep saying this team will do better because of the talent on their roster or another team will slide and acknowledge that after 110 games these teams probably are what they appear to be. It is certainly possible that the Pirates or the Orioles could self destruct or the Tigers/Angels could go on an epic tear but that does not seem to be likely. The most likely scenario is that these teams keep it close toward the end of the season and we have a hard fought wild card race and some tight division races as well.

David Phelps to start Monday

The Yankees signed Derek Lowe and we all spent about 20 minutes bemoaning the idea of Lowe starting on Monday before it was announced that Phelps would start on Monday not Lowe. I also am just going to point out that if the Cleveland Indians do not want a player then your team definitely should not want him. That being said all Lowe is for the Yankees is a veteran mop guy, he will probably back up Phelps because he will not be able to throw more than 60 pitches this start and 75-90 the next start. After that I doubt Lowe will even be on the team unless CC's activation gets pushed back to September. You have to feel a little bad for Adam Warren because he lined up well to make the start on Monday, but the club didn't have the confidence in him if he had to make a few starts. However Warren is also the Yankees only backup for a starting pitching injury if anyone else goes down. Phelps will have to face the Texas Rangers on Monday so lets hope he can make that limited pitch count.....count. Lowe will be activated Monday so Igarashi will be up for tomorrows game.

CC Sabthia dealing with Elbow issue

Update 4:35pm: Yankees have announced that they will place CC Sabathia on the 15 day DL for his elbow stiffness. They were debating putting him on the DL but they were concerned that his inflammation had not gone away. It sounds like he will be on the DL for the minimum amount of time and he will be eligible to come off the DL on August 23rd. The Yankees have not announced what their rotation will do after Phil Hughes start Sunday. Feel better big man 

Via Mark Feinsand, left-hander CC Sabathia has experienced some minor soreness in his left elbow since his last start. He threw his regular bullpen session yesterday, though there is still a chance the team plays it safe and skips his next start. “Right now, it’s a low-level concern … Long-term, it’s not a big concern,” said Feinsand’s source.
"He's okay," Joe Girardi said Saturday morning. "It's just preventive stuff that all our guys do."
Sabathia is slated to make his next start on Monday at Yankee Stadium against the Rangers, though that could change if his elbow isn't feeling better.
Sabathia is 12-3 with a 3.56 ERA this season, throwing 141 2/3 innings in 20 starts. He missed more than three weeks, including the allstar break with a minor groin injury, but his arm has not been an issue.

I expect that the Yankees will just move everybody up a day and then see if CC needs the DL stint becuase he would not pitch until his next start anyway. While we may want to see Phelps get the start, Warren would probably get called up becuase he is already stretched out.

A True Yankee Podcast 7/31

Our Newest installment of A True Yankee Podcast. We discuss the Yankees and the league after the trade deadline.

The Yankees after the Trade deadline

Well the trade deadline passed and several players have changed teams. The Dodgers were busy as they picked up Hanley Ramirez from the Marlins, Brandon League from the Mariners and Shane Victorino from the Phillies, all mostly for Salary relief. In response the Giants traded for Hunter Pence, this is the Kind of arms race we used to see in the AL East and its great because the Dodgers/Giants rivalry is probably the best in baseball right now.
The Yankees made their biggest moves before the deadline acquiring Ichiro Suzuki for DJ Mitchell after Gardner was ruled out for the year, It was a great pickup and I talked about it earlier. When ARod went down with a broken hand the Yankees were said to be looking for a third baseman to platoon with Eric Chavez and they did that at the deadline when they traded Chad Qualls to the Pirates for Casey McGehee. The Pirates had been platooning McGehee with Garret Jones at first and after they traded for Gaby Sanchez they did not need him anymore. Its a good pickup and I wonder if Nix or Pena will go down as they do not need Nix to play third anymore and his defense at shortstop isn't very good. Granted the Yankees could also decide to call up Eduardo Nunez to be the backup middle infielder, but we will have to wait and see. The Yankees were also connected to Ryan Dempster for Angelo Gumbs or Dante Bichette Jr, but he ended up going to the Rangers who needed him a lot more.

CCSU loves Evan Scribner

Scribner with the CCSU Blue Devils

Evan Scribner with the Oakland A's

Evan Scribner is a relief pitcher for the Oakland Athletics and more importantly is a Central Connecticut State University Alumni and a Connecticut native. He is the first CCSU alumni to pitch in the majors since Ricky Bottalico ended his career with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2005. Scribner was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks following his senior season with the Blue Devils in 2007, in which he led them to the College World Series. Scribner made 74 appearances, including 33 starts, during his four-year career with CCSU. He compiled a 23-16 record and collected a Blue Devil-record 14 saves, I know that does not sound like a lot but remember this is college ball they do not play as many games and he switched between the bullpen and rotation a lot. Additionally, Scribner, who is among the all-time wins leaders in school history, recorded 20 complete games, five shutouts and a combined shutout. He totaled 288.0 innings on the mound, striking out 224 while walking just 57 and having a college 3.34 earned run average.

In his senior season in 2007, Scribner went 6-6 with a team-low 2.78 ERA. He made 21 appearances, starting nine games. He had seven complete games and one shutout while also notching seven saves. In 2004, Scribner won Northeast Conference Tournament Most Valuable Player honors for his efforts in helping lead the Blue Devils to a NCAA Tournament appearance as a freshman. He was also a 2006 All-NEC selection. Scribner has only pitched 12 innings so far with the A's but has already worked his way into some high leverage innings.

Scribner made his MLB Debut with the San Diego Padres  in April 2011 but was DFA in the offseason and picked up off waivers by the A's. Scribner achieved his first MLB save this season against his former club the San Diego Padres. Scribner sports a fastball at 90-94 mph, followed by a 12-6 curveball that is known to have a 20 mph difference. He has a changeup but he seldom uses it and is primarily a two pitch pitcher. Scribner has great control as he has a 18/6 Strike out to walk ratio.He is only the third CCSU alum to make it to the major leagues. Ricky Bottalico, and Skip Jutze are the only other two Blue Devils to make it that far.

I hope that Scribner can one day find his way to the Yankees, but until then I wish him the best of luck in Oakland from one CCSU Alumni to another. You can also follow Evan on Twitter @Evanscribner

The myth of the Yankees inability to develop pitching

Shhh, Nova doesnt know the Yankees can't develop Starting pitching

The Yankees cannot develop pitchers....thats the narrative, their organization is incapable of developing a single good pitcher which is why they need to buy pitchers. The problem of course is that its a total myth, the Yankees have been developing pitchers consistently the last few years but people have been looking at the failure of Joba Chamberlain as a starting pitcher and saying that the Yankee organization is incapable of developing pitchers. Yes the Yankees messed up Joba in 2009 with their stupid Joba rules,  he had that amazing run in 2008 but he needed more development time after pitching only half a season in the minors. He had great stuff and the Yankees rushed him and they got burned, it happens to everybody, for all the praise the Rays get for player development they have a ton of draft busts or players that underwhelmed or burned out. Part of the problem is that New York is different, somebody can pitch through a bad year if you play in Minnesota or San Diego, but in New York you do badly and your out the door. I talked about this in the first A True Yankee podcast, but people seem to have this idea that teams should develop these ace pitchers, but the only team who seems to develop pitchers out of nothing is the Rays; its a crap shoot, some pitching prospects succeed some don't. The Giants trio of Lincium, Cain and Bumbgardner being good isnt a sign of how good they are at developing pitchers, these guys were all 1st round draft picks that were expected to be good. The Yankees had their big three in Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy and despite the idea that the big three was a bust they are all successful Major league pitcher, I know the Killer B's have been a bust but not all prospects work out.

Lets also take a look at the starting pitchers that were developed in the Yankees system the last few years: Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy, Zach Mcallister, Ivan Nova, David Phelps, Hector Noesi, Chien-Ming Wang, Jeff Karstens, Ted Lilly. Ian Kennedy was the highest draft pick of any of these pitchers at 21st overall so the Yankees miss out on the cream of the crop in terms of pitching talent, but still if you include Jose Quintana then the Yankees account for 10 of the 150 Starting pitchers in baseball right now or two full team rotations, that seems pretty good to me.

To be fair this talk has died down a little since Nova came on the scene and Hughes turned his season around but I wonder if people will still be talking about this stuff in the next few years as the Yankees look to rely more on their homegrown players to keep costs down. If in 2013 the rotation is 3/5 homegrown pitchers is it still gonna be said the Yankees cannot develop pitchers. Lets also be clear in that the Yankees have been been better than anyone in finding Power arms late in the draft and turning them into great bullpen pieces. Part of the problem is that the Yankees have a fan base and media following that wants five aces and anything less than that is not going to be good enough. The fact that the Yankees have not only survived their starting pitcher injuries but have flourished is a testament to their pitching depth and you get depth by developing pitchers. If you wanna read a little bit more detail about this topic check out this article written by Greg Corcoran of Bronx baseball daily.

ARod out until September with Broken Hand and other Yankees news

KEVIN P. CASEY/AP

ARod joined the list of the wounded with a non-displaced hand fracture that will sideline him for the next 6-8 weeks. With the exception of the switch hitters Teixeira and Swisher, ARod was the Yankees only regular right handed power bat and now the injury prone Chavez will need to play almost everyday. The Yankees could make a move for a third baseman, but I do not know how likely that is as I expect that it is more likely they could look for a versatile bench bat or just platoon Chavez and Nunez when he is healthy. They could also look for another bounce back candidate like Scott Rolen but I do not expect they will get involved for Chase Headley. The other bats are going to need to step up with ARod out especially with the Red Sox series coming up and some tough games in August. One interesting name to consider is Marco Scutaro if the Rockies make him available as he could play both Short Stop and Thirdbase. The Yankees have recalled Ramiro Pena for the time being.

Joba Chamberlain pitched a perfect rehab inning yesterday and will rehab again today. The hope is that he can be back at the end of the month and that bullpen really needs it as the shortcomings of three match up guys in a seven man bullpen are really showing lately.

This one is not technically Yankees related but the Tampa Bay Rays DFA former Yankee Hideki Matsui who had only hit .147/.214/.221 with two home runs and one double in 103 PA. This is likely the end for Matsui as he struggled to find a job this season and looks to be done. When he played against the Yankees you could see that his power was gone as the balls off his bat just were not going out. Matsui was my favorite Yankee from when he first came to the team in 2003 and we will still have to wait to see if Matsui decides to walk away now that it seems he cannot play at the MLB level anymore.

Yankees acquire Ichiro Suzuki

Ichiro in photoshopped pinstripes

Ichiro Suzuki has been traded to the Yankees for minor league pitchers DJ Mitchell and Well there is a set of words I do not think I ever thought I would write, but the Yankees have been full of these types of moves the last several years. Nobody thought Pineda would be acquired, or Javier Vazquez would be acquired or that A.J Burnett would actually be moved and that is just what Brian Cashman did. Ichiro has been declining for the last few years and the Yankees are hopeing that he can bounce back, but on top of that Ichiro provides his still solid defnse and ability to play everyday in the field which will be great since the alternative would have been a combination of Wise, Jones and Ibanez. Suzuki also provides some speed that the Yankees really needed since losing both Nunez and Gardner and Granderson suddenly unable to steal bases its a definate lift for the Yankees.
This is a definate good move for the Yankees as they gave up pitching prospects D.J. Mitchell and Danny Farquhar both of whom are very minimal impact players. Its going to be intresting to see how Ichiro plays out the rest of the year as he is apparently done with the Mariners as he requested the trade from the Mariners ownership and this is a very intresting storyline for the Yankees and baseball.

Is Rick Ankiel a great fit?

Rick Ankiel was DFA today by the Washington Nationals and it has been immediately suggested that the Yankees should acquire Ankiel and that it would be a great fit. I however along with SB Nations Ed Valentine have suggested that this may not be as great an idea as it seems. Sure Ankiel is still a plus defender but is he really an upgrade over Dewayne Wise? Wise is currently hitting well in his limited playing time, while Ankiel was only hitting .228 in 158 PA and I do not see how Ankiel is a real upgrade over Wise. It also helps that the Yankees would seem to have to make a trade for Ankiel as I seriously doubt that he would fall to them as he would have to go through every other team in baseball first. It also seems unlikely that Ankiel would be able to turn around his season in New York as he has been declining since 2008 and replacing Wise with Ankiel also takes away about th eonly speed the Yankees really have on the base paths. In short I just do not see how this move would help the Yankees, despite what some may claim.

A True Yankee Podcast Episode 2

This is our second edition of A True Yankee Podcast and I hope that you all enjoy it. In this episode we talk about the Yankees recent success, the approaching trade deadline as well as several other Yankees topics. The Sound quality unfortunately got a little messed up , but I hope you all can enjoy it anyway. Also subscribe on ITUNES. Enjoy

Don't skim the truth with Melky

After Melky Cabrera's stellar year, not to mention his winning the all star game MVP, many fans have faulted the Yankees for letting Cabrera go. Lets be clear hear if you think this you are wrong, Melky then and Melky now are two completely different players and it also requires you to ignore significant parts of how Cabrera came to be where he is now.  Melky was a 4th outfielder thrust into the starting center field role in 2009 over Brett Gardner and quire frankly having him start over Gardner was the wrong move. Cabrera was liked for his clutch hits and some amazing catches but he never hit very consistently and was a bad fielder. He was traded to Atlanta as part of the package for Javier Vazquez and was one of the worst players in baseball, he was then released by the Braves at the end of the year. Melky had always been called lazy and apparently he took his release from the Braves as a sign that he needed to change his attitude, he got in shape and signed with the Royals. Melky has tore it up ever since and this off season he is going to get a big contract. If the Yankees had kept Melky he would not have become the player he is today and so faulting them for not keeping his is ridiculous. Melky Cabrera's offensive WAR in his five year career as a Yankee was 3.5, in one year with the Royals he had 4.7 and so far in 85 games with the Giants he has 3.2. Unfortunately many fans have this problem where they see the success of former Yankees and feel that it is success that the team has cost itself. Also to anyone who thinks the Yankees will acquire Melky through a trade or in the off season your wrong, its just not going to happen.