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.

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.

The Prince Saga ends

I know a lot of Yankees fans hoped that the Yankees would sign Fielder, but it was never gonna happen. However I really did not expect that Fielder would sign with the Tigers which is what he did today when he signed for a 9 year $214 million deal. I really thought he would end up going to Washington, but apparently they were never offering him the money or years he wanted. This may have something to do with Victor Martinez's injury, but I have a hard time beleiving that they gave Fielder $214 million because Martinez would be out a year. It seems like Miguel Cabrera will move to 3rd which will be interesting but having both those guys in the lineup will be great for Detroit and they likely just pulled ahead of everyone in that division for the next few years. Its still possible that the Tigers will sign a DH but I find it more likely they will sign a defensive outfielder and have Delmon Young DH quite a bit. This also likely takes the Tigers out of the hunt for Yoennis Cespedes as I doubt they will add anymore payroll.

Best Moves for the AL Central!

Only two teams led the AL Central after the first two weeks and they were the Clevland Indians and the Detroit Tigers. My pick of Chicago White Sox got blown out of the water as the Tigers were the only team to finish over .500. The division is arguably the worst in baseball and every team in the division has major holes.

Kansas City Royals
The Royals are an up and coming team with a lot of young talented position players, in fact they have more prospects than they know what to do with. The one thing the Royals don't have is pitching, like no pitching whatsoever. They also have made the first major trade of the off-season by trading Melky Cabrera to the Giants for Jonathon Sanchez and therefor cleared the way for Lorenzo Cain in Center and added a potentially good piece to their rotation. Nobody knows how Sanchez will be for the Royals, but the Royals likely aren't done shopping for some pitching. If the rotation for the Royals can improve to a respectable level then Kansas City could be legitimate candidates to win the division. The Royals could pursue one of the top starters, but I think its more likely that they will pursue cheaper options than go after someone like C.J Wilson. Resigning Bruce Chen is a no brainier for me, but he wants a multi year deal and someone else could give it to him before the Royals do. A lot of people have picked the Royals as a breakout candidate for 2012 and they may have a point because this team has consistently had a top offense and their bad rotation is what has dragged them down.

Chicago White Sox
The Sox were arguably the most disappointing team  of 2011 and definitely had the most disappointing free agent signing in Adam Dunn. Dunn was supposed to hit 50 Home runs in Chicago but he would up hitting 11, with .159 BA. The White Sox rotation is probably the best in the division and for awhile they ended up being able to trade Edwin Jackson because of the emergence of Phil Humber. The White sox are now looking to get younger, but that doesn't necessarily mean they are going to be dumping salary and they absolutely wont be butchering their rotation. While they could move Zach Stewart into the rotation they have said that they would only trade a pitcher if they resign Mark Buehrle. The White Sox really don't have a lot of trade pieces outside of their rotation and they have some really bad contracts that they will have a lot of trouble moving. If I was the White Sox I would see what I could get for John Danks or Gavin Floyd even if Mark Buehrle signs elsewhere because they really need to try and get younger and while these players are young they can get a really good return for both of those guys.


Clevland Indians
The Indians had a great run this season but they are just starting to have their prospects going but the whole franchise is still a mess. The rotation is a mess and the one solid contributor of 2009 and 2010 in Shin-Soo Choo had a bad 2011 and going in to 2012 I have no idea what to expect from the Indians. They could win the division or they could lose 95 games, a big part of that will be how Ubaldo does in 2012 and the other part is what they do in their Outfield now that Grady is gone. Fukudome could be retained but they could try any number of players in the outfield. They could try for Cuddyer, Dejesus or Kubel but it depends on if the Indians think they can win in 2012.

Minnesota Twins
The Twins probably are the most disapointing team of 2011 because  everything went wrong for them. If they want to compete then Maur and Morneau will need to be healthy and Morneau hasn't been able to stay healthy for 3 years.  Cuddyer, Kubel, Capps and Nathan could all be gone in 2012 and the rotation is a total mess. Tsuyoshi Nishioka bombed and it was made worse by the success of 2010 short stop JJ Hardy and Nishioka is not even guaranteed to be a starter in 2012. The Twins going to need to try and turn things around next season but they may be headed to full on rebuild, but if they can make some good signings then this is still a team that could win this division especially if everyone can stay healthy and effective. They should try and resign Cuddyer or pursue Willingham and get a solid backup like Jose Molina. I also think that they should try some risk and reward typed players for their rotation and see if they can piece together a good rotation out of the scrap heap. As much as I should count them out this is a team that has been able to make idiot moves consistently over the last 10 years ans still somehow find ways to win.

Detroit Tigers
The Tigers had  a great season due mostly to Justin Verlander. Despite winning 95 games they dealt with a lot of injuries and they have question marks in RF, 3rd and at second. This team could make a play for any of the big time free agents, but even if they ignore all of their question marks they probably would be able to piece together a lineup based on what they already have that would the division in 2012. The Tigers could be in play for Aramis Ramirz but it would probably be better for them to just try Inge again at 3rd and see if he can be a contributor again and while they could try for a starting outfielder they could just as easily stick with Delmon Young and Brennan Boesch in the corner outfield. The best move for the Tigers would probably be for them to bring in veterans to spring training and have them compete with the existing option and see what happens. It would also be good for them to sign a 5th starter on a one year deal rather than give the spot to prospect Jacob Turner who has only had 3 starts at AAA.

The Tigers look like the best team in a weak division, but any of these teams could surprise everybody and breakout. The only one of these teams that will likely be considering signing major free agents is the Tigers but all the teams could be very active on the trade market this winter, especially the Royals who could definitely acquire another starting pitcher.

ALDS Matchup: Yankees vs. Tigers

So this may ring a bell for some of you as this was the match up back in 2006 and the Yankees lost 3-1 and ending the series very meekly with a score of 8-3 in game four. The Yankees scored 8 runs in game one but scored only 6 over the next three games including a shutout in game 3.The tigers would go on to win the AL pennant but they lost to the Cardinals. Now the Yankees match up with the Tigers again and will try to have better results than five years ago. I'm gonna check out the pitching, offense and defense match ups between the two two teams and we will determine who has the advantage.

Game 1: Sabathia vs Verlander
Verlander is the runaway Cy Young winner and people have picked him over Bautisa for MVP for a reason that I will never truly understand. He has had a great season, but the two times we have faced the Verlander led Tigers we won and he has an ERA against the Yankees of 4.50. Sabathia's ERA isn't that much better at 4.15. I would call this pitching match up even but you cant predict the playoffs.
Advantage: Even
Game 2: Fister vs. Nova
Can you believe some people actually decried the Fister trade at the time and said that Fister would be a bust for the Tigers. I knew how great a pickup Fister was and so did every other MLB team. Fister has been even better than he was with the Mariners and now that he has some offense behind him he has gotten some wins too. Nova has had a great rookie season especially his second half where he has put up a 3.18 ERA in 11 starts and 73.2 IP. Fister has put up even better numbers with a  2.47 ERA in the second half, which is actually better than Justin Verlander. Even more impressive is that with Tigers hae has had an ERA of 1.79. That being said we did beat him back in July when CC took a perfect game into the 7th when we scored three runs off him but one game isn't a great sample. Nova has had a great second half but Fister has been the number two that the Tigers needed. I expect us to win at least one of these first two games but for this match up i'm gonna have to go with Fister.
Advantage: Fister
Game 3: Scherzer vs Garcia
Scherzer was a part of the three way trade between the Tigers, Diamondbacks and Yankees and he spent most of the year as the number two starter for the Tigers. He has pitched nearly 200 inning the last two years but his ERA has jumped almost a full run since 2010. I don't really know what to expect from Garcia, he could go 7 stong or give up 5 in 4IP. Detroit has some good hitters and he has done the job against better offenses than Detroit's.
Advantage: Garcia
*Game 4: Porcello vs. Sabathia
This is a no contest. Porcello has been nearly replacement level and has actually been worse at home. Anything can happen but it would be an upset if Porcello out dueled Sabathia. Also Leyland said he would under no circumstances start Verlander on 3 days rest so we will have to see if  that holds up.
Advantage: Sabathia
*Game 5: Verlander vs. Nova
Nova has had a better year than expected but facing off against Verlander he would have to get some good run support or have a career game.
Advantage: Verlander
Bullpen:
The Yankees bullpen this year has ranked 4th in Baseball with an ERA of 3.12 while Detroit's ranks 25th with an ERA of 3.93. The Yankees bullpen has also pitched more innings than the Tigers bullpen, but people seem to think that the Tigers bullpen is elite because of Valverde's perfect save record. That being said their top three of Valverde, Alburquerque and Benoit have been very good this year. Simply put though the Yankees bullpen despite the numerous injuries has been better than the Tigers and honetly without Soriano and a with a healthy Joba you've got the best bullpen in baseball. After those three relievers the Tigers have one guy in the bullpen with an ERA under 4 and that's Daniel Schlereth. The Yankees only have 1 reliever on the postseason roster and a ERA above 3.5 that's Rafael Soriano.
Advanatge: Yankees

Offense:
Its hard to rate offenses going into the playoffs because you get guys like Cody Ross who hit .350 in the NLCS. The Yankees rank 2nd in runs scored and Detroit ranks 4th. The Yankees have hit more Home Runs than anybody else this season, but the offenses are so similar that  I can't really give anybody an advantage.
Advantage: Even
Defense:
The Yankees ranked 14th in Errors while the Tigers Ranked 15th, they had exactly one more error than the Yankees did. Again the two teams are surprisingly even and so there is no real advanatge.
Advantage: Even
I'm not going to make a prediction because that would just be a guess but this game tonight could really set the tone for the series. Go Yankees!

The Granderson Trade

Today Jon Heyman from Sports illustrated tweeted that Austin Jackson is looking like a future superstar and is better than Granderson, the obvious implication being that the Yankees made a mistake in trading Jackson, Ian Kennedy and Phil Coke for Curtis Granderson(who happens to be turning 30 today). Others agree, including many Yankees fans who believe that the Yankees should have kept Jackson and the other pieces of that trade instead of trading them for a center fielder who in 2010 underperformed to say the least. Phil Coke is going to be starting for the Tigers this year and Ian Kennedy was recently named the opening day starter for Arizona and so Arizona and Detroit both seemed to have benefited from the deal. As all of you likely know Austin Jackson finished second last year in the Rookie of the year voting behind Neftali Feliz and his 40 saves and it would have been very cool to have a 2/3 home grown outfield, i think people are missing a big part of this deal.
Before 2010 Austin Jackson had never played a single game in the Majors and while he was hitting .300 in AAA in 2009 that's the minors and we have no idea if those numbers will be anywhere near what a player hits in the majors, so Austin Jackson was a big question mark for the Tigers and while it was very likely that Jackson would hit nobody knew how he would react to the big stage. Another key factor in this is that Austin Jackson is very similar to Brett Gardner in that he is a contact hitter with almost no power, will be good in the outfield and will steal bases.

Austin Jackson generated a 2.9 WAR rating in 2010 and put up the following stats:

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG
2010	23	DET	AL	151	675	618	103	181	34	10	4	41	27	6	47	170	.293	.345	.400

Brett Gardner in his sophomore year had a 4 WAR year in 2010 and put up these stats

If you dont feel like following the link the important ones are a BA of .277 an OBP of .383, 47 Stolen bases and 5 Home runs.

As you can see while Jackson hit better, Gardner had a better on Base percentage and stole more bases and while Jackson did hit for a better average that could be relate to Gardner's drop off after his wrist injury that he never fully recovered from. Also Jackson and Gardner and Granderson generated the EXACT same fielding stats and so the outfield likely would have been just as good defensively as last year. Gardner is also a better base stealer and while they both strike out a lot Gardner generates a lot of walks while Jackson does not and all of Jackson's stats are from leading off while Gardner generated his mostly in the 9th and 2nd spots.
However Jackson was traded for Granderson and Granderson had the worst year of his career last year with a 2.1 WAR and .247 BA, also he hit 24 HR which considering that he hit 30 in detroit last year is disappointing. However Granderson has refined his swing with Kevin Long and the Yankees will need him to hit like he did in the post season because he will be very important to the Yankees in 2011.
Another part of this trade which is often forgotten in Ian Kennedy one of the Big three pitching prospects of the Yankees with Joba and Hughes was traded for Granderson as well and while he went 9-10 he had a 3.80 ERA in 194 innings and had a 2.7 WAR with a whip of 1.2. However Kennedy did give up 26 Home runs and led the league in Wild Pitches. Coke had a negative WAR season with the Yankees in 2009 and while he improved for detroit I don't particularly miss Coke that much. If you look at in based on WAR then the Yankees gave up 2.1+ .6 + 2.9= 5.6 WAR for Curtis Granderson's 2.5 WAR for $4 million dollars more than Detroit and Arizona had to spend.
Hindsight is 20/20 and overall Arizona and Detroit got the better part of the deal than the Yankees, but both Kennedy and Jackson had break out years and quite frankly neither of these players would have likely fit in New York very well and the Yankees like Granderson especially after the tweaks to his swing. Also there have been a lot of players with great rookie seasons who faltered afterward, Jackson is a great player who is going to be a star, but in the MLB superstar outfielders are guys who hit no less than 20+ Home Runs or steal 40+ Bases and Austin Jackson is not going to do either one of those. Ian Kennedy is going to be a great  pitcher who will continue to give up a lot of Home runs, but he is in chase field which is ranked as the 3rd most hitter friendly park in the MLB and he likely would have been better than Javier Vazquez or he could have gotten shelled like he did in 2008. Some people believe that the Yankees lost out on Phil Coke now that he is going to be Starting in detroit, I know he is a lefty but he has only ever started 1 game in AAA and never pitched more than 65 innings in the majors. I don't know if Brian Cashman regrets trading for Granderson but Granderson was an established outfielder, while Jackson was an untested slower Brett Gardner who struck out a lot while Kennedy seemed to have no place with the Yankees in 2010 and he made the decision. Would Yankees fans have been ok with the only home run production in the outfield coming from Nick Swisher? If this trade could be done again I guarantee that the Yankees would not have given as much for Granderson, not because of a lack of production from him but because Jackson would be enough for the deal to happen.