A True Yankee Inagural Podcast

Contributing writer Brooke and myself decided to start a podcast of which we hope to do on a bi-weekly basis. In our first show we talked about the injuries to Andy Pettitte and CC Sabathia, as well as minor league promotions, the trade deadline, Nick Swisher and the Yankees bullpen. Give it a listen and tell your friends.





download the episode from podOmatic here

What to do with the bench Outfield spot.

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

Trade Targets: Erik Bedard

The former Baltimore Orioles Ace had his 2011 option turned down by the Mariners but he was resigned to a 1 year $1 million deal after making only three appearances in the minors in 2010. This year Bedard has posted a 3.00 ERA in 15 starts and a 1.82 ERA in the 10 starts after April, unfortunately he has been on the DL with a sprained left knee since the end of June and his start against the Red Sox will likely be pushed back, which means he will likely only get one start before the trade deadline. He may however be the Yankees best option in acquiring a starting pitcher.

Despite his injury risk Bedard might be the most affordable potential front line starter because Ubaldo would be extremely expensive and apparently the Rockies are not serious about moving him. Also Kuroda does not want to move to the east coast and Wandy has been bad against the AL and would not likely be anything but a back of the rotation starter in the AL East. While Bedard's stuff may not be as good in the less pitcher friendly Yankee stadium but he pitched 658 innings with the Orioles and his strikeout numbers have always been high. Bedard isn't an ace but he could fit the Yankees as a number three in  the rotation as he could easily take either Freddy Garcia's spot in the rotation and due to only making one start before the trade he could be had for cheap from the Mariners. Bedard could also be resigned after this season since he is only 32, left handed and is not a back of the rotation starter. The Yankees may pass on Bedard but he may be their best option in this pitching thin market and they will not want him to be grabbed by the Red Sox who also need a starter.

Trade Targets: Left handed relievers

My posts about Hiroki Kuroda and Wandy Rodriguez were both about starting pitchers, but the Yankees seem frustrated with Boone Logan and they were believed to be targeting Lefty help either way. Left handed relievers are hard to come by and with Pedro Feliciano out for the year the Yankees were going to have to acquire someone. They did sign Randly Flores and Greg Smith to minor league deals but neither have been especially impressive in AAA and Smith has been a starter in the past. Right now Flores seems like a better option right now than Logan and the recent Lefties who have passed through waivers seems to imply that Logan would likely not be claimed and would go down to AAA Scranton. Tim Dierkes of MLBTR recently wrote a piece about potentially available lefty relievers. The Yankees will likely look for a lefty who is only signed for this year and not within the division so that narrows down those potentially available. I doubt that the Dodgers would make Kuo available and Hideki Okajima was not picked up off waivers by anyone so I doubt he is going to traded for. The A's posses three lefties Brian Fuentes, Jerry Blevins and New Haven, Connecticut native Craig Breslow. Fuentes is signed until 2012 and has a $6.5 million team option for 2013, while Breslow and Blevin are both under team control after this year. Breslow has the best ERA, but his split against lefties this year is even worse than Logans with lefties hitting .409 against his, however his career split against lefties is .218 and lefties are hitting .318 against Blevin, but again they have hit .237 against him in his career. Fuentes has also not done well against lefties this year with lefties hitting .300 against him despite hitting only .217 during his career. Randy Choate is another option and while he is signed for 2012 as well he is signed to an extremely team friendly contract of $1 million in 2011 and $1.5million in 2012. In 13 innings he has been fantastic giving up only 1 ER and holding lefties to a .108 BA, however his team friendly contract would likely make it hard to pry him away from the Marlins.
That leaves really one option of a lefty reliever whom the Yankees can acquire and he's one that we just saw recently, that would be Cubs lefty John Grabow.  Grabow's showing against the Yankees was not particularly impressive but he faced two right handed batters and got Martin to pop out and Swisher out at the plate. Grabow has held lefties to .178 BA in 30.1 IP, but his career numbers are not great with lefties hitting .258 against him and even last year they hit .294 against him. Grabow has a big salary this year making $4.8 million and he may be easily acquired by the Yankees for salary relief and a low level prospect or two. The problem of course with Grabow is that we could acquire him and he could do almost nothing and the Yankees may choose to go after a better LOOGY candidate but it will be hard to get one who is effective and is a rental.

Trade Targets: Hiroki Kuroda

Hiroki Kuroda

The man from Japan Hiroki Kuroda has been solid in the dodger rotation despite only posting a winning record once in his 4 years in the states. There is no Cliff Lee or Roy Oswalt available on the market this year and Kuroda is probably the best rental starter available which means that the Yankees and the Red Sox will both be looking into him, as well as other contenders who need a starting pitcher. Kuroda has posted a 3.56 ERA in a total of 586.2 IP. Kuroda has a full no-trade clause and he did re-sign with the Dodgers this off-season despite all the McCourt mess that is going on. That being said while his ERA is lower than last year he has give up 11 HR in 89.2 IP while he gave up 15 all last year in 196.1 IP and while is still early his WHIP is much higher and his K rate is down slightly from last year. Another interesting note is that despite playing in the National League Kuroda is a horrendous batter and has only 2 RBI's in 205 PA and a BA of .096, I would assume that he would have gotten better over time, but both those came in his first year in the MLB. Personally I would much prefer Wandy Rodriguez to Kuroda due to his being a lefty, younger than Kuroda and the fact that Wandy is under contract until 2014 while Kuroda has a 1 year deal. I would much prefer Kuroda or Wandy to Big Z and Ryan Dempster which others seem obsessed with. Normally a team would not be able to ask for too much for Kuroda but in this thin market and with Kuroda's no trade clause he will draw more for the Dodgers especially if teams get into a bidding war, but the Yankees do always have the advantage of being able to take on more money from his $12 million deal.

Trade Targets: Wandy Rodriguez

Could he be in Yankees pinstripes this year?

First of all Wandy is on the DL right now with Elbow fluid, but he is projected to be 100% after his DL stint however if he does not recover then a trade for him is no longer practical. Wandy is a 32 year old LHP with a newly signed deal for 3 years $34 million and a 4th year team option that becomes a player option with a trade. Wandy currently has a 3.41 ERA in 66IP this year and from 09-10 he combined for 400.2 IP , a 3.30ERA and a 8.3 SO/9 rate. He also possesses a 44.2% GB rate and HR/FB rate of 10.7%. The Yankees have been incredibly lucky this year as Bartolo Colon has beeen able to fill the hole left by Phil Hughes. Phil Hughes is going to throw BP tonight and if it goes well then he may go for some rehab starts which would be great. That being said you can never have enough pitching depth and having Silva, Nova, Noesi, Mitchell, Phelps and Warren for depth would be great. Freddy Garcia has done a more than adequate job in the Yankees rotation but the Yankees would like to have another LHP and somebody who can help the Yankees down the road instead of just this season. Wandy could be a solid mid rotation guy behind CC, Burnett and Hughes and if Colon can remain healthy then he could be a solid back of the rotation guy and the Yankees would have a very solid rotation for the next several years and cold easily insert Nova or other AAA prospects into the rotation if anyone breaks down. Wandy could also be a very effective placeholder while we wait for Betances and Banuelos to develop and the Yankees would not have to fill any major holes in their rotation until at least 2013 when AJ Burnett's contract expires.
There is always a downside as transitioning from the NL to the AL can be difficult for some pitchers especially when you are going to the AL East and you can never tell what will happen as evident by Javier Vazquez. Also the current trade market does not have many top pitchers and the Astros could bring in a lot for Bud Norris, Brett Myers, J.A Happ and Wandy Rodriguez and it could be more than what the Yankees want to offer. The Astros will look for some decent prospects and they will want at least a prospect as well as one of our AAA arms that they can put into the rotation because while they have their top pitching prospect Jordan Lyles who they could bring in to the rotation, they could end up trading all of their rotation this trade season. If the Yankees want Wandy they will probably trade one or two of the AAA arms, possibly Nova, and probably Romine or Cervelli and Houston native and former Houston Rule 5 draft pick, Lance Pendelton just to sweeten the deal. I'm sure that the Yankees would trade Cervelli or Romine unless Jesus Montero is traded already or is planned to be traded, but in that case we probably would not be looking at Wandy Its also possible that Brackman could be traded along with another prospect due to his struggles just as top pitching prospect Zach McAllister was traded to Cleveland last year. There is a new ownership in Houston and with their release of Bill Hall earlier today, I would have to believe that they are looking to build for the future and will be very much sellers this year as their inning eating veterans could bring them a good load due to the lack of available top pitchers. I think Wandy would be good for the Yankees as much as I like Cervelli he could be a stater with Houston wheras with the Yankees he would likely always be a backup. If Cervelli is traded then it would also give the Yankees the opportunity to promote Jesus Montero who could play fulltime as back catcher and part time DH. Overall I think this is the best pitcher for the Yankees to target and while the price may be high it will be very beneficial to both teams.

Lets talk about Carlos Beltran

Carlos Beltran signed his 7 year $119 million deal with the Mets back in 2005 and his deal expires after this season making $18.5 million this year and the cash strapped Mets want to deal him. Beltran had knee surgery last year, he was moved from Center field to Right field and has not played more than 81 games since 2008. His name has come up in trade rumors as he has been very good this year and most think that a move to the American League to DH would be great for Beltran, but his high price tag and injury history has made teams wary.
The Mets have solved some of their financial issues with selling a minority stake in the club, but the ownership has also said that no player is off-limits to be dealt by the trade deadline.
Beltran had been part of trade rumors since before the season even began and at the time the Yankees did not seem as though they would be even considering Beltran as they had Nick Swisher in Right and Posada as the DH. Now its mid-Febuary and Nick Swisher is slumping bad and Jorge Posada is slumping really bad and so Carlos Beltran's name has come up in trade rumors with the Yankees. The idea is that the Yankees would trade for Beltran and split time with him in Right and at DH with Swisher and Posada and Jones would probably be released.
I don't think that the Mets would be realistically expecting anything for Beltran except maybe a mid level prospect or two, this trade is about Salary relief and the Yankees definitely can afford to take on Beltran's salary. This seems like a match made in trade rumors heaven as the Mets free up a lot of salary room and the Yankees get a bat that can energize their slumping offense as Beltran is swinging the bat pretty well slugging .564 in 39 games and just had a 3 homer game. The problem is that we as Yankees fans sometimes forget that those other guys who play baseball across town and make all those funny mistakes are technically our rival and Mets fans would probably be really pissed if Beltran was traded to the Yankees.
Also some Mets fans apparently think that Beltran is deserving of some legitimate prospects or even for some reason Brett Gardner or Nick Swisher in addition to taking on his salary. The Yankees could take Beltran's full salary and in exchange they would give someone of Justin Maxwell's caliber. If the Mets Front office expects more then that in a trade will never get done with the Yankees. This is also assuming that Nick Swisher does not rebound, because if he does and Posada continues to struggle then the Yankees would likely just promote Jesus Montero to DH and Catch once in a while or promote Jorge Vavquez who has hit 16 HR in 37 games with a .303 average.

Jorge Vazquez

Honestly even if Swisher continues to slump will likely keep him for next year even if they trade for Beltran and I think that a deal is unlikely to come about. To me the most likely scenario is the A's trading David DeJesus for Beltran with the Mets eating a large part of his salary. It is still more of a possibility than any of us expected coming into this year.