Mariano is Baseballs all time save leader

Mariano is Baseballs all time save leader. Let that sink in, Mariano Rivera now at the age of 41 has acheived his 42 save of the year and become baseballs all time save leader with 602 saves. Its very frustrating for me because I was supposed to be at today's game but I had a last second meeting this morning and couldn't go. For awhile it looked like AJ would pitch well enough that he Mariano Rivera would not be necessary as the Yankees were up 5-0 after the 3rd inning and Burnett had struck out 7. Then he had a shaky 4th but got through it with giving up one run on a homerun. Then in the 5th the wheels came off and Burnett gave up 3 straight hits including a home run to Michael Cuddyer and was yanked for Corey Wade who loaded the bases and gave up one run on a ground out before striking out the next two batters. The Yankees tagged on another run on an A-Rods single and Granderson hustling in from second. The Twins twice threatened in the 6th but Logan retired the lefty and it was cruise control from there. The only threat to 602 saves for Mariano was the Yankee offense but Nick Swisher's GDP ended that threat. Mariano Rivera came in and his first two pitches were bad, but after that it was vintage Mo with a ground out and a fly out, then we all gathered around the TV as Mariano got called strike, a foul ball before having a perfect cutter on the outside corner to strike out Chris Parmelee looking. It was picture perfect ending in the same way that Derek Jeter's home run 3,000th hit was.

The only question now is where will Mariano be ranked all-time in the greatest Yankees. Sliding into home ripped Kevin Kernan here for ranking Mariano 5th all time behind Ruth, Gehrig,  DiMaggio and Jeter. Sliding into home is right though; Mariano is the Greatest closer of all-time and nobody will ever be as good as Mo is, but he is in my mind 8th alltime in the list of the greatest Yankees  ranking behind with the top ten looking like this:
1. Babe Ruth
2. Lou gehrig
3.Mickey Mantle
4. Joe DiMaggio
5. Derek Jeter
6. Yogi Berra
7. Whitey Ford
8. Mariano Rivera
9. Bill Dickey
10. Jorge Posada
The best part is Mo will be around for another year at least and we all need to make sure we get out and see Mariano while he is still here. I got to see him get the save against the Mariners on July 26, 2011 and his entrance to Enter Sandman was epic especially for a Metal head like me. However I will always regret not going to today's game, but I had a friend who had tickets to the game where Derek Jeter hit his 3,000th so I guess now we are even. In case you missed it here it is:

Where will Montero fit in?

So the Yankees beat King Felix on Monday and Austin Romine made his first full game debut a day after an interesting catching weekend with both Martin and Cervelli getting hurt, Posada catching part of a game and Montero making his catching debut. Montero wasn't exactly gold glove caliber, but neither was Posada. Romine caught Hughes and it doesn't look like the Yankees are totally confident on having Montero catch, but if they aren't then where will he fit in to the Yankees in 2012 and the future. Sure Montero could DH in 2012 and 2013 but A-Rod and Teixeira are locked up until 2017 and 2016 and Jeter will be playing the next few years. Montero would lose significant playing time to these guys if he is nothing but a DH so the Yankees need to put him somewhere. Obviously Montero is a catcher but his defense is only passable and it seems every other team views him as a first baseman and nobody thinks that he will stick at catcher in the long term due to a lack of defensive skill and his size. Brian Cashman said at the beginning of the year that Montero would be the starting catcher, but then they signed Russel Martin and Montero didn't even win the backup spot. With Martin and Cervelli hurt it seemed like an ideal time to give Montero more time behind the plate but instead they had him catch Garcia and then they replaced him with Austin Romine in the 7th and it looks like Romine will be the primary backup as Cervelli's return this season is not guaranteed. If the Yankees don't plan on having Montero be the primary backup now will they be confident next April? Could the Yankees possibly decide to carry Martin, Cervelli/Romine and Montero in 2012 and have Montero be the primary DH? Ideally they would have Montero be the backup/primary DH and have Martin be the starting catcher but I don't know if they trust him as the backup. If the Yankees don't see him as a catcher even now then where are they going to put him? He can't move to first because Mark Teixeira is under contract until 2016 and is a gold glove first baseman. Some might suggest that they move him to RF because Nick Swisher has a team option for 2012 but if they were going to do that they should have moved Montero to the outfield awhile ago because Montero would be a huge defensive liability having never played any position but Catcher in the minors. The Yankees are getting older and they have some great young players and Montero has the potential to have the best bat of all of them and he is only 21. The Yankees are going to need to figure out what they are doing with Montero or they are going to have to trade him and I really doubt that they want to do that now that Jesus is Loose. In my opinion they should put him as the backup Catcher/ Primary DH for 2012 and see if he sinks or swims.

Jesus is Loose

The Yankees like this September so far

I know its only been 5 days but what a September the Yankees have had so far especially compared to  September 2010 when the Yankees went 12-15 and scored 5 fewer runs than they allowed. Lets hope we continue the winning because last year we won the first 4 games and so we really went 8-15 after September 4th. The Yankees looked like they were trying to lose this game with Garcia giving up a season high 7 runs in just 2.2 innings as Garcia himself said "I got my ass whooped". The Yankees would have been really screwed if the Orioles pitching wasn't equally terrible with Matusz giving up five before Buck yanked him but then Jakubauskas came in and gave up Cano's grand slam Eyre, Johnson and Patton pitched the rest of the game with Johnson giving up two Home runs to Montero and nobody gave up anything else but the Yankees needed all 11 runs. After Garcia Scott Procter came in and pitched 2 innings giving up a game tying home run in the 5th to Robert Andino and Laffey actually did a decent job and got the two lefties out but walked hardy before Ayala came in and despite giving up a walk and a hbp he pitched 1.2 scoreless innings. Logan i guess retired the two lefties when he got Hudson to ground out and the Yankees got Nick Markakis out trying to advance to third on Dickerson's error. Rivera came in and had a very interesting 9th with two singles a HBP and 3 I don't give a fuck despite it being a one run game Stolen bases before striking out JJ Hardy. Mo is only 3 saves away from 600 and there is a decent possibility that he breaks the all time saves record this year.

Jesus is Loose

 The Yankees called up Noesi and George Kontos who has been very good out of the bullpen this year, Ramiro Pena and Greg Golson also got called up today. Brackman, Garrison and Whelan also have a possibility of getting the call but garrison or Whelan will likely get DFA for Kontos and apparently Cashman wants to get Betances up.
The Yankees started off the month with not a lot of hope, we were facing the Red Sox and John Lester and were sending out A.J Burnett who had not inspired confidence with an ERA over 11 in August and was looking like he would be the odd man out in the rotation. Russel Martin hit a double to put the Yankees ahead in the 7th and Mariano Rivera struck out Adrian Gonzalez with the bases loaded in the to save the game. Come from behind wins would be a theme of this first week as only CC Sabathia's  Sunday start wasn't  a come from behind victory. Ivan Nova started the Series against the Jays with giving up two runs in the first and was only limited to two thanks to two big defensive plays from Brett Gardner. Gardner also tied the game with one of his rare home runs and Robinson Cano hitting a go ahead single in the 5th. On Saturday the Yankees knocked around the very good Rickey Romero behind a shaky Colon and Robbie Cano put the Yankees ahead in the 7th with a clutch double, but we got another clutch home run from Francisco Cervelli. Cervelli doesn't get cheated on his home runs as all three of his this year have been absolute bombs. On Sunday Carston Charles Sabathia went 7.1 and gave up just two to earn his 19th win of the season. Soriano tried to make it interesting in the 8th by giving up a home run to Bautisa but the Yankees scored 4 in the 8th with a 2 runs Swisher bomb and a captain 2 run single.
The Yankees have three more games against the Orioles with the Friday game being at Camden to make up the rain out from Hurricane Irene and then they head off to a west coast trip against the Angels and Mariners. The pitching rotation for this week will be Phil Hughes, A.J Burnett, Ivan Nova facing the Orioles and then Colon, Sabathia and Garcia. Hopefully the only bad start of this week was Garcias because the offense, especially Robinson Cano, have been great and we will need that when we play the Angels this weekend.

I think he knew

Remember how awesome the Red sox rotation was going to be? Well Josh Beckett sprained his ankle in his start against the Jays today and so now their next time through the rotation will be Lester, Wakefield, Miller, Lackey and somebody for Beckett. The Yankees need to pad the lead right now and with a great week they could get several games up. The Yankees need to keep their foot on the gas because they could pick the Red Sox in the rear view this week.

Predicting the AL and NL Award winners

Predicting who wins the silver sluggers and Golden gloves can always be a little difficult especially the golden gloves as they seem to be just picked based on who is the biggest name.  Ive put who the likely winner will be and then other possibilities bellow in parenthesis. The people who statistically should win are italicized.
American League
Silver Sluggers
OF- Curtis Grandson, Jose Bautisa, Jacoby Ellsbury
( Adam Jones, Alex Gordon, Nick Swisher)
These three should be pretty straight forward, but if one slips up in September don't be surprised if Gordon get the award.
1st- Adrian Gonzalez
(Miguel Cabrera, Mark Teixiera, Paul Konkerko)
Its Gonzalez's award plain and simple
2nd- Robinson Cano
(Dustin Pedroia)
This one is tough because the national media worship Pedroia and they could give him the award for that reason. And despite cano being better in nearly every category they could decide that Pedroia's scrappiness deserves the award, they did give him the 2008 MVP for it.
SS-Asdrubal Cabrera
(JJ Hardy, Yunel Escobar, Jhonny Peralta)
Peralta deserves it more but people are enamored with Asdrubal this year
3rd- Adrian Beltre
(A-Rod, Kevin Youkillis)
I really can't tell you who deserves it this year because everybody has missed significant amounts of time this year and whomever wins it will be the one with the best September
C- Alex Avila
(Matt Weiters, Russel Martin)
Avila deserves it he has been the best catcher in a weak hitting field. Technically Napoli has been better but he has only caught 42 games this year.
DH- David Ortiz
(Michael Young)
Power numbers win this award and Ortiz has had the power.

Gold Gloves
These are always hard to predict because it seems that people just pick these at random sometimes. Because every stat last year (sabermatics and standard) screamed that Gardner was the best defender in baseball and he didn't win.  What also surprised me is how high Nick Swisher ranks in terms of defense and how much Granderson's defense has fluctuated.
OF- Jacoby Ellsbury, Adam Jones, Peter Bourjis
(Alex Gordon, Ichiro Suzuki, Brett Gardner, Austin Jackson)
Outfield is always the hardest because it seems to be picked by whomever is seen the most on sport center.  Jones is a perfect example of that.
1st- Mark Teixiera
(Adrian Gonzalaez, Mark Trumbo)
Tex deserves it but they could end up just deciding Gonzalaez deserves it.
2nd- Dustin Pedroia
(Ian Kinsler, Robinson Cano)
Pedroia is a good defensive 2nd baseman and will win the award
SS- Asdrubal Cabrera
(Alexei Ramirez, Elvis Andrus, Yunel Escobar)
Cabrera actually ranks as one of the worst defensive shortstops right now but that hasn't stopped voters before.
3rd- Adrian Beltre
(Evan Longoria, A-Rod)
A-rod deserves it more than you think and if he had played more games than he has i would say him but Beltre will win it.
C-Matt Weiters
(Russel Martin, Miguel Olivo, Alex Avila)
I would not be surprised at all if they give it to martin or Avila but Weiters should win it this year.
P- Mark Burhlee
(Felix Hernandez, Brad Penny, Jeff Francis)
This is just awarded to whomever makes the best sport center play

AL MVP - Curtis Granderson (Jose Bautista, Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, Adrian Gonzalez)
Granderson is a close second and could surpass Bautista in September but the only reason Bautista wont win is that  he plays for the Jays.
AL Cy Young- Justin Verlander ( CC Sabathia, Jered Weaver)
Verllander has surpassed everybody else no question.
AL ROY-  Dustin Ackley (Michael Pineda, Ivan Nova, Mark Trumbo)
Sorry to all you Trumbo fans but he has a sub .300 OBP.

National League
Silver Sluggers
OF- Matt Kemp, Ryan Braun, Lance Berkman
(Justin Upton, Shane Victorino, Matt Holiday, Mike Stanton, Jay Bruce)
No doubt that Kemp and Braun will each win one the third is Berkman's to lose.
1st- Prince Fielder
(Albert Pujols, Joey Votto, Michael Morse)
Votto wont win because the reds aren't in it, but he does deserve it more than anybody else.
2nd- Rickie Weeks
(Dan Uggla)
Its Weeks unless he missed the rest of the season
SS- Troy Tulowitzki
(Jose Reyes, Starlin Castro)
people seem to have fallen off the Reyes train but a stellar September and he could win it.
3rd- Aramis Ramirez
(Ryan Roberts)
only quality 3rd baseman to go the full year in both leagues.
C- Brain McCann
(Miguel Montero)
McCann will win in hands down
P-Daniel Hudson
(Carlos Zambrano, Dontrelle Willis)
I don't think baseball want to acknowledge Big Z right now  and Willis hasn't played enough.

Gold Gloves
OF-Shane Victorino, Andre Ethier, Justin Upton
(Drew Stubbs, Ryan Braun, Gerrado Parra, Chris Young)
Its surprising how good everybody in the D-Backs outfield is but names come first which s why Braun is on the list.
1st-Joey Votto
(Todd Helton, Carlos Pena, Albert Pujols)
Votto deserves it but they could pick Pujols out of the blue
2nd- Brandon Philips
(Rickie Weeks, Darwin Barney)
Philips by far but Barney and Weeks are names that people like too
SS- Troy Tulowitzki
(Jose Reyes)
same argument as the silver slugger
3rd-Placido Polanco
(Chipper Jones, Aramis Ramirez)
Polanco does deserve it but its been a poor year for 3rd baseman overall
C- Yadier Molina
(Carlos Ruiz, Chris Iannetta, Miguel Montero)
Montero has been the best defensively in every category but they will give it to Molina.
P-Roy Halladay
(John Lannan, Hiroki Kuroda)
Kuroda has started 4 DP and has a perfect fielding pecentage with no errors but Halliaday has to win something.
NL MVP- Matt Kemp (Jose Reyes, Ryan Braun, Joey Votto, Justin Upton, Troy Tulowitzki)
Votto deserves his second MVP but Kemp will win
NL Cy Young- Clayton Kershaw (LeeHallidayHamels, Ian kennedy)
Kershaw is so good that I think he will win but any of the three headed ace could win.
NL ROY-  Craig Kimbrel (Danny Espinosa, Freddie Freeman)
Espinosa deserves it by far but they will give it to Kimbrel.

The Yankees likely September Callups

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

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

Breaking down the MVP Race

Could he be the 2011 AL MVP?

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

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

Dellin Betances: A Frustrated Killer B

From Nalbone

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

...

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

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