Two Yankee Prospect Busts From the Last Regime

A few weeks back Ben wrote a guest post on LoHud about Yankee prospects and how Brian Cashman made the right decision on so many of them with when to keep them and when to trade them away. I have always thought this was a combination of dumb luck (how many times did guys almost get traded but by sheer luck didn't) and good internal prospect evaluation. Cashman is hoping to use that combination to make the right decisions with all the young pitchers and catchers the Yankees are trying to develop in their minor league system.

Source: Baseball Almanac

But before Brian Cashman arrived on the scene, the Yankees had a few guys who were flat out busts. There are famous ones like Brien Taylor, but there are a ton of other guys who just never made the cut after the Yankees hype machine touted them as top prospects. Two of those guys made Steven Goldman's Baseball Prospectus post of the worst prospect busts in baseball. Let's take a look at what he had to say about Hensley "Bam-Bam" Meulens and Ruben Rivera:

Hensley Meulens, 3B, Yankees
Free Agent, 1985
Now the Giants hitting coach, “Bam-Bam” was once going to be a star in the Big Apple. the right-handed-hitting third baseman had tremendous power at a very young age, hitting approximately .300/.377/.558 with 28 home runs in the Carolina League at age 20, but he had problems making contact and couldn’t field. Despite these flaws, the Yankees pushed him hard and fast, not really noticing that he didn’t hit or field as they pushed him up the ladder. Finally, after a failed major-league audition in 1989, he got back on the prospect track at Triple-A, hitting .285/.376/.510 with 26 home runs as a 23-year-old while primarily playing left field. This was the first positive thing he had done in some time, and it earned him both a recall (successful) and a full season in the majors in 1991 (not). Back in Columbus in 1992, the now-25-year-old hit .275/.352/.481 with 26 home runs, but also struck out 168 times. The Yankees were largely done with him, and he had just 44 major-league plate appearances remaining. He finished his career at .220/.288/.353 in 182 games. For more, see my profile of Meulens from last fall.

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Brian Cashman: Master of his Domain

Lately this blog has become the mouthpiece of “In Cashman We Trust.” And when Ben and I got a chance to meet Brian Cashman in person last week, I think that increased my feeling that Cashman is truly the man for the job. We lamented that things would never be the same after Cashman left for greener pastures and worried that time would come after this season was over. But the more I’ve thought about the situation this past week, I realized that not only is Cashman not going anyplace, but this off-season has provided the greatest example of how much of a master he truly is in his own domain of negotiation and people management.

My grainy pic of Cashman doing his best as barkeep at Foley's last week

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” you’re probably saying. “What about all that Jeter garbage and his public blowups and his talk of leaving after this season and not getting Cliff Lee and walking off the company line and, come on, CARL PAVANO!?”

I think that it has all been part of Cashman’s master plan. I don’t think he wanted to see Cliff Lee spurn the Yankees for the City of Brotherly Love, but I think it allows Cashman to actually build the team in his image; home-grown talent supplemented by smartly acquired free agents and reclamation trade targets. Think about the current team: it’s an equal amount high-priced free agents (CC Sabathia and Mark Teixeira), buy-low trade targets (Nick Swisher and Curtis Granderson), and young home-grown players built from smart international and domestic drafting (Robinson Cano and Phil Hughes).

I don’t think Cashman would have minded trading prize prospects for Lee, but after seeing him escape in July and again this winter, Cashman has the luxury of watching some of those prospects like Jesus Montero and The Killer B’s (I hate giving them a nickname and dooming them to that fate, but it works so well) develop in the system. Would Cashman’s life be easier if Andy Pettitte would come back and he would have only one rotations spot to worry about between the likes of Ivan Nova or Manny Banuelos or Sergio Mitre or *gulp* Bartolo Colon? Would he like A.J. Burnett to "pull a Gil Meche" if he doesn't produce this next year? Of course. But with a farm system greatly improved and stacked with some top prospects, Cashman has the assets to either find the candidate within or go out in July and acquire that arm.

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Hot Stove Coal: Is This Brian Cashman's Swan Song in the Bronx?

A quick post for this morning, but as I sat there watching football yesterday, I wondered if this could be Brian Cashman's final season as the General Manager of the New York Yankees. We've had this discussion a few times previously only to have Cashman return to the only team he calls home. We've seen his name in the newspapers linked to dozens of teams, especially when the stress of George Steinbrenner's reign seemed to rob him of every one of his remaining hairs. There's a whole section in Buster Olney's "Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty" that is dedicated to Cashman's stress level. But with The Boss having passed, Cashman in control, and a seemingly gentler regime in charge, it seemed like the days of Cashman leaving were well into the future. After the last few weeks of the Yankees' off-season, I'm beginning to think they're closer than we think.

Is this Cashman's final year answering that question in NY?

Brian Cashman has an odd sort of off-season as General Manager. He and the rest of the Yankees management had a very public negotiation (spat?) with the Yankees' captain, Derek Jeter. They put all their eggs into signing Cliff Lee and then watched him make them his third choice in the process. They signed Russell Martin and all seemed to be quiet except for rumors of a possible Rafael Soriano signing. But many of us thought that Cashman wouldn't make a move like that and when he came out and blatantly said he wouldn't give up a first round draft pick for Soriano, we all breathed a sigh of relief.

And then news of the Soriano signing broke. We all wondered what had happened and figured that we would never know if this was a move done by Cashman or by ownership. We figured that Cashman would toe the company line and talk about building that beautiful mythological "Bridge to Mariano" and we would just continue to push out the motto of "In Cashman We Trust".

That didn't happen either. Cashman didn't totally go all Peter Gibbons from Office Space and try to get himself fired, but he did make sure to let everyone know that he wasn't the one pulling the strings of the Soriano signing--even doing so at the press conference with Soriano sitting there. He went so far as to admit to a confused Yankee fan base that he had actually tried to bring back Carl Pavano--the American Idle himself--for another run in Pinstripes. At a time when the fruits of Cashman's drafting and developing labor are starting to ripen, we have to wonder whether he will be around to see the results.

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Hot Stove Coal: With Money to Burn Yankees Reportedly Sign Rafael Soriano

Sometimes the New York Yankees are reported to make moves that make you hope that it's a mistake and it's not real. That was certainly the case when I heard they had signed Jaret Wright and again was the case when the Yankees re-signed Damaso Marte. The latest report that the Yankees have signed Rafael Soriano to a three-year, $35 million deal leaves me feeling the same way.

Rafael Soriano is thanking the heavens for the Yankees' deal (Newsday)

And judging by the reaction of the rest of the blogosphere, I ain't the only one. According to the New York Times' Tyler Kepner if Soriano opts out after 1 year, he gets $11.5M. If he opts out after year 2, he gets $21.5M total. If he stays all 3 years, he gets $35M. To make this contract worse, after Brian Cashman says that he won't give up his first-round pick for any pitcher on the market, well, he does just that for Type A free agent Soriano. Maybe the money that Cashman didn't give to Cliff Lee was burning a hole in his pocket? Maybe he was getting bored? Maybe Scott Boras and Cash hadn't done much business lately?

Is it the draft pick, the years, the money or Soriano a friend asked? How about all four of those. I don't particularly love Soriano, the draft pick is an extremely high cost for a middle reliever, the years (and opt-out clause) are not friendly to the team, and the money is ridiculous for a non-starter not named Mariano Rivera.

Joe Pawlikowski of River Ave Blues put it best: "The draft pick doesn’t bother me as much as the contract. The Yanks get an expensive setup man for two years before he possibly slides into the closer role after Mariano Rivera‘s contract expires. Though, as we know, you can never count on Mo to call it quits."

The last thing Joe adds is the most intriguing of this all: "The one thing I will add right now: I dislike this move less if it moves Joba back to the rotation."

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Hot Stove Coal: Soria Would Make Sense...If He's Available

You can't always get what you want. Or so the song goes. The Yankees wanted starting pitching and wanted Cliff Lee. They looked at Zack Greinke. They'll always have an invitation for Andy Pettitte. Now that both of them have gone over to the National League, the free agent and trade market for starting pitchers is looking pretty bleak (at least if you're not a Fausto Carmona fan or a Carlos Zambrano fan as I'm not). The Yankees have money to burn and prospects to trade and, seemingly, nowhere to turn (well, besides Russell Nathan Coltrane Jeanson Martin or extending CC Sabathia). But after trading away Zack Greinke to prepare for the future, it would certainly behoove the Yankees to relook at acquiring Kansas City Royals closer Joakim Soria as a Plan B upgrade to the team.

Soria would look great in Pinstripes (SI)

It's great to want a guy like Felix Hernandez (I mean he is the King), but the reality is that he is (and should be) untouchable. And the Yankees have worked to improve their bullpen signing Pedro Feliciano but Cliff Corcoran of Pinstriped Bible (and others) are right to question how much of an improvement he truly will be. And while a guy like Rafael Soriano would be nice, it seems the Yankees (smartly) don't want to give up a first-round draft pick for him. But while middle relievers are making ridiculous amounts of money (again), the Yankees should look into acquiring Soria, one of the best relievers in baseball--and also someone who is signed to a team-friendly contract. According to Cot's Contracts, Soria will make $4 M in 2011 and has team options of $6 M in 2012, $8 M in 2013, and $8.75 M in 2013 (with a $0.75 M buyout each time and escalators and vesting built in).

This makes him cheap in today's market but the second-most expensive player behind Gil Meche on the Royals roster. And since Meche is untradeable, a team that has conceded they won't be able to compete for a few more years (hence the Greinke deal), Mike Axisa of MLBTradeRumors opined that maybe Soria would be the next out the door. While $4.75 M guaranteed may not be a big burden, a team going no place in 2011 seems to have less need for a ~2 fWAR closer than a team that is trying to win a World Series. That doesn't mean that the Royals will trade him, but they certainly should look into it if it can improve their team when they actually will have a chance to compete.

Now this isn't an unfamiliar target for the Yankees. In July the Yankees reportedly made "a big proposal" for Soria but were shot down. But the Yankees should probably try again. Although the effect of set-up men are quite overrated, Soria has been one of the best (if not the best) reliever over the past 4 seasons. Baseball-Reference lists him as having the highest WAR among relievers while FanGraphs puts him fourth (Mariano Rivera is first). And all this before he turns 27. And with Mariano Rivera signed for two more years, Soria would seem to be a ready-made replacement when Mo decides to finally hang it up*.

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Hot Stove Coal: Secondary Pitching Options Not Looking Great for Yanks

After the Red Sox broke the bank (or not) for Carl Crawford yesterday, the Yankees have seemed to step up their effort to sign the top player remaining on the market, Cliff Lee, even getting creative on contract details. While I think 7 years for a 32-year-old pitcher is pretty insane, with the Red Sox strikes leaving five lefties in the starting lineup, Lee seems like an even better option than he did a day ago. But what happens if everyone's forgone conclusion is wrong and Lee signs with the Rangers or the Angels or the Nationals or some other team? Well Yankees fans, the secondary options either aren't all that great or aren't all that available. Let's look at these outside "options" (I'm excluding guys in the minors, Ivan Nova, projects like Mark Prior, or a guy like Joba Chamberlain for now).

If Lee disappears, Yankees' options are pretty bleak (Globe & Mail)

To break down possible targets, I used Baseball-Reference's Play Index and looked for any starter who had one season of at least 3 wins (B-R WAR of 3+) in the past three years. Although this is far from a perfect metric, I figured that any starter they acquire probably will need to fit this criteria to be a viable option in the power-hitting American League East. Here's a few candidates:

Zack Greinke: He's probably not a good fit for New York with anxiety issues, but if the Yankees can get some reassurance he'd be okay in New York, I think he's firmly their "Plan B" (as has been rumored). With guys like Jeff Weaver bombing out in New York, I don't know if the Yankees would go this route again, though. I like Greinke a lot: only 27, has been excellent the past three years (though fell of just a bit last year), signed for two more years at a reasonable $13.5 M a season, and seems to want to go to a place he has a chance to win. With chips like Jesus Montero, Brett Gardner, Joba Chamberlain, and young pitchers to play with and a need to rebuild for the Royals, this could be a good match-up player-wise. I just worry about Greinke in the Bronx since "personality" and "adaptability to a big market" are not measurable stats.

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One (Not-So-Clear) Winner In The Derek Jeter Negotiations

A few weeks back I asked NYaT's readers and Twitter followers to guess what Derek Jeter's next contract would be. The guesses were all pretty good and I thank everyone again for participating. But now that Derek Jeter has officially inked his new contract, we need a winner. Like the actual negotiations between Jeter and the Yankees, this was not as easy as I thought. I was OK with the Yankees and Jeter working out the contract, but I was interested to see who would win our last book .But before we get to a winner, let's talk a little about the end of these negotiations.

Jeter and the Yankees' brass heading to the presser (NYT)

All it took to finalize these dealings, it seems, was for the Yankees to meet face-to-face with Jeter and hammer out what SI's Jon Heyman correctly calls "a creative and complex deal." Jack Curry via Twitter seemed to be the one to break the contract details out first and it includes a bit of everything: a large amount of guaranteed money, deferred money, an option with a buyout, and incentive clauses. Despite the fact that most announcements during the Winter Meetings are actually made where the Winter Meetings occur, the New York Post's Joel Sherman says that Jeter made the Yankees go to Tampa for the announcement, certainly the first sign that something wasn't quite right in Jeter's head.

In the end, the discussion is over and Derek Jeter is a Yankee though it didn't take long for people to start pushing loads of blame on the Yankees or on Jeter--and, honestly, both are loads of crap. This is a business negotiation not a Disney movie and, honestly, if George Steinbrenner was alive, there's no guarantee this wouldn't have gone worse for Jeter and the Yankees considering the path of his first negotiations. I don't think anyone "won" here but I think in the end, that's the sign of a fair negotiation. The Yankees got their man and Jeter got paid.

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In Favor of a Catching Competition This Spring

In 2003, Bernie Williams looked to be about done manning centerfield. He was only one year removed from a tremendous 2002 campaign, but after only playing 119 games in 2003 and with bad knees in centerfield to boot, the Yankees weren't content just letting Williams flounder around in center (his UZR was -20.2 in 2003 after -16.2 in 2002) and in the off-season they brought in Kenny Lofton as a free agent and told Williams he could fight it out with Lofton for CF and Ruben Sierra for DH. That's tough love for one of the most important Yankees of the past few decades, but it was just what Williams needed. That tough love--that competition--lit a fire under Williams. Williams would never be that pre-2003 player again, but at least in 2004 he gave the Yankees what he had given them in 2004, beat out Lofton in CF*, and, more importantly, he worked hard to win the job--and stuck around for two more years after that.

Montero will righfully have to earn it this Spring (LoHud)

The Yankees are in a similar situation with Jorge Posada. They have a very important player to their organization, a player who has probably been one of the top catchers of all-time (at least on the offensive side), a border-line Hall of Famer. But Posada's defense has gotten so bad and his hitting isn't anymore to the point where you can excuse that defensive liability just because of the hitting he provides. Having gone through the entire slate of external back-up catchers and realizing that Posada was eventually was going to turn into a pumpkin like Williams did, Brian Cashman and the Yankees organization has done a good job of stockpiling catching prospects. Jesus Montero, Austin Romine, Francisco Cervelli, Gary Sanchez, JR Murphy and others fill the Yankees organization throughout and provide themselves with an opportunity to not go out there and pay for old, mediocre players (as they did with Lofton in 2004).

But they shouldn't just hand the reigns of the DH to Posada nor the hands of the catching game to Montero, Romine, or Cervelli. After the 2007 season, the Yankees decided to hand the pitching over to a youth movement without any competition. Ian Kennedy and Phil Hughes managed to win zero games in 2008 as the Yankees back-of-the-rotation starters. Now this would be fine if the Yankees could afford a rebuilding year because look at what Hughes and Kennedy did this past season--they won a combined 27 games in each of their first full years as starters. But this is the Yankees and with most of their top players on the wrong side of the baseball age, they need to field a team next year that will make the playoffs.

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"Mad Season" for the Yankees Comes to an End

Joe Girardi's Binder was part of this Mad Season (NYT)

"I feel stupid - but I know it won't last for long
I've been guessing - and I coulda been guessin' wrong
You don't know me now
I kinda thought that you should somehow
Does that whole mad season got ya down?"
-"Mad Season" by Matchbox 20

Whenever a season ends without a championship, it sucks. As a fan, we feel betrayed, angry, and confused and want to second-guess every decision. Should they have taken A.J. Burnett out earlier in Game 4? Should they have resisted walking Josh Hamilton all those times? Should they have used CC Sabathia instead of David Robertson in Game 6? Should they have gone to Mariano in more games? We look back and we try to figure "when did this go wrong?" We look to blame someone: The Captain, the manager, the general manager, even the idiotic play-by-play guy who declared the series over and done with after the Yankees had won exactly one game. In the end, though, after digesting a tough ALCS loss, I feel that maybe we were fooled by this Yankees team, thinking they were better than they were and that we ran into a better team in the Texas Rangers.

But while I'm ready to tip my cap to the Texas Rangers and wish them luck representing the American League in the World Series, I'm not ready to put this Mad-dening Season to rest. The Yankees came into the season as World Series champs, looked like the favorite to repeat at the All-Star Break, faltered down the stretch, swept a very good Twins team in the first round, and then ran into Cliff Lee and the Rangers in the ALCS. The turning point of the season may have been the Yankees' failure to acquire Lee. I opined at the time that not acquiring Lee may be the move that cost the Yankees the pennant. I thought the lack of Lee on the Yankees was the trouble--I had no clue that Lee would actually be one of the guys to knock the Yankees out of the playoffs.

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An Early Review of the Yankees 2010 Transactions

Yankees fans may have been spoiled by the 2009 season. After missing the 2008 playoffs, Yankees' General Manager Brian Cashman went to work on building the 2009 team and added many important pieces including Sergio Mitre, Damaso Marte (a resigning), Andy Pettitte (ditto) Nick Swisher (for basically nothing), A.J. Burnett, CC Sabathia, Mark Teixeira. The mid-season trades worked out as well as they acquired Romulo Sanchez (a possible 2010 September call-up if healthy) for a spare part, Eric Hinske for more spare parts, Jerry Hairston, Jr. for yet more spare parts, and then picked up Chad Gaudin and Freddy Guzman during the waiver wire period. Every one of those players contributed in one way or another (except for Sanchez) to the 2009 World Series winning team and Brian Cashman came away looking like a genius who turned everything he touched into gold.

Thames has been Cashman's best off-season move to date (NYDN)

The Midas Touch didn't translate as well to 2010. The Yankees traded Brian Bruney for a Rule 5 draft pick (Jamie Hoffmann). They traded Phil Coke, Austin Jackson and Ian Kennedy for Curtis Granderson. They signed Nick Johnson, traded and signed a ton of spare outfielders (Reid Gorecki, Greg Golson, Jason Pridie, Chad Huffman, etc.), traded for Javier Vazquez (and Boone Logan), signed Randy Winn, Royce Ring, Dustin Moseley, Marcus Thames, Chad Moeller, and Chan Ho Park. Since the season started they resigned Chad Gaudin, signed Eric Bruntlett and Chad Tracy (the latter which has been released), and traded for Austin Kearns, Lance Berkman and Kerry Wood.

While the 2010 mid-season moves have worked out to date, the off-season moves have not. Hoffmann lasted until March and then they returned him to the Dodgers (despite rumors he would be traded back, he's still with Los Angeles). Phil Coke, Ian Kennedy and Austin Jackson have all excelled for their new teams, and Granderson has been a huge disappointment for the Yankees*. Nick Johnson (injuries) and Javier Vazquez (ineffectiveness) both have been huge disasters in their return to the Yankees, and although Michael Dunn for Boone Logan is a wash and I don't think Melky Cabrera truly had a place on this team, Arodys Vizcaino (the prospect traded in the deal), dominated the Sally League going 9-3 with a 2.34 ERA, a WHIP under 1, and a SO/BB ratio of 7.33 before being promoted (and remains one of Atlanta's best prospects).

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Will CC Sabathia Opt Out After 2011?

On a slow Friday in New York, I was perusing the Yankees' page of Cot's Baseball Contracts, a wonderful resource for player-by-player and team-by-team contract information. When I landed on their second-highest paid player, CC Sabathia, I was sort of surprised to see this bullet point:

It's possible CC may not wear Pinstripes after 2011 (ESPN)

• Sabathia may opt of of deal after 2011 season. 

I wasn't shocked because I didn't know about it, but, frankly, because I don't remember it being mentioned since Sabathia signed his big contract back in December of 2008. In fact, I forgot how important that opt-out clause was to Sabathia's contract being signed. According to Tim Brown and Gordon Edes of Yahoo! Sports (whose article was titled "Opt-out clause key to Sabathia going to Yankees"):

The deal, according to a source close to negotiations, gives Sabathia the right to opt out of the contract after the first three years, by which time he will have been paid $69 million. Sabathia appreciated the clause because it satisfied concerns he had about living in New York and the impact it might have on his wife and three children.

He will make his opt-out decision after the 2011 season with four years and $92 million remaining on the deal, at which time he could renegotiate, leave or stay.

Yahoo! Sports wasn't the only one; New York Daily News and almost every other news outlet mentioned the opt-out if not in the title of their article, then at least in the body. Since then, not much has been said about this opt-out clause. I searched on Google News for any mention of "Sabathia" and "opt-out" in the past year and there were 21 results, more than half of which seem to be about either A.J. Burnett or Alex Rodriguez opting out. So this is not a much-discussed topic to say the least. But should it be? Should we just assume that the hefty lefty and his family are happy in New York and they are going to stay? Or will CC Sabathia be hitting the open market at the end of next season at the age of 31?

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The Yankee Clipper: Burnett, Gardner, Jeter, Granderson and Cashman

That's the list of subjects for today. After a 4-game split with the Red Sox, the Yankees head to Texas to face the 1st place Texas Rangers. Let's set up the situation:

Curtis Granderson has had a rough go of it against LHP (NYDN)

1. Curtis Granderson needs to platoon. It's pretty simple. Granderson has been awful against lefties and since this is a trend that has followed him from Detroit, it's time to stop the experiment. I agree with Joe from River Ave Blues: platoon Granderson. Although the Yankees were oh-for-9 with runners in scoring position yesterday, the most frustrating of them was when Granderson faced Lester with the bases loaded and struck out. It wasn't necessarily him striking out (Derek Jeter and Nick Swisher would do the same thing in the following ABs against Daniel Bard), but the fact he was batting at all. Granderson sucks big time against lefties and while there was no perfect replacement on the bench  with both Austin Kearns and Marcus Thames starting, Brett Gardner (as Jay Jaffe of Baseball Prospectus pointed out, Gardner, while a lefty himself, has a .375 OBP of better vs.. LHP the past two seasons) or Lance Berkman would have been better options. But Girardi has stuck with Granderson through thick and thin against lefties and while I understand it at times (the Yankees have a long-term investment in Granderson and need to see if he can be more than a platoon player), going forward the Yankees need to worry about winnings games and not The Grandy Man's feelings. The New York Post's Joel Sherman says that Granderson should be glad that The Big Stein is not around because the pressure could be a lot higher.
2. Brett Gardner needs to run more. Gardner has been in a horrendous slump recently, but even worse than his slump has been his hesitancy on the basepaths. Yesterday was a prime example. As Jaffe writes: "Girardi pulled [A-Rod] for the pinch-running Gardner, who drew four pickoff attempts from Bard but didn't attempt to steal against Martinez despite the Boston backstop's 19 percent success rate in throwing out would-be thieves. Gardner finally lit for second on a hit-and-run as Cano grounded to second, something of a wasted opportunity for the speedster." As Ben from River Ave Blues writes "In an ideal world, Gardner would be the Jacoby Ellsbury of the Yankees. The speed is there, but Gardner doesn’t have the instincts or daring of Ellsbury." I usually don't try to get into the psyche of a player, but that seems to be an extremely true statement. Gardner is one of the fastest white men around yet he seems too scared about getting caught. While stealing efficiency is important, he needs to go in those type of situations. Yesterday, Brett the Jet was grounded.

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Late to the Party: My Reaction on a Busy Trade Deadline for the Yankees

I know, I know, I'm late to the party. But after writing a trade deadline wishlist, I was shocked to see the Yankees check off quite a few boxes. While none of the moves guarantees the Yankees a chance at the playoffs (much less the pennant or the World Series), the deadline transactions shows that Brian Cashman is willing to shrewdly work the system towards the Yankees benefit in different ways than they truly have before. Let's take a look at the deadline moves and, putting them in the context of what they improved on, show that while it's not a clear home run for the Yankees, the July 31st moves were clearly a win.

Austin Kearns adds a solid OF bat (ESPN)

Austin Kearns: Probably my favorite move of all just because it fit a need perfectly. Kearns can play all three outfield positions and is extremely solid out there (with a plus arm). He's played most of his career in rightfield where he has a 58.0 UZR in over 6,000 innings, but moved back to leftfield in 2010 for the first time since 2003. After Kearns was a solid hitter from 2000-2007, his hitting dipped to below average numbers for 2008 and 2009 (with much lower BABIPs) and some felt he may be slowing down. But Kearns has been much better in 2010 (though some of that is buoyed by a great start to the season--.689 OPS since May 18th) and the Yankees were looking for a solid right-handed bat off their bench.

Kearns basically replaces Marcus Thames in the field (big win) and Curtis Granderson at bat against lefties (another big win). Kearns has a career OPS of .799 vs. lefties and his .353 wOBA and .383 OBP are exactly what the Yankees need from him when we consider Granderson has given them a .252 OBP, .538 OPS and a woeful .242 wOBA vs. southpaws. The smart move against lefties would be to play Brett Gardner in CF, Kearns in left, and DH Thames (and more on this below). The fear is that Kearns hot start masked a declining player who will flounder playing for his first big-market team--but I don't see that. For what the Yankees need Kearns for (platoon righty and bench bat), Kearns seems to make perfect sense). That he basically replaced Colin Curtis on the roster is a win (despite the fact I like Curtis). And all for the ole PTBNL or cash it was a shrewd and cheap move in what turned into a light outfield market.

Lance Berkman: The Big Puma is no longer and Fat Elvis seems to reign now--but regardless of which nickname you use, Berkman is a player who can certainly help the Yankees down the stretch. With Nick Johnson in a black hole of injury, the Yankees have been working through a platoon of Marcus Thames and Lance Berkman with a few games of Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada in their DH slot. For all intents and purposes, Berkman replaces Miranda on the roster. No matter how much I liked Miranda in the little time I saw of him, this can't be seen as anything but a win. Now it's never as clear cut as that, though. Lance Berkman is not the same guy who finished in the top-5 in MVP voting 4 different years. He's not even close to the player who put up a Wins Above Replacement (WAR) number of 7.5 in 2008 (only Albert Pujols, Chase Utley and David Wright were higher that year). But Berkman is still a premium hitter who knows how to get on base (career OBP of .409). The biggest problem for Berkman has that he's been bad vs. lefties this year (.188/.278/.281 w/ 1 HR) and was not as good away from Minute Maid Park (almost 200 points lower OPS). But the fact that he's going to have Marcus Thames as his right-handed DH caddy and that he's moving to a good hitters park in the Bronx should alleviate some of those concerns--as does his excellent 16.4% BB rate and his top-20 rank in pitcher per plate appearance (4.14) which makes him another patient, dangerous hitter to work through.

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Yankees Over/Under: Bullpen, Bench and Coaching Staff

This week we looked at the New York Yankees Starting 9 and their Starting Rotation but now it's time to do the over/unders for their bullpen, coaches, and bench. I'm going to put out the list but I want you to chime in within the comments about where you would bet these will fall in 2010 (again, with details about those numbers in parentheses):

1. Mariano Rivera - 73 regular season innings pitched (his innings have dropped every year since 2004 but 73 was the average amount over the past 6 years)
2. Phil Hughes relief appearances - Joba Chamberlain relief appearances - 0 (so if you subtract one form the other, what will you get? For their careers, this number would be -6)
3. David Robertson - 10 K/9 (he led the league with 13 K/9 last season and has 12 K/9 over his young career)
4. Alfredo Aceves - 80.2 innings of relief (his relief total from 2009)
5. Chan Ho Park - 4.35 ERA (his career ERA)
6. Mark Melancon - 22 games (he had 13 last season)
7. Damaso Marte PA vs. LHB - Damaso Marte PA vs. RHB - 0 (will he be truly used as a lefty specialist in 2010?)
8. Randy Winn - 10 stolen bases (he's averaged 17 a season over his career)
9. Marcus Thames - 7 HR (his low for a season while in Detroit)
10. Francisco Cervelli - 101 PA (his total from last season)

And now a few non-stat related ones:

11. Nick Swisher - 0.5 appearances on the mound (he had a memorable inning in April last season)
12. Francisco Cervelli - 0.5 concussions (let's hope for under here)
13. Joe Girardi - 50 TV shots of him during 2010 looking into his infamous binder
14. Brian Cashman - 3 trades during the season
15. Rob Thomson - 7 runners thrown out at home

Put your thoughts in the comments below. I'll tally up the results and we'll see how we did in October. Thanks for playing!

Picture from the New York Times

The B.R.I.A.N. System

I was perusing through Twitter this morning when I saw a link to Royals Review's post on "The D.A.Y.T.O.N. System". I laughed when I saw it because I am a huge It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia fan but when I read on, the content was brilliant. So brilliant, in fact, I felt like I had to reproduce it here for Yankees General Manager, Brian Cashman. Cashman was given "complete control" of the Yankees following the 2005 system and has been in control of the Yankees system ever since (well, maybe Sans that whole A-Rod debacle). So how should you act like a GM using Cashman's ways? Without further ado, I present to you "The B.R.I.A.N. System":

B - Build a Farm System

It doesn't matter how many positional players you truly have as long as you have enough pitchers and catchers. Since November 2006, the Yankees have had only 5 players that did not pitch or catch among their Top 10 prospects from Baseball America. Two of those guys have been traded (Austin Jackson and Jose Tabata), one is Brett Gardner (their starting LF), and the others are 3B Bradley Suttle (who has had two shoulder surgeries in the past year) and Slade Heathcott (their 2009 #1 pick). The key for you as Yankees' GM is spending money. There is no such thing as "sticking to slot" which allows you to pick up Scott Boras clients or waste money on guys like Drew Henson. (Either way, this is something that Brian Cashman wanted control of in 2005 to make the Yankees younger and it seems he's done it.) At the very least, you should corner the minor-league catching market forcing teams like Kansas City to spend oodles of money on Jason Kendall. Sweet victory!

R - Re-Acquire Former Yankees

Re-acquiring former Yankees is a key part of the System. Most of these former Yankees were guys jettisoned out by The Boss in past years. Players re-acquired by Brian Cashman under his watch include Javier Vazquez, Nick Johnson, Andy Pettitte, Tino Martinez, Mike Stanton, Ruben Sierra, Roger Clemens, Jeff Nelson, and others. This implicitly says to people "look, I didn't want to get rid of them in the first place" and shows how you were manipulated into sending them away from the Yankees. Joke around with the press about how you never rule acquiring (or re-acquiring anyone) making even Carl Pavano scared to leave the house. Call up Scott Proctor and jokingly ask him how his arm is doing. Make sure no one feels safe. You should know that reunion episodes on TV get huge ratings and there's no reason the same thing shouldn't happen on the baseball diamond.

I - Ignore the Luxury Tax Threshold

What is the amount a team can spend before they hit the luxury tax? You have no clue. Why? You don't care. It's not your money. The Yankees spent $423 million last off-season. This year they talked about decreasing budget. So you play the game for a few weeks and then go out and trade for another 10 M+ pitcher so that #1 - #4 in your rotation, you're paying guys at least $11.5 M next season. And since you pay a 40% luxury tax, each of those pitchers really makes over $16 M. The Red Sox tried to maneuver their off-season to avoid hitting the luxury tax but you could care less. The luxury tax was instituted to try to reign in your spending but you now spend more to "stick it to the man". Since 2003, you've paid $174 million in luxury tax payments. All other teams combined? $16 million. Suckers!

A - Always Stay Loyal

Listen, you can sleep when you die. The key is to stay loyal to the organization that you started with. Cashman started with the Yankees in 1986 as an intern and hasn't left yet. You may threaten to leave and maybe even get offers from the Washington Nationals claiming that you want to go back to the city where you attended school. But in the end, you'll come back. They know you will. And you know you will. You get paid well and you know that eventually George Steinbrenner was going to stop calling you at 3 AM wondering why you didn't sign David Ortiz when he was a free agent. So what if you grind your teeth in your sleep, your vacations are non-existent and you're aging faster that Robin Williams in Jack? So what if you've lost all your hair (like the picture on the top right from Bleacher Report shows)? Bruce Willis doesn't have hair! Always stay loyal to your team--no matter what.

N - Never Settle

This last one is a key one. Never settle for anything less than an All-Star at every position. The "we're going with Mike Lamb at 3B" bit before they acquired A-Rod was great. The "Bubba Crosby is our everyday CF" act before they signed Johnny Damon was legendary. And this off-season featured "Juan Miranda as the DH" and "Brett Gardner is our everyday LF". It seems like it's amazing misdirection but it's truly never settling. Always claim you're happy with you have now to the press, the fans and your team, but secretly always be working on an upgrade. Sometimes seem like you're about to settle and then at the last second, come up with a bombshell. A good example of this is when Cashman seemed like he was going into the 2009 season with Nick Swisher as the everyday 1B, denied any team interest in Mark Teixeira and then swooped in and got him right under the Red Sox noses. You can seem like you're settling for a while when you put Angel Berroa at 3B and play Cody Ransom regularly, but this makes you seem like even more of a genius when you make trades for guys like Jerry Hairston, Jr. The key is never settling for second place, so when your team fails to make the playoffs for the first time in 13 years, it is key to go spend $423 million in free agency. Never settle for anything less than the best. And always remember: it's not your money.

So there you have it, "The B.R.I.A.N. System". Seems pretty foolproof and you should definitely try using it the next time you are a Major League Baseball General Manager. I think the GM of the Marlins should start implementing this plan right away. It's much better than getting slack from other people about not spending enough. And I'll repeat it one more time: it's not your money!

Big Money Contracts to CC and AJ Had a Reason

As Jayson Stark points out, the free agent pitching class coming out this year is really, really thin (the whole free agent class is, to be honest). There's a reason the Yankees shelled out a lot of money to A.J. Burnett and CC Sabathia: they weren't going to spend it this summer. They will have to find one more starter for their rotation but they can either bring back Pettitte or find a starter on cheap/a salary dump to fill that last spot. Good move by Brian Cashman.

They Should Make Me GM

I had to go back through my archives, but here is a conversation that Paul and I had on November 11, 2008. Check this out (from our internal instant messaging system:

1:58:00 PM: Andrew: btw...i figured out who i want to be the Yankees 1B next year
1:58:15 PM: Andrew: Nick Swisher
1:58:32 PM: Paul: yeah, he's good, for who?
1:58:37 PM: Paul: FA?
1:59:15 PM: Andrew: no...but the ChiSox don't have any room for him and he's coming off his worst season...

Pretty prophetic, right? On November 13th, the Yankees got him (although, in the end, not to play 1B).

All Swisher has done is set career highs for OBP (.378), SLG (.506), and is on pace to set a career high for walks (102). He's also on pace for 85 runs, 30 HR, 35 2B, and 90 RBIs. Not bad.

Here's what the Yankees gave up:

Wilson Betemit - .200/.280/.311 before being released
Jeff Marquez - 2-8, 9.85 ERA, 2.058 WHIP, 27 K, 22 BB in 45.2 innings of AAA
Jhonny Nunez - Only 3 IP in majors this year, but doing well in minors

The Yankees also received:

Kanekoa Texeira - 9-6, 2.84 ERA, 1.312 WHIP, 88 K, 43 BB in 101.1 innings for AA

Swisher has been great for the Yankees the past few months. Since July 26th, he's hit .296/.406/.613 with 12 HR. The Yankees have gone 28-10 over that span. Last night he hit two solo home runs including the walk-off homer in the bottom of the 9th inning. He's been a big part of the Yankees, keeping guys loose on the bench and coming up big at the plate.

Not bad at all there, Mr. GM...not bad at all.

Things I Learned Today While Listening To John and Suzyn

I'm not much for Old Timer's Day anymore. It was a nice tradition and I like it as a child, but as I've gotten older, seeing some of these guys play isn't the thrill it used to be.

I am a big fan of the beach. Always have and always will be. So instead of heading to the Stadium today to see the game, I decided to head out to the beach. But I decided to listen in on an old Sony Walkman after Old Timer's Day to hear the Yankees take on the Tigers.

Although there are many haters out there for WCBS 880 AM's team of John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman, I fall into the indifferent category with them. Sometimes it's impossible to figure out what is going on in the game, they drone on, they are Yankee homers, and sometimes John screws up...but I like to hear them talk about the Yankees. Sterling has a sort of grandfather-ish charm: you know the thought process ain't what it used to be but he has a familiar voice, brings you good news, and makes you laugh once in a while (even if you are laughing at him).

Although there are a lot of games where I'll be on long car rides and listen to John and Suzyn, I don't think there has been many, if any, I've listened to the Yankees radio broadcast from start to finish for in a long time.

Until today. Some things I learned from John and Suzyn (with the amount of mentions that I can guesstimate in parentheses):

• (35 times) That Edwin Jackson-for-Matt Joyce deal was really bad for the Rays and really good for the Tigers. The Rays were idiots because Matt Joyce wasn't even a good minor league hitter. Matt Joyce is "just an outfielder" so why would you trade a pitcher for him? Edwin Jackson is still really young despite being a prospect for the Dodgers and then the Devil Rays/Rays. Edwin Jackson has a 2.50 ERA which is really good...and a lot better than anything Matt Joyce has done. The Rays made out like bandits in the Garza-Young swap two years ago and they allowed themselves to get hoodwinked this past off-season so now it's even.
  
• (27 times) Edwin Jackson now has amazing control and doesn't get riled up after things don't go OK. Side Note: This was classic John Sterling/Suzyn Waldman reverse jinxing. Nice work John and Suzyn! 5 walks and a hit batter for Jackson. After Jackson gave up a home run in the 4th to A-Rod, Jackson walked the next two hitters. After Jackson gave up a home run to Mark Teixeira in the 6th, he gave up two hits. This was some of John and Suzyn's best work to date
• (24 times) You cannot walk the leadoff batter and expect to win. Side Note: While this is usually very true, today it wasn't all. Joba and Jackson both walked the leadoff batter in the 2nd and 3rd innings and no runs came around. Jackson also hit a batter to lead off an inning and he was stranded
• (22 times) Swisharoo Side Note: Huh?
• (18 times) Placido Polanco is a great contact hitter. Side Note: This is where "contact" is overrated. This guy is making contact too much. His OPS is the second worst among qualifying Major League second basemen. Who is worse? David Eckstein (who actually beats Polanco on average and OBP. So at a position that is not an offensive position, Polanco is the worst the AL and the second-worst in the Majors. That's a "great contact hitter"?
• (15 times) It's amazing this team may only be one game out of first place after having lost 8 games to Boston. Even the players think so.
• (10 times) Phil Hughes ERA is 0.89. And any ERA that starts with a "zero" is amazing.
  
• (8 times) Even though Joe Girardi got booed for coming to take out Joba Chamberlain after striking out two guys in the 7th, he was right because Joe has to manage to win the game, not please the fans and bringing in Coke is the right move. Girardi wanted to get Coke into the game because it's his birthday. Side Note: I could go either way if it was the right move. I think that it has burned Girardi a lot this season, but Coke got it done on one pitch today. But the fact that John was explaining that the fans don't know what they're talking about was laughable. We've all watched this team in 2009 and saw this move come back to bite them. Joba had dialed it up to get his two Ks; taking him out wasn't so cut and dry. The funniest suggestion was that maybe Girardi brought in Coke because it was his birthday.
  
• (2 times) An A-Bomb, from A-Rod. A Tex message to right field; you're on the Mark Teixeira. Side Note: I love Sterling's home run calls. I wish he would come up with calls for other situations. "He got the Job-a done". "CC gets a GIDP which is A-OK by M-E". "Coke is the choice of the people once again". These two may be his most famous this year. The A-Bomb one was offensive to Japanese people before he tried to substitute in Matsui's name by accident. And Tex message was his newest invention which has gotten mixed reviews. I love it.
• (1 time) And it's caught down the right field line. Nope, I think it was a foul ball. We can't see that corner from our vantage point. The umpire signaled it was foul but I thought that just meant that it was caught in foul territory. We cannot see that part of the field from our booth. I wonder if a fan got in the way. Side Note: Classic Sterling call right there. No clue what was going on. I thought the ball was going fair down the line and was going to be a double for the Yankees. Then I thought it was caught. Nope...it was foul.
• (1 time) That is one of the greatest double plays that you will ever see Side Note: It's the radio, John. So I can't say it was one of the greatest double plays that I'll ever see, because, well, I'm not watching the game.
  
• (1 time) Thhhhhhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Yankees win! Side Note: Just awesome. Very high warble level to boot.
  

There were some thing never mentioned. Roy Halladay to the Yankees (though Tyler Kepner scored a nice interview with Brian Cashman). Robinson Cano had his typically bad Robinson Cano game: 3 ABs, 8 pitches, 1 inning-ending GIDP, 0-2 with runners in scoring position, 5 men left on base, left 3 runners in scoring position with 2 outs, ended 3 different innings and swung at the first pitch after Jackson had walked the previous two men. Melky Cabrera must have had dinner plans with Robbie: 3 ABs, 6 pitches.

Overall, I give the broadcast an A. Nice job. Kept me interested on a beautiful beach day. And the Yankees swept the first-place Tigers behind Joba, The Phils, and Mo and are now within one game of the Red Sox with the Orioles coming into town. Hopefully they can continue the magic. I'll make sure to be listening to John and Suzyn to find out more.

A Few Interesting Transactions

Can you name the last Yankee pitcher to win a playoff game? Anyone? Phillip Hughes Game 3 of the ALDS against the Cleveland Indians. He now goes by Phil Hughes but the Yankees announced today that he will be heading back to the bullpen for the first time since that game. It ends up that was probably one of Phil Hughes' best performances in the major leagues: 3.2 no runs, no walks, 4 Ks in relief of Roger Clemens (Joba Chamberlain also gave up a run as a reliever, perish the thought).

The reason Phil Hughes is heading to the bullpen is the Yankees want Chien-Ming Wang to start (which he'll do tomorrow in place of CC). The impetus for the move was talked about by Peter Abraham earlier the day, and goes that Wang, if his ball is sinking, is still better than Phil Hughes--at this point. Hughes will stay in the bullpen on the team for a while, but may need to head back down to the minors at some point to stretch himself out if not opportunity exists for him to rejoing the rotation in the Bronx. River Ave Blues seems to confirm this via a Brian Cashman interview on the Michael Kay Show (they still allow him to do that?): if Wang pitches well and Bruney and Marte return, Hughes will go to the minors in two weeks. If Wang pitches poorly or Pettitte is more injured than he's letting on, then Hughes will stay and start.

The Yankees also stratched Mark Teixeira who hurt himself enacting revenge on a double play breakup last night. Let's hope it's nothing more than a night's injury because, otherwise, it's not really a great play. You want guys to show passion, but play smart as well (ie--don't be like Kevin Brown who once punched a brick wall with his pitching hand).

Other moves:
-Supposedly the Atlanta Braves release Tom Glavine to save a little bit of money according to Ken Rosenthal. Both Shysterball and I are both equally surprised. If it really is for the money, shame on Atlanta.

-Speaking of Atlanta, they went and got themselves an outfielder (finally!). It's a surprise name, though--Nate McLouth. I don't think this is what he had in mind when he signed an extension to stay there. The Pirates GM tries to explain but it seems like a case of the Pirates just continuing to want to stockpile prospects in hopes of getting out of their losing ways. I wouldn't fault McLouth for being peaved, though.

-MLBTradeRumors goes over the trades so far this season. The biggest name so far is Gwynn...Gwynn Jr. In one of the most awesome things to come to the blog world, Paul DePodesta explains why the Padres made the trade. I mean how cool is that? You always want to know what teams were thinking when they made deals and this is how you can find out.

-Lastly, another one of those early-season trades got this review from Jon Heyman: "New Mets pickup Lance Broadway, a former first-rounder with a great New York name, is throwing only 86-88 mph. Judging by recent activity, White Sox GM Ken Williams seems willing to purge their system of the picks of the previous scouting director."

16 Games Without An Error

I think one of the most impressive things the Yankees have done this season so far has been this streak of 16 games without an error. Granted, you can't get charged with an error if you never get to a ball (paging Derek Jeter) and an error is still a decision made by the official scorer...but this is quite impressive. They're one game away from tying the major league record set by the 2006 Red Sox--which is amazing to me...there's been many good defensive teams and many years of baseball and the fact that 17 games without an error is a record is a shock to me.

The most impressive part of this is that the Yankees have been tremendously subpar defensively in past seasons. By the end of last year they had a starting lineup with Xavier Nady in LF (average at best), Johnny Damon in CF (speedy but poor defender and extremely poor arm), Bobby Abreu in RF (decent arm, but subpar fielder), Jason Giambi at 1B (subpar), Robinson Cano at 2B (below average to above average depending on how he felt), Derek Jeter (poor defender), A-Rod (average, but good arm), and Jorge Posada (average at best).

This year Brian Cashman wanted to improve the defense of his team and he certainly did so. Swisher is an upgrade in RF, Melky/Gardner in CF (and Gardner is one of the top 3 defensive CFs in the league), Teixeira at 1B (who could win some Gold while with the Yanks and saves errors from the other infielders), and an improved bench of plus defenders in whoever is not starting in CF (who can play all 3 OF positions) and Ramiro Pena (who can play all infield positions).

The problem with errors is that not only do they sometimes end up in unearned runs, but they also make your pitcher throw more pitches. And when you make your starters throw more pitches, it hurts your team in ways not shown in the boxscore. This is especially important in the Yankees bandbox in the Bronx because extra pitches means greater chances someone will hit the ball out of the park.

I'm not taking anything away from what the Yankees starters have done the past few weeks, but the starting pitching looks better because of the good defense. I'm not sure how long this errorless streak is going to last, but it's because of increased focus on improving the defense this year that it was even possible.